The Apostle Paul left Titus behind in Crete to “put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1:5). The instruction he gave Titus could well apply to us as Bible teachers when he exhorted him, “You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).
The word translated “teach” in the New International Version, however isn’t that which typically gets used for teaching. Rather, laleo simply means “to utter a sound, to emit a voice make oneself heard” — hence, “… to form words with the mouth, to speak” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon).
Titus stayed behind for a reason. That gave Him a voice. He was was to speak into the lives of those he stayed to serve. As we will note in future posts, Titus 2:1, suggests the kind of voice he needed to accomplish his purpose:
a contrasting voice
a consistent voice
Reading on beyond the first verse, we’ll see that Titus 2 provides at least four cues on how to use that voice effectively.
Bible Teachers, We Also Have a Voice
As Bible teachers, we too have a purpose which gives us a voice to not only “teach” (didaskso) what the Bible says but also to speak (laleo) into the lives of those we serve. To accomplish that purpose, we need the same kind of voice mentioned above — one that’s both contrasting and consistent.
Having the right kind of voice, we must then ask how we can best speak into the lives of those we teach. How do we effectively use that voice?
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