20.09 | Yes or No
Titus 2-3
‘Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.’
Titus 2:15
There are a number of times when we see Paul’s training as a Jewish rabbi coming through.
Rabbinic teaching, it was said, had authority to either bind or loose.
It was a phrase to do with interpretation of the Jewish Law. In some areas, the Law seemed unclear, or it didn’t give adequate detail for certain situations. Binding and loosing was the judgement of the rabbi into such scenarios. Most simply, it described what the rabbi said was allowed, and what was not, what was permitted and what was forbidden. Binding and loosing described what they would say Yes to, and what had their No.
What we say Yes to, and what we say No to, will have extraordinary influence on our lives.
The opportunities that come our way. The injustices we encounter. The words we use. The help we are asked for. The activities we permit in our home. The ideologies we receive. The choice of fear and faith, engagement or withdrawal, love or self. Every Yes is a No to many other things;1 every No is a Yes to something we perceive as greater.
Paul’s advice to Titus today has to do with his unique position of authority. He is leading these networked churches on the island of Crete—a three thousand square mile island in the Mediterranean. Paul knows this, and so he reminds him of his authority, with rabbinic echoes.
Exhort and rebuke.
There are some things that he is to encourage and support—to celebrate and champion. And there are others that he is to stand right in the way of, with a defiant no.
In rabbinic terms, Titus is to loose and bind.
Yes or no.
The future of the church in Crete would ultimately be shaped by simply this: what Titus gave his Yes, and what he gave his No.
Legalism? Yes or no?
Poverty? Yes or no?
Destructive ideologies? Yes or no?
Racism? Yes or no?
A critical spirit? Yes or no?
Loneliness? Yes or no?
Quarrelling? Yes or no?
Yes, or no; loose, or bind; exhort, or rebuke?
You and I have a different field of influence in front of us. And yet, the same question confronts us, for it is in the nature of created humanity to operate in the delegated authority of God.2 This means that you have authority to influence your environment, however big or small that environment may be. And yet all authority can be reduced, in its simplest for, to a thousand binary choices.
Exhort or rebuke?
Loose or bind?
Yes or no?
When Rabbi Jesus taught His disciples this same principle, He said the following (literally translated).
Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.3
The binding and loosing of the Christian is derived from an existing pattern. It is based on that which already is in heaven. If it is permitted there, it gets our Yes here. If it is not permitted there, we give it our No.
So simple. So profound. It can be so profound in how we shape the culture of our house or influence the culture of our workplace. It can be profound in how we parent our children or how we engage with injustice. It can be the difference between a life lived with relentless courage, or that endlessly caves to fear.
Exhort or rebuke. Loose or bind.
Yes or no.
Reflect:
Where do I have influence?
What things today need my No?
What things need my Yes?
Pray:
Father,
Teach me the clarity of
Yes and No,
And the understanding of authority
To use them.
May my life be a defiant
No
To the advance of darkness, sickness, pain and death.
And may it be a joyful
Yes
To the inbreaking light, health, beauty and life.
Father,
Grant me courage,
And grant me vision,
To use the authority that you have given me—
That these places where I spend my days
Become places
Of the heavenly upon the earth.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
1 Chronicles 11-12 | Proverbs 24:1-6
Ronald Rolheiser maybe put it best: “Every choice is a thousand renunciations.”
This mandate goes back to Genesis 1:26-28, which gives both a framing story for all humanity, and an individual introduction to the created intentions for each one of us. Genesis 1 is therefore also meant to tell you your story.
Matthew 18:18