In my first post on this blog, I questioned the overuse of the phrase “Titus 2 Woman.” Here I’d like to prove to you that I DO believe such a person exists.
I was recently called on the carpet for something by an older Christian lady and it was not fun. She was right (and gentle) and I submitted but it was uncomfortable and parts of my mind were yelling “But… but… but….” Add to this the fact that I know this lady rather well and know many of her annoying habits and flaws and it would be really easy to say, “Oh yeah? Well, you’re not so perfect!” But I for once listened – and heard that THIS is discipleship. THIS is submitting to authority. THIS is a Titus 2 woman. I would be wise to heed her warning.
Many women claim that there are no Titus 2 women in their lives to instruct them. That may be true for some people, but maybe we just don’t recognize her. Really, I was picturing an apple-cheeked, apron-wearing woman stirring a big pot of something with a wooden spoon and executing flawlessly the instuctions in Titus chapter two. But you know what? The Titus 2 woman is still an imperfect human being with faults and sins and as long as she is still on this earth, she is still in the process of sanctification. And aprons are not required.
Maybe there is a somewhat sinister reason we look for a perfect model before we will call her our teacher. Maybe if she is less than or different from what we idealize, we feel justified in not humbling ourselves to her instruction.
November 11, 2007 at 3:07 am |
Hi. First, thanks for the update on George and his mom. Since about 3 pm yesterday, the Holy Spirit has directed me to intercede for them. I can’t explain it any other way – they just kept coming to my mind, even before you informed me of the c-section underway – and so I took it as God directing me to pray for them. I find that as I get older I am more in tune to His promptings.
Re: Titus 2. I tend to see the “Titus 2 woman” reference in the context of the book as a whole, which is largely pastoral in nature. In fact, if you look at 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus as a whole, you see a pattern of God’s people living in relation with one another (or at least Paul’s remarks about how we ought to live with each other). The common thread that I pick up is placing oneself under the authority of those God has put over us. I think to call oneself a Titus 2 woman is to miss the larger point – it’s not about being OVER someone, but being UNDER someone. (Good for you for not missing it!) On the other hand, we all have others whom God has indeed placed us in authority over (our kids, for example) and we do well to heed Paul’s repeated admonishment: we are to be “blameless”, “above reproach”, “self-controlled and pure” etc. We definitely are called to cooperate in the area of our sanctification; the primary way of doing this is to humbly submit to those over us – first and foremost Christ. He is the shepherd and we are the sheep…but in some capacities (ie. in the capacity of an older woman teaching a younger woman) we are “sheep dogs”, always pointing the way back to the Shepherd.
November 12, 2007 at 4:47 pm |
I hear ya! Gentle correction is always hard to find and even harder to submit to! It took wisdom to notice the difference. Good for you!