Church Bulletin | 050723 “One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’
This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith.” (Titus 1:12-13)

When Paul left Titus in Crete, he was fully aware of the situation that one of his dear sons-in-the faith would face. In fact, as Paul wrote to Titus, he states, “The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished…” (Titus 1:5) There was a lot of things Titus had to straighten out, especially since Crete was a very difficult city. Why was it so difficult? Well..because it was full of Cretans.

Those who lived in Crete at this time had developed quite a reputation. And Paul did not hesitate to take that into account when  reminding Titus of what he needed to “put in order.” He said, “One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply…”

This quote was undoubtedly authored by Epimenides, a fellow Cretan. And though Paul refers to him as a “prophet,” He was not a prophet in the same sense as biblical prophets. He was actually more of a poet. Epimenides simply wrote his opinion into his poetry, but his words proved to be so true that Paul considered them to be quite prophetic. Therefore, he reiterates Epimenidas’ words by saying, “This saying is true.” This was not just Paul’s opinion. Since Paul’s writings were inspired by the Holy Spirit, (II Peter 1:20-21) we must accept this as indisputable fact!

Quite understandably, Paul’s statement could have been perceived as harsh or even culturally insensitive. It may have also been perceived as
an unfair generalization. Imagine if you were an honest Cretan that worked hard, and tried tolive a good moral life. How could Paul say such  a thing about all Cretans. Was every Cretan always a liar? Was every Cretan an evil brute? Were all of them lazy gluttons? Of course not. So what was Paul saying here?

Simply put, every culture has sins that are pervasive throughout its people. This does not mean that every person within the culture struggles
with these sins, or that these sins exist in the character of every individual, but that they are so common within that culture that you can
expect them to be an issue, typically in varying degrees. Therefore, they must be addressed. Imagine building a house in an area that has a
problem with termites. You would surely understand that not every piece of wood in your house s going to become infested with the wood-eating bugs. You would also understand that perhaps not even every house in that area would have an issue with the termites. However, because it is an issue in that particular area you would make sure that all the lumber you use for building your house was treated for termites. You wouldn’t call it an over-generalization that an area is infested with termites, and you wouldn’t call it insensitive to the residents of that area. It is simply a problem that exists, and that needs to be addressed.

In the same way, when building a Church in any city, it would be foolish not to take into account the cultural sins of that city. Like termites
making a nest in a new home, cultural sins can borough their way into the Church, eating away convictions one small bite at a time. This must be addressed, and the sin must be treated!

So what are the cultural sins of our city? Interestingly, in looking back and analyzing all of those who have fallen away within the last few
years, there is a certain obvious trend. Although you may think that most disciples fall away relatively shortly after their baptisms, this is  actually not the case at all. It seems that the most vulnerable time for disciples here in Toronto is the four-month to the nine-month mark of discipleship. Why is that? As I was reflecting on this, it occurred to me that discipleship is like a marriage. When someone makes their vows at the wedding altar, they all believe that their commitment is for life; or “until death do us part.” But how often do those commitments actually stand the test of time? When the honeymoon phase wears off, and the frills of romance start to dwindle, does the marriage
last? For over fifty percent of marriages in Canada, it, unfortunately, does not. That means that fifty percent of the time, despite how messy and complicated divorce can be, couples choose to call it quits rather than to fight it through, or even change. In other words, it’s fight or flight; and in most cases here, it’s flight.

I believe this “flight” mentality is one of our cultural sins. And it makes sense that it is, since Canada was formed by loyalists who did not want to fight against the status quo of England, and migrated North during and after the Revolutionary War. Sadly, this mentality can exist even in the hearts of disciples who say “Jesus is Lord,” and believe that their commitment is for life. But when the honeymoon phase wears off, and the thrill of everything new starts to dissipate; when they are no longer little brother or little sister, and are now being called to become big brother or big sister to others; or when push comes to shove, they walk away.

Like Titus, we must “put in order what was left unfinished” and build into the Church deep convictions on faithfulness and perseverance, as
well as a spiritual toughness to counteract the flight mentality that many of us have. It has been said that there are three stages to a relationship: acquaintance, conflict, and intimacy. The intimacy only comes after you go through conflict. Therefore, the best parts of relationships, and also the best part of discipleship, only come when you “fight.” Disciples must be fighters; not flight-ers. Let us learn to fight against our cultural instincts, lets us fight for our relationship with God, let us fight for our city, and let us fight to the end! To God be the glory!

Evan Bartholomew