​Psalm 1; Matthew 16: 24 – 27
 
In our topsy-turvy world, we are plagued by certain benchmarks that determine success or failure in any endeavour; from the magnitude of one’s enterprise’s profits or pay packet, to the size of another’s congregation or ability to preach and influence, or being admired and getting noticed. Furthermore, as finite beings, our premature judgments are more often based on present appearances without any knowledge or appreciation of a differing future trajectory in the lives we had acknowledged or condemned. Disturbingly, our highly subjective human capacity and unconscious predilection towards biasness make us perennially poor judges of failure and success. The Bible certainly does not invalidate conventional wisdom, but its values are said to be diametrically opposed to many of our worldly conclusions on accomplishment or disappointment. The authoritative, the influential, and the wealthy, do not seem to garner particular adulation within God’s purview, despite exemplary Biblical dignitaries, like Abraham, Joseph, and Joseph of Arimathea, committing their resources toward God’s kingdom (Eccl 5:19; Matt 6:19-21; Matt 19:24; Luke12:33; 1 Tim 6:6-10; 1 Tim 6:17-18; James 5:1). It seemed like God expected them to do so. Instead, His consistent attention had been on the handicapped, the insignificant, and the poor (Lev19: 9-10; Ps 140:12; Mark12:41-44; Luke 1:53; James 2:5) – certainly, within our perspective, not success-oriented entities. 
 
The defining consideration from God’s standpoint, with the resources He has gifted us, is that we are merely His stewards; whatever we possess, whether in terms of talents or wealth, do not belong to us, and we are certainly accountable for how we use them within His economy (1 Chron 29:10-11; Matt 25:14-30). However, our normal human proclivity for possessiveness immediately pits us against the practice of wholehearted servanthood towards others in the discharge of our stewardship - for only with an innate serving mindset could one live such a selfless lifestyle, which constitute Biblical success. Who is then able to measure up to such an unearthly standard? In the Book of Psalms, the psalmist in his first song depicted another aspect of success: where the righteous person is one who delights in God’s laws and meditates on it day and night, and who is wise in his relationships, eschewing those who would compromise his walk with God (Ps 1:1-2). Again, not many are able to appraise themselves righteously in this light!  
 
Judged by God’s standard of success, we fall indelibly short. Thankfully, despite our inclination for discounting the claims of God’s glory on our lives, with the dogged pursuit of our own puny reputation and the tightfisted hoarding of our possessions and resources, we are not disqualified from God’s kingdom. The basis being our salvation through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and nothing less, and as a result, we immediately need the fruits of success that He accomplished for us (2 Cor 8: 9; c.f., 2 Cor 8:1-15). What do we mean? 
 
God had glorified Jesus Christ, that every knee will bow, of those in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, thereby exemplifying Him to us through eternity, as the true gauge of success (Phil 2: 5-11). Our accomplishment on earth can never define success, not in the eyes of heaven, as Isaiah had declared that our righteousness is like filthy rages (Is 64: 6). Our position in Christ totally frees us, as we take up our cross and devote the totality of our resources in the service of Christ’s kingdom. Of course, it does not mean that we become dispositional sluggards, but it does mean that we do not become inured to the standards of this world, whether being successful or failures, realizing that our unmitigated hope and boast is in our Lord (2 Cor 10: 12-18). 

Titus 2:1 – 3: 11.
 
It was not unusual for the Apostle Paul to specify Christian responsibilities amid expositing over weighty theological issues in his epistles, as he did so in his Letter to Titus (c.f., 1 Cor 7; Eph 5; 1 Tim 3; 1 Tim 5; 1 Tim 6; Philemon). He went down a nominated list of household roles in his instructions to his disciple Titus. Firstly, to encourage older men to be temperate in the use of wine, reverent and sober in their habits, to be sound in faith and love and patience. Secondly, to exhort the older women to be dignified in their demeanour, to not be scandalmongers or over-addicted to wine, but to be teachers of all that is good, so that they will encourage the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be restrained and chaste, to do their housework and be good and obedient to their husbands, to ensure that the word of God be not brought into disrepute. Titus was to urge the younger men to be thoughtful in all their ways, by his own example of good works, with a purity of doctrine, and respect for everyone, by a wholesomeness in language that is beyond reproach. This would confound their opponents, because they will find nothing bad to say about them. He was to implore the slaves to be perfectly obedient to their masters with satisfactory service, to not contradict them or appropriate things that do not belong to them, and as they are consistent by their good faith, they will be witnesses to their God and their Saviour to their masters. (Titus 2:2-10). These gives us some perspective to the general lifestyle of the ancient Near East at the time.
 
Although, some of Paul’s contextual instructions were pertinent to an era past, they remain acutely relevant to us today. What Paul emphasized was that none are absolved from the cultural, political (Titus 3:1-2), social and familial obligations despite a change in their spiritual status. Undeniably, the Biblical context demands that we discharge whatever duties with the highest level of integrity and righteousness as those who authenticate the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). 
 
In terms of political responsibilities, Paul was writing at a time when theocratic institutions were inevitably intertwined with their political masters, not unlike Caesar with the pantheon of Roman gods, where no distinction separate religion from the state. When Christ reiterated that we ought to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s,” He was emphasizing that His people no longer belonged to an earthly theocracy but a new heavenly community. Nevertheless, we have civil and social obligations to the country we belong, with a proviso that these responsibilities do not contradict God’s laws. Paul was unambiguous in instructing that in the public square, believers’ behavior and attitude should continuously “be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men” (Titus 3:1-2). This is so because the reality of their transformation from their prior state of being “foolish disobedient, deceived, enslaved to lusts and pleasures, spending their life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another” to Christlikeness is perceptibly transparent to all (Titus 3:3). And the basis for the change was their redemptive and transformative transaction in Christ, being “justified by His grace… and being made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-8). Paul was not insensitive to the constant struggle that believers experienced in dying to the self, of laying down one’s will and being obedient to God. Note that it is not an alignment of our will with our Lord’s, but a willing complete capitulation of our will in submission to Yahweh’s (Titus 3:5; c.f., John 12:24-26; Rom 7:14-25). For he who has died is freed from sin… but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:1-14). 
 
Tugged at the end of Paul’s Epistle was his advice on church discipline over heresy with issues regarding the Law (Titus 3:9-11). Paul’s concern was with rebellious Cretan teachers who were engaging in theological enquiries that were frivolous, genealogical debates that were speculative, and disagreements over the Torah. Titus was advised not to engage in these fruitless debates, but to warn the perpetrator who was causing fractions in the community with corrective measures in mind. This was in line with Jesus’ teaching (Matt 18:15-17), but when such an offender of ethical or doctrinal error refused to change, he had condemned himself and ought to be put out of the congregation (c.f., 1 Cor 5; 1 Tim 1:1-11; 1 John 4:1-6).