TITUS CONNECTION Volume 18, Number 7 – July, 2024

Welcome Everyone.  Am I willing to be insignificant if it would mean glory and honor would completely be given to God?   It can be a challenging question to ponder.  Another challenge is brought up in the Youth Ministry article.  It can be especially challenging for the person described later in the article and cannot be taken lightly because the issues are very real for many people in the world.  Thanks for wrestling through both articles with me.  Mike

Do I really believe that one is too small a number to attain significance?  Am I a loner or even if I have a team working with me, are they working as a team with me?   It is easy to have a group of people around you and all they do is what you tell them to do and never think and develop on their own. Teammates complete each other, not compete.
If you do not understand significance, then you will miss out on what you can possibly become for God’s glory and honor.  The focus must be Jesus Christ and that believers are a team called the Body of Christ.
Not working together in the Body, you simply want little imitators of yourself running around.  Nothing of significance will come of your life as far as making people as important or more important than you.  Heed the words of Andrew Carnegie, “It marks a big step in your development when you come to realize that other people can help you do a better job than you could do alone.”
Rid yourself of insecurity.  16^th Century Florentine statesman, Nicolo Michiavelli said, “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”  How intelligent are you?
Be a ladder builder.  Do not just climb the ladder of your own life.   Help others build their ladders of where they are going in life by encouraging, equipping and empowering them to become the person she/he has been created to become.  When you empower, you give permission to that person to be oneself when accomplishing the task given.
John Maxwell has said, “Insecurity, not poor judgment or lack of intelligence, most often causes leaders to surround themselves with weak people.”  Am I happy for a leader I help to move on without me and seek others who will help in their growth development?  Or am I jealous or upset that the leader no longer needs me?  Insecurity will do that to you and me.
The value of significance leads me to listen, seek to understand, ask questions, work alongside, and make it about someone else other than me.  That is being humble.  If we intentionally make it our job to understand others and find common ground, it will be amazing what can be accomplished and the respect you will receive.
Having people know that they can count on me, that I am trustworthy, and I have their back, speaks volumes.  Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”  That “why” is one’s motives.  If my motive involves making the other person as significant as possible, that the relationship between the two of us is more important than productivity, then they know how I value them.
Significance causes someone to give first and give continually.  I listen because I value you, I encourage you because I want the best for you.  Looking at a person as significant increases their value in your eyes.
Significance is applying 1 Corinthians 12 to your life.  Read this chapter now and see how significant and vital other Christians are to you, and you are to them, pondering the following questions.
Who is the focus in this chapter?  God/the Holy Spirit.  Who gives the gifts as He chooses and why (vs 7,11)   The Holy Spirit for the good of all.  What do all the parts form (vs 12)?  One Body.  Why is there diversity in the Body?  What’s the value of each member (vs12-20)?  We will not all be the same, used for different functions.  Our value is the same for each member.  How shall we treat each member in the Body (vs21-26)?  Honor and respect, love for one another.
Now read Ephesians 4:11-13.  How does significance apply to this passage?  The Body – believers – is to be built up, encouraged and empowered to serve one another and in the process, create maturity in each believer resulting in unity.  By helping one another, we will gain a greater understanding, awareness and fulfillment of what it means to be a child of God.
Can you become complete, be totally who you are meant to be, by yourself?  Why or why not?  You cannot become complete by yourself because you need others to help you become who you are created to be.  You do not have all the gifts nor all the abilities in the world, so what you lack, others can fill in those gaps and allow you comprehend and experience wholeness.
God intended Christians of all backgrounds to become one in Him.  Together there is so much more impact for the Kingdom of Heaven than if we independently functioned.  Where does Significance fit in your priorities?

Of Jesus’ apostles, Matthew was good at math.  Thomas was very factual, wanting to see the evidence, so he could have enjoyed science.  Simon the Zealot was into politics.  Peter, James and John came from the profession of fishing where they could have worked in business or finance.
Jesus was good with His hands, having learned the skills of a carpenter before being His ministry.  Even the Apostle Paul worked as a tentmaker being good with his hands and possibly enjoyed making crafts.
Numerous Old Testament characters like David were shepherds or into farming.  Daniel ended up serving as a political advisor to several kings.  Timothy and Titus from the New Testament stepped into the roles as pastors.
Throughout the Bible we read and see people in many different occupations.  Not everyone was a missionary or pastor.  Most people in the Bible had a profession for their work life.  Was God more pleased with someone who was a pastor compared another person who was a fisherman or political advisor?  I think not.
God gifted the people we read about in the Bible.  They lived out their lives doing what they were good at.  What are you good at?  How are you gifted?  Do you love math or history?  Are you interested in how the human body functions or why things happen the way they do in nature?  Do you like to design things?
Perhaps you love the medical field or biology or engineering.  Is your longing to serve people by understanding how governments and the laws work?  Then you may want to become a lawyer or politician.   Perhaps you love teaching people, maybe young people; then being a teacher would be your profession.
Ultimately only you can decide what you love to do, what you dream about doing.  However you are gifted, pursue that direction.  God put those longings in you…go after them.  Be aware of what Colossians 3:23-24 says,” Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”  What you do, do with excellence and as an offering to Jesus.
One other point is if you are a Christian, you represent as an ambassador, Jesus in whatever you do or say.  “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
As believers in Jesus, we represent Jesus (that is what it means to be an ambassador) in everything.  Our job description as a Christian is to let the people that we interact with, know who Jesus is and that by His dying on the cross and rising from the dead, they can have a right relationship with God too.
Pursue what interests you, what you would love to do the best you can.  Due to circumstances beyond your control, you may not be able to exactly pursue what you want to become.  Government issues, lack of education and medical advances, a lack of funds available in a family and even your gender, can be roadblocks for your goal to pursue what you dream about.
These are all difficult issues to face.  There is no easy answer nor solution.  Ask the Lord to help you think outside the barriers you face and figure out alternative ways to do something that you love that you are passionate about.  It may not be exactly what you were hoping for and dreaming about but ask God for guidance.  Talk to wise people you trust and who believe in you to help you consider alternate possibilities.  The way God created you is not an accident.
Then at the same time, always be God’s representative, to the people with whom you encounter along your life’s journey.  Do that as well as you can.  God gives us those opportunities to help build the Kingdom of God.