The Gravity of Youth: Forging an Unanswerable Manhood Text: Titus 2:6-8
Introduction: The War for Manhood
We are living in an age that is profoundly confused about what a man is. Our culture manufactures two false models, both of them grotesque caricatures. On the one side, you have the brutish, chest-thumping pagan, driven by his appetites. On the other, you have the soft, effeminate, apologetic creature that our universities and HR departments are trying to engineer. Both are rebels against God's created order. Both are useless in the kingdom of God. The world offers either chauvinism or cowardice, but the gospel offers true, Christ-centered manhood.
The apostle Paul, writing to his apostolic delegate Titus on the wild and unruly island of Crete, understood that the health of the church and the advance of the gospel depended on the character of its men, particularly its young men. The Cretans had a reputation for being liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. In other words, they were perpetually adolescent. Into this mess, Paul does not prescribe a program or a seminar. He prescribes the potent medicine of sound doctrine, which, when taken as directed, produces a particular kind of man. Sound doctrine builds sound men.
This passage is a charge to Titus, and through him to the church for all time, about the essential business of discipling young men. This is not about being nice or respectable in a worldly sense. It is about forging a generation of men whose very lives are a polemic against the lies of the age. It is about building a masculine godliness that is so robust, so coherent, and so joyful that it silences the opposition. The goal is not just to be good, but to be unanswerably good. The aim is to make the enemies of the gospel ashamed of their slander, not by clever arguments alone, but by a life that refutes their every charge.
This is a high calling, and it is a necessary one. A church full of sensible, godly young men is a church that is ready for war. A church that neglects this task is a church that is preparing for surrender.
The Text
Likewise urge the younger men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be a model of good works, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in word which is irreproachable, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.
(Titus 2:6-8 LSB)
The Central Command: Be Sensible (v. 6)
We begin with the foundational exhortation for young men.
"Likewise urge the younger men to be sensible;" (Titus 2:6)
The word "likewise" connects this instruction to what has just been said about the older men, older women, and younger women. Godliness has a structure, an order. The church is a household, and every member has a part to play. The young men are not exempt; they are a crucial platoon in the Lord's army.
The command is to urge them. This is not a mild suggestion. It is a robust, forceful appeal. It is a call to come alongside and exhort. Young men are prone to wander, to be driven by impulse, folly, and the lusts of the flesh. They need to be called up, challenged, and summoned to a higher standard.
And what is that standard? "To be sensible." This word is central to the book of Titus. It means to be sober-minded, self-controlled, prudent. It is the opposite of being flighty, impulsive, or governed by passions. A sensible young man has his head screwed on straight. He thinks before he acts. He governs his appetites rather than being governed by them. He is not a slave to his moods, his lusts, or the latest cultural fad. He has his mind and his passions under the authority of Christ.
This is a direct assault on the world's vision of youth. The world tells young men to "find themselves" by indulging every whim. It glorifies recklessness as a rite of passage. The Bible says the opposite. True manhood is found not in self-indulgence but in self-control. This is not the crushing of a young man's energy, but the channeling of it. It is the difference between a wildfire and a forge. Wildfire burns out of control and destroys. A forge contains the fire and uses its heat to shape something strong and useful. God wants to make young men into steel, and that requires the discipline of the forge.
The Method of Instruction: A Living Blueprint (v. 7)
Paul then turns to Titus himself, outlining how this exhortation is to be delivered. It is not to be delivered from a distance.
"in all things show yourself to be a model of good works, with purity in doctrine, dignified," (Titus 2:7)
The command to be sensible is not taught primarily through a lecture, but through a life. Titus is to be a "model," a pattern, a living blueprint of the manhood he is calling others to. The word is 'tupos,' from which we get our word 'type.' It means an impression, like one made by a seal or a die. Titus's life is to be the mold into which the younger men are pressed.
This is the biblical method of discipleship. It is not "do as I say, not as I do." It is "follow me as I follow Christ." This means that the character of the pastor, the elder, the father, is of paramount importance. You cannot lead men to a place you have not been yourself. This is why hypocrisy in leadership is so devastating; it shatters the model.
And what does this model look like? First, it is a model of "good works." This is not about earning salvation. We are saved by grace alone. But we are saved unto good works (Eph. 2:10). Our works are the necessary evidence of our faith. A young man needs to see what it looks like to work hard, to serve others, to build, to provide, to protect, to be fruitful. Good works are the opposite of the Cretan characteristic of being "lazy gluttons." It is a life of productive, joyful, God-glorifying action.
Second, the model involves "purity in doctrine." The Greek is 'aphthoria,' meaning uncorruptness. This is about more than just getting the theological propositions right. It means the teaching is not adulterated with self-interest, pride, or the desire to please men. It is pure, unmixed, straight from the source. The life and the doctrine must match. A man who teaches truth but lives a lie is corrupt. His life has corrupted his doctrine, no matter how orthodox it sounds coming out of his mouth.
Third, the model is "dignified." The word is 'semnotes,' which means gravity, seriousness, soberness. This is not about being a sourpuss. It is about understanding the weight of glory. It is about knowing that life is not a joke. We are engaged in a great spiritual war with eternal consequences. A dignified man is not frivolous. He takes God, God's Word, and his responsibilities seriously. He has a weightiness about him that commands respect.
The Strategic Goal: A Silenced Opposition (v. 8)
Finally, Paul reveals the evangelistic and apologetic purpose behind this call to robust manhood.
"sound in word which is irreproachable, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us." (Titus 2:8)
The model life must be accompanied by "sound in word." This is healthy speech. It is speech that builds up, that corresponds to reality, that is truthful and gracious. It is the opposite of the corrupt, foolish, and divisive talk that characterizes the world.
And this speech must be "irreproachable." This means it cannot be condemned. It gives no legitimate grounds for accusation. Of course, the world will still hate us. They hated Christ, and He was perfect. They will invent lies about us. But the goal is to live in such a way that their lies are obviously lies. We are to give them no ammunition. Our lives should be so consistent that any slander against us sounds absurd to those who are watching.
And what is the result? "So that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us." This is the strategic genius of godliness. The Christian life is our primary apologetic. When the world comes to mock and slander, they expect to find hypocrites. They expect to find men who are just as selfish, lustful, and foolish as they are, but with a thin veneer of religion. When they instead find men who are sensible, hardworking, dignified, and whose words are true, it throws them back on their heels. It shames them.
Notice the pronoun: "nothing bad to say about us." This is corporate. The conduct of one young man reflects on the entire church. When a Christian man lives foolishly, he brings reproach not just on himself, but on the name of Christ and on His people. But when he lives with this kind of irreproachable integrity, he builds a wall of credibility around the gospel proclamation. His life becomes a fortress that protects the honor of the church and a beachhead from which the gospel can advance.
Conclusion: Adorning the Doctrine
This is the task before us. It is the task of every pastor, every elder, and every father. And it is the responsibility of every young man to heed this exhortation. Our culture is crumbling because its men have crumbled. They have abandoned their posts. They are either passive or predatory.
The church is called to be a counter-culture, and it begins by building counter-cultural men. Men who are not defined by their appetites but by their discipline. Men whose doctrine is not just in their heads but in their hands and on their lips. Men who live with a gravity that makes the world's frivolity look foolish.
This is how we "adorn the doctrine of God our Savior" (Titus 2:10). We make the gospel beautiful. We make it plausible. We live in such a way that when our opponents come to throw mud, they find that none of it sticks. They are left standing there, ashamed, with nothing to say. And in that silence, the gospel can be heard.
So, to the young men, I urge you: be sensible. Put away childish things. Take up your cross and follow Christ. Submit your strength, your energy, and your passions to His lordship. Let your life be a model of good works. Let your doctrine be pure and your character dignified. Let your speech be sound. Do this, and you will become a pillar in the house of God, and a terror to the gates of hell.