Titus 2:1,2 - Teach older men to be temperate

2:1

Paul has warned Titus about various sorts of “bad people”, and the type of behaviour they indulge in. Now he tells Titus how he should behave. We need to recognise the bad, but we also need to demonstrate the good. So we must teach “what is appropriate to sound doctrine”. Doctrine matters. It affects lives and affects behaviour. In the West society as a whole has rejected the idea that we are created beings owing a duty to our Creator, and this has contributed to all sorts of bad behaviour. 

2:2

Paul now turns to various age groups. Periodically there are debates in the Christian media about whether or not we should have special meetings for various age groups, with the emphasis being on the desirability of youth groups or ministries. There are valid points in some of the criticisms, but at the same time different age groups do need to be treated differently to some extent. Starting with older men, they are to be taught to be “temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance”. We are to be examples to the flock, demonstrations that “faith works”, and what a life of faith is all about.