There is a place, not small but huge, for women in the ministry of God.  The significance of their place in the ministry of God necessitates their knowledge of the Scriptures.  They grow in the knowledge of Christ Jesus and their spiritual life becomes rich and abundant, and such growth prepares them in their mature age to mentor and nurture young ladies.  However, their scriptural knowledge is not just for ministry, ministry, and ministry, as if they exist only for church and ministry.  Their primary responsibility is to love their husbands and children at home, and older women must teach younger women to love…. 

Let me revisit Titus 2:3-5 again: “³The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; ⁴ That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”  Though these verses are talking about old (aged) women, they also talk about the spiritual goals set by younger women.  I’ll pick a few of them for further discussions. 

First, the young women must set their hearts to be “in behaviour as becometh holiness.”  (1) Their behaviour is important.  The Greek word for behaviour refers to demeanour or deportment.  Both their inward and outward conduct is important to their spiritual life.  If their external behaviour is good, while their internal behaviour is bad, then they are hypocrites.  If their internal behaviour is good but their external conduct is bad, then they are immature and need to grow, or they need to learn to narrow the gap between their internal and external conduct.  (2) Their desirable behaviour is found in their holiness.  The Greek word for “holiness” is found nowhere else in the New Testament, only here in the Pastoral Epistles.  We need to see that the foremost mentioned quality of God-pleasing women is not intelligence, education, achievement, or physical attractiveness but good behaviour in holiness.  The Greek word for “holiness” here expresses “that which becomes a sacred person, thing, or act.”  Many modern versions translate the word as “reverent in behaviour” or “reverent in the way they live.”  The aged Christian women are desired for their reverent behaviour, and the younger women must learn from such women in order to grow in holiness.  (3) Hence a point that we cannot miss is that the aged women teach or train the younger women, and the younger women must be taught and trained by them.  It simply means that young women will not attain to such a desirable spiritual quality alone.  (4) Then why are young women not taught or trained by the aged women today?  There are a few reasons we could think of.  (a) There may be no suitable mentors around them.  If this is the case, the whole church must be ashamed.  (b) They do not want to be taught.  We should be able to think here about the meaning of “teaching, learning, or training.”.  It is possible that they genuinely do not have any desire to be taught by anyone.  If this is the case, they are proud and stubborn, by which they do not follow the Lord’s appointed instructions.  It is possible that they want to learn and hear only what they want to hear.  Thus, whenever they feel disagreeable with the mature women’s teaching, they simply quit.  If this is the case, they overestimate themselves.  (c) By being taught or trained, they become fit to the Lord’s work at home and church.  They need to be what God wants them to be, which is a reason why they should be taught and trained.  

Second, the young women must set their hearts to be hospitable and do all good things.  Let me quote from preceptaustin.com: “They also ministered to each other and to women in the church of any age, single, married, or widowed.  They visited the sick and those in prison. They provided hospitality to Christian travellers, especially those in some form of ministry.  In towns that were strongly pagan, Christian women would go through the streets and marketplaces searching for abandoned newborns who were unwanted and had been left to die by their parents.  Since abortion was both dangerous and expensive and birth control devices did not exist, an unwanted baby was simply abandoned at birth.  Some male babies were raised to be slaves or gladiators, and some girls were trained for prostitution.  Christian women who rescued these infants would give them to church families for adoption.”  Hence could we see the varieties of good works that Christian women in the first century became involved with.  One of the things the WoH does is to provide the meals for the sick and the visitors.  Many of the Hopefuls live in Australia without their immediate families.  There are overseas students.  There are elderly ones who are lonely too.  Being hospitable is an important ministry for the WoH.  The aged believers ought to teach and train the younger women to be hospitable and to be zealous to help the afflicted.  Such a trait is often taught at home from mothers to daughters.  However, there are also women who do not have such a family environment.  They could learn from the mature believers in church. 

Third, the young women must set their hearts to be good and biblical homemakers.  (1) They must be taught or trained to love their husbands.  It simply implies that love is not automatic but takes learning, training, discipline, effort and hard work.  The Greek word for “love” here implies the love of friendship or close companionship.  Love that must be taught affects will first of all and then heart.  It changes their minds and perspectives.  (2) They must learn to love their children.  It implies that Christian mothers’ love for their children is more than their natural feelings and instincts toward them.  They must be taught how to love them in a God honouring manner.  (3) They must learn to be sensible, kind, pure, and good homemakers.  (4) In particular, they must learn to build up a biblical relationship with their husbands.  In the latter part of verse 5 says that they ought to be “good, obedient to their own husbands.”  In modern day culture, it is something that we should not talk about.  Paul talks of love in verse 4 and of obedience in verse 5 in the wives’ relationships with their husbands.  (a) Ephesians 5:21 says, “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”  Biblical husbands and wives submit to one another in the fear of God.  Thus, Paul’s instruction in Titus 2:5 is not to humiliate women.  (b) Instead, I would say that by putting “love” and “obedience” together in Titus 2:4-5, Paul is talking about women’s complementary roles for their husbands.  I have seen some able men leave their ministries because of their unwilling and un-submissive wives.  In order for men to do what God wants them to do, their wives’ complementary co-operative work is absolute necessity.  Without their wives’ kind assistance, the husbands cannot be what they need to be. 

All of the above must be properly done and executed in order not to let the Word of God be blasphemed.  Then, how can the WoH help younger women in our church?  There are a few lessons to think about.  (1) They have opportunities to be together with other women.  The Lord does not call them to be in isolation.  They are called to be fit together within the body of Christ and fulfil their roles faithfully.  (2) They grow by being together.  By being together, they can sharpen each other and have opportunities to be moulded in good character.  They learn to love, be patient, and build up friendships in church.  By being together, they learn to be humble and understand what it means to serve and to esteem others better themselves.  (3) They serve and pray together.  They will strengthen each other and find their strengths and weaknesses through their fellowship and service.  They encourage each other and bear burdens together.  I’ll continue….

Lovingly,

Your Pastor

More Lively Hope

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