Teach the older men to be … sound …
Summary: Words can be used in many ways. The word, “sound” is especially versatile. The story of an old boat hull helps illustrate what the word “sound” means in this case.
The word “sound” is a challenging word choice for this passage. What do you think of when you read the phrase, “sound in faith, in love and in endurance?”
When I hear the word “sound” used this way, I always tend to think of wood that is solid. Wood that is rotting or has structural damage is “unsound.” You cannot use unsound wood for anything good.
When I was a young man, I came into possession of a boat. Back in the 1950’s it would have been considered a dream boat by many. This particular boat was a 1948 Higgins runabout. The Higgins company made their name during WWII by inventing and building the landing craft that transported troops and equipment from our ships to the shore. (If you have ever seen an old WWII movie of the landing at Normandy Beach, they used hundreds of these things.) After the war, they built pleasure craft for a while.
The boat I had was originally acquired by my uncle somehow. I am sure he picked it up for next to nothing somewhere and decided it would be a good project for his nephews. Of all the nephews, I was the only one of my brothers who ended up wanting to bother with it.
If you are getting the idea that there might have been something wrong with the boat, you are on the right track. It looked like a bad sketch of a good idea. It had been left out in the weather and was a tired, worn-out old boat. But in my mind, it was full of promise. It was a classic “runabout” design, and it had all the parts. Of course, the chrome was corroded, the upholstery was shot, the decking looked shabby, and the hull was rotted, but it did spark the imagination!
It was that last item, the rotted hull, that was the most worrisome. It was unsound. Not the whole hull, but the back half of one side had rotted. It was still there, but it was soft and spongy. It needed to be replaced. I had no business taking on a project of this kind at this stage in my life, but I did it anyway. Then, at the end of the summer, I discovered that selling old boats was almost as expensive as rebuilding them. I practically gave the boat away because I could not afford to keep her.
One of the good things about the experience was learning what it means to have a “sound” hull. A sound hull is solid, it is free from defects, and it is healthy and useful.
Paul wants Titus to teach men to be sound in faith, in love, and endurance. We will talk about each of those concepts in their own time. But before we do, it is necessary to understand what Paul means by the word “sound.” If a person’s faith, love, and endurance are sound, there is no weakness or question about it. They have a healthy understanding of the topic and a healthy relationship with God.
Application: Use the word “sound” to describe your personal relationship with God and see how it feels. Does it ring true?
Food for Thought: How does one evaluate the soundness of things like faith, love, and endurance?
So something is sound in this passage if it is whole, healthy, in good condition, not rotting, decayed, or unreliable.
Who is to be sound?- Older Men
Why? It is God’s will, it adorns the gospel to thoughtful, sensible, just, have a rock solid character, and faith.
When? As consistently as possible. Virtually all the time.
How to Evaluate? Self reflection of our own actions, motives, speech. The opinions of others who know you best if they are able to be shared in a wholesome, uplifting, and encouraging manner. Perhaps there is some or even significant growth, or progress still to be made.
We all need a “sounding board” to know if we are sound in faith, love, and patience.
We can easily deceive ourselves by either being too harsh or too optimistic concerning how we are perceived by others.
The other question is not just how do we evaluate our soundness but what should we be doing to improve in these areas.
Do we have mechanisms in place for progress?
Is the input into our minds healthy? Do we have healthy moral habits and practices? How is our communication with the Father? How is our walk with the Lord? Is worship, praise, thanksgiving, giving, our attitude, affections ect. pure, right, effective, consistent, faithful, active. You decide on the appropriate adjective.
Are our plans, objectives, goals, priorities Christ honoring, maximizing our giftings and spiritual heart desires?
These are a few of the questions we might ask ourselves in evaluation of our soundness. I am looking forward to how others evaluate soundness.
Who knows, maybe your spirit is so youthful that this doesn’t apply to many readers who do not consider themselves “Older”. 🤫😉.
It it probably a good idea to practice these things anyway. I say this as one who is slightly chronologically challenged. Hum. We want to be kind and gracious- yes?
Jeff
Good morning! I see you have been “sounding off” on today’s post! 🙂
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on soundness. You raise a lot of good questions that are useful for self-evaluation.
Some evaluate the soundness of things like faith, love, and endurance by how strong it is. How much can it take and keep doing what its supposed to do. They might take a beating get dinged up but they keep doing what they are made to do.
I learn more about you Jeff all the time. Next time go aluminum.
Mr. T,
A dinghy is a tiny boat. That makes me wonder if your reference to getting “dinged up” was a tiny pun. Hummm??? 🙂
“Keep going…” Good advice and a worthy evaluation.
How that person convey’s their impression on others,..can their faith, love and endurance be heard of in their actions? Does their soundness oppose the gospel or uphold it?
Actions do speak louder than words,..there is soundness in action,..because we really do need to be bold to spread the truth about Jesus,..not everyone wants to hear or listen to the truth,..that is evident,..
The boat though,..makes me think of Jesus having His disciples get a boat ready for Him so He could go out on the water to teach because the crowds were crowding Him,..Maybe He needed the sound waves to reach all the way to the back of the crowd,..now it makes me wonder just who was really listening to Him besides His disciples,..I am thankful that I am able to read and listen to Him,.. for the sound application’s to His majestic principles
John,
I like the idea of doing a double-check on the soundness of one’s convictions by reviewing one’s actions. Soundness in action does reflect accurately the soundness of one’s character. Well said!
Good devotion and an excellent analogy. Great comments too. And “T,” I like the aluminum advice.
The soundness of my faith, love and endurance is witnessed when the hull runs into a storm. Perseverance in the marathon of faith reveals the soundness of the hull. Matthew 7: 24 – 27.
Brother Rich,
You raise a VERY interesting point! A storm will certainly provide a valid test. The wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7 illustrate this point well.
Likewise, the wise boater wants assurance that his vessel is seaworthy before heading out on the water. The ability to evaluate a boat’s seaworthiness is a combination of knowledge, experience, and good sense.
Maybe someday I will have the opportunity to share more of the story about the boat I rebuilt. I was part foolish and part wise in my choices about boating. The story would be a bit different if I were to relive it now. 🙂
How does one evaluate the soundness of things like faith, love, and endurance?
These come from God by the power of the Holy Spirit who also provides the power of discernment so we will see the truth as He instructs each of us regarding our walk with God. He reveals how our faith, love and endurance measure up to Gods standard, not our own. It’s a humbling but necessary process as we see the truth regarding our journey to becoming more Christlike in our service to God.
We are imperfect beings seeking to serve our perfect God. We each seek to reach a goal we know we will never in this life achieve. All we can do is hope, in some small way we demonstrate a true, sincere desire to try.
1 Corinthians 2:14, Hebrews 5:14, Philippians 1:9-10, Romans 12:2
Thank you, Ron.
Serving our God is a humbling process. I like how you put that.
Brother Jeff,
Really enjoyed your boat story, how it brought to mind how our God restores the broken.
Keep up the great work!
Brother Ron
Thank you, Ron!
That is a great insight! I am sure that God is a better boat builder than I was, but then if Jesus can walk on water he can keep us afloat, too. 🙂
Maybe it’s just me but pull the dingy out of the river, lake, or ocean seems like a good idea if there is word a huge storm is coming. Finding shelter and protection from the elements during a heavy storm with lightning. thunder, and potential gale force or higher winds also seems prudent.
I am thankful Jesus can say “Peace, be still” to the wind and waves and they obey Him. However I realize I do not have this power.
I love the idea that the Lord makes the storm clouds His chariot, and rides the winds with mighty wings to protect His own and deliver justice to those who try to harm them. (Psalm 18:9-19, 36:7, 57:1, 61: 4, 63:7, 91:4, Ruth 2:12. Also Joshua 10:11, Judges 5::20-22, 1 Samuel 2:10, 7:10, 2 Samuel 5:24, and Isaiah 29:6).
I am thankful I can trust God’s love and protection. He is my strength, my rock, my fortress, my refuge, and my deliverer ( Psalm 18: 1-3).
In my spirit I would love to ride with Him in or above the clouds with Him in control, or else in peaceful serenity above the storm below, with my spirit and soul in complete peace and tranquility during the storm. Relying on the Father, who gives peace that passes all understanding. God provides and promises this for our hearts and minds as we trust Him. All we do is by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present our requests to Him and trust Him with the items over which have no control, which is a great deal (Phillippians 4: 4-7).
👍🏻