Part of the understanding of what causes the crises within the church has to do with knowing the culture in which the church of Christ has been placed. In Paul’s letter to Titus he gives us further understanding of the people of Crete in chapter 1 verse 12, where he quotes ancient writers of his day saying that the lot of them are “always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons,” and Paul affirms the truth of this in his words of verse 13, saying, “This testimony is true.” Throughout this letter, Paul tells of these Cretan characteristics and puts them in stark contrast to the expected transformation and now new Christian characteristics.
They may have been a wicked and corrupt society, made up of “liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons,” but in Christ they weren’t to remain in their former condition. Though Paul’s words described the society that made up the island of Crete, the context of the passage is not aimed at correction of society but correction of the church. As I read this little three-chapter book, the theme reads much like a maintenance manual, where step-by-step instructions are given to the building superintendent on how to fix what is broken, clean up what is a mess, and generally provide a daily maintenance schedule.
When the church is overwhelmed with problems, the usual cause is that the world is invading the church because the church has ceased infiltrating the world.