Gospel Prism

Titus 2 has often been referenced as a text for women. Given today’s implications concerning women’s roles in the church, I can understand why this text is so important for a biblical woman’s worldview. But I’d like to look at what it says about biblical manhood.

There was a movie out not long ago called Grumpy Old Men and while it was only a spoof about old men who are quite lewd and dirty, it signified a general perception: Old men are cantankerous, lascivious, and downright self-centered. The old saying goes, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.� And most of us believe this to be true because we have seen it in action quite often. But what if this were not true? Who says it has to be true? Paul gives us a finer picture of aged men in Titus 2, and it is counter to this sorry perception of the old men: “Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness� (2:2)

Now I am not exegeting the text here so I am not speaking to the original Greek, but I’d like to note how at least these words in English give us a far different picture than some dirty, cantankerous, old men. These are men who are “temperateâ€? (NIV), “soberâ€? (KJV). In other words, they should be the opposite of cantankerous. They should be level-headed, not easily angered or stirred. The KJV describes older men this way:

That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

The NIV this way:

Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

And the New Living Translation this way:

Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have strong faith and be filled with love and patience.

Older men need not follow the model of the world and give into their sinfulness that wants to be angry and short-fused and cynical and assume they have the right to be this way. I have met a number of old men who lived out Titus 2. They were humble, vibrant, and Christ-centered. I had a missions professor named J. Christy Wilson, and he exuded the Titus 2 vision of a Godly older man. I hope I also grow to be such a man.