October 9, 2026 - Cretans or Cretins
“He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”
Titus 1:9 NIV
Before this we read again the need for an elder to be blameless in their behavior with a list of don'ts and dos. But there is more to it than a list of rules. There must be a knowledge of the word that is understood and lived out. The actions need to come from a commitment at all levels to the truth of the word and a heart surrendered to Jesus. The only way to lead by sound doctrine and to be able to refute the lies is to be firmly grounded in truth.
“For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” ”
Titus 1:10-12 NIV
We will always have people in the church who will challenge the truth and will speak all kinds of lies. They will be do it in a way that will sound good to those who are not fulling grounded in the truth. They will take scripture and pick and choose what they use to try to convince people of their counterfeit message. They will justify their words and actions by using scripture out of context. They create conflict to disrupt relationships for their own self-interest.
I wonder if this is where the derogatory slag use of the Cretan came from. This wondering got me looking and I found this article (Are You a Cretin or a Cretan? | Crossing Swords) that say,
Are we Cretans whose profession of faith is a lie? Are we cretins when it comes to sound doctrine because we have been following the teaching of “Cretans?” Perhaps our pews would be filled with fewer cretins when it comes to biblical orthodoxy if Christians would take a more manly approach to the teachings of Cretans, and expose them publicly like Paul did.
What do you think?
Comments