Like Peter Pan, many people have fears or reservations about growing up. Fortunately, most of us get over it. But there is a bizarre, tragic exception known as jiriscophobia, or the fear of growing up. A recent article in Case Reports in Psychiatry describes a case about a 14-year-old boy who tried hard not to grow up. The two psychiatrist authors write, He does not eat much because according to his own research, food contains nutrients for physical development. In addition, he adopted a stooped posture to hide his height and began to distort his voice using lower volume and higher pitch than usual. If people tell him that he is taller or older, he becomes extremely upset and cries. Due to the restriction in food intake, he has a weight loss of more than 12 kgs. He is currently in the 25th percentile. Well, after treatment, the two doctors reported that the boy had improved. But they also added, the patient continues to express a fear of commitment and responsibilities that he feels will be required in adult life. I am so glad that jeriscophobia is not a common problem in American society that we hear about. I wish that I could say that about the church in America. Wouldn't you agree that there seems to be a fear of growing up, of maturing? Some believers fear spiritual growth because they know it comes through challenge and hardship. They're unwilling to get involved in ministry because they know it will bring faith-producing trials. They think that they already have enough difficulty and burdens in life and they don't want to add any more, even though they know God will use it to develop and complete them. but there is an effective cure for spiritual jeriscophobia. Is your first response, whenever a plea for ministry is made, an automatic, no thanks? Do you run as fast as you can get away from the possibility of Christian service because you know the challenges and difficulty are inevitable? Well, you may have spiritual jeriscophobia. If you do, please consider this. This life is not all that there is. This life is preparing us for the next. Through temporary hardship, we gain spiritual maturity and we gain eternal honor. Those who live more for the here and now than they live for eternity will suffer spiritual jeriscophobia. Now today's passage that we come to in the book of Titus might not help anyone who currently suffers from spiritual jeriscophobia. You see, we are about to be reminded, as we already have been in Timothy and in Titus, that everyone who is in Christian leadership will battle criticism, dissension, and power struggles. Those engaged in ministry at all levels and in every respect become targets of some of life's most vicious and personally offensive attacks. Christians who have strayed from the truth and refuse to repent find their way into churches only to spread the disease of division and strife. Just as a surgeon must cut out diseased tissue, we will see today so leaders in churches must confront those who would infect the body of Christ with discord and divide congregations into factions. Today's passage in Titus will teach us how to deal with problem people in the church who create dissension. Part of spiritual maturity calls for divisive people to be firmly addressed. We will be told what immediate action must be taken, but it's never easy. A secondary battle often ensues, and the divide becomes more pronounced. because churches have sufferers of spiritual jeriscophobia who simply want to look the other way and ignore a divisive person. They hold the mistaken notion that this would keep peace in the church. They want us to ignore the clear biblical instructions such as what we come to today in Titus, in favor of us all being men-pleasers. Pleasing people instead of obeying scripture feels easier, but only in the short term. The long-term suffering for the church is always devastating. when we choose what feels easier over obeying scripture. Mature spiritual leadership does all things with compassion, but never at the expense of biblical obedience. Mature spiritual leadership never fails to confront when necessary. When I studied our passage for today, I realized that the verse that we ended with last week plays a crucial role in understanding the verse that we start with today. They are a unit together. So I'm going to read Titus 3.8 and Titus 3.9 together. And this is the way they read. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Paul keeps emphasizing good works in his letter to Titus. He mentions them in verse one of this very same chapter. Titus 3.1 says, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. And then he's gonna repeat it again. We'll see it in verse 14 of chapter 3. Titus 3.14 says, and let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful. Three times. Verses 1, verses 8, and verse 14, in this very same chapter, Paul has emphasized their need for good works. Well, Jewish law also emphasized doing good works, didn't it? Paul charges Titus to insist that God's people be devoted to good works, since they are good and profitable for everyone. But in verse 9, Paul now draws a contrast. He says, but avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law. In other words, insist on doing good works. These are still important. but avoid arguing about all the other stuff concerning the law. That's just foolish. The false teaching in Crete, where Titus was, apparently had Jewish roots and focused on two errors, spiritual pedigree and quarrels and fights about obedience to Jewish law. Probably some useless speculations on the Old Testament rules and rituals, especially Jewish laws regarding what was clean and what was unclean. These teachers were causing controversies and arguments and quarrels. But where our focus needs to be is not the nature of Titus's particular controversies in his churches. but the fact that controversies are bred in the church. And they arise from divisive intentions. The point of verses nine through 11 is not so much that we can identify correct and wrong doctrine as it is to tell us that we must silence the divisive person. or the good works in the church will be hampered. Let's look at verses nine through 11 now. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful. He is self-condemned. Now, I want you to notice how similar this is to what Paul has written to the Romans. It's nearly identical. In Romans 16, verse 17, it says, I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught. Avoid them. One of my favorite Bible commentators writes, where there is light, there are bugs. That's true, isn't it? Bible truth, wherever it is taught, should expect that it'll also attract unfavorable responses. Another commentator, Warren Weersbee, has written, I have learned that professed Christians who like to argue about the Bible are usually covering up some sin in their lives, are very insecure, and are usually unhappy at work or at home. So they come into Bible-cheating churches, but spiritually mature leaders must learn to avoid or stand aside from such people. They will consume your time. They'll drain our energy. They'll weaken the entire church's testimony. They think of themselves as the theological elite, spiritual know-it-alls, but our passage says what they offer is worthless. This does not mean that the church leaders should refuse to study, to discuss, and to examine different interpretations of difficult Bible passages. It's not saying that. Paul was warning against petty quarrels, not honest discussion that leads to wisdom. As foolish arguments develop, They should rebuke the false teaching and turn the discussion back to helpful and a profitable direction. It was his first Sunday visiting our church. He was one of the first to meet me at the back door. He walked up to me and asked for a private meeting. There were others that I wanted to greet, so I asked him if he wouldn't mind waiting. And after most of the people had gone to their cars, we walked back into the sanctuary and we sat down. His wife, interestingly, sat several rows behind us, not right there together. And it was as if she did not want to participate in what she knew would be coming. A deacon of our church walked by. and back then we didn't have elders yet, I asked the deacon if he would join us. The visitor said he liked my preaching, but the man, in no uncertain terms, told me how wrong our church is, because I don't preach from the King James Bible, and we did not sing proper songs. by which he meant hymns only and only songs which were on his list of approved worship music. I asked him where he got his list, and he told me a lady who led the choir in the church where he had been involved in the Portland area made a very comprehensive list of acceptable music that can only be used in the church. I told him that I'm not under the authority of this very authoritative lady, and I asked him why he thinks King James Version of the Bible is the only version to be preached. He tried to explain to me that modern versions are translated by devil worshipers. I asked him if he knew any of the translators personally. When he answered no, I explained to him that two of my Hebrew professors in seminary were primary translators, and they are not devil worshipers. They are very godly men. This was a conversation with a person that Paul describes in our passage here in Titus. Our conversation did not last very long. I stood up and I told him that we simply will not adopt his convictions here, and this is probably not the church for him to join. We didn't see him for a month or two, but he and his wife returned. They came back a second time. They came back a third time, and it appeared as though they were seriously considering becoming a part of our church. And so I decided I should set up a visit with them in their home. When I sat down with them in their living room, I told them that we're not going to allow any division in our church over what is a supposed authoritative song selection, or a Bible version choice, or any other matter that I wasn't going to allow it to become a divisive issue, as though that matter were the only way for spirituality to occur. And they both agreed. You know what? They became regular attenders. They joined the church. For years, they fellowshiped with us. They even served in leadership. And there was no problem. We had no issue with them. Paul's instruction to Titus worked. It was confronted head on. We didn't allow it. Swift action was taken. We became ministry partners. Only God could do that. Paul didn't intend his instructions to transform the church into a police state in which no dissenting opinions are tolerated. He wrote these instructions to protect the church from internal strife and corruption. At times, we must fight. But you know what? If we love the fight, we better question if we are following God's priorities. No pastor or body of elders should delight in the disciplinary action of any kind. All correction must be done in love, not condemnation. However, delay in taking action is always a lose-lose scenario, and that's gotta be avoided. We must move quickly in the initial stage when the sin is discovered. We may extend grace of patience as we seek for repentance of the one who needs to be corrected. However, we must be clear, we must be above board, we must be timely. Vigilance and steadfastness are required. all the while keeping Galatians 6 verses 1 and 2 before our mind's eye. That says, brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won't be tempted. Carry one another's burdens in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. It is essential that a church protects and values its doctrinal and moral integrity. Those who would cause compromise in either area are to be confronted, and if they're unrepentant, then avoided. You know what? To do so is loving. Not to do so is to mistake sentimentality for love. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, nothing can be more cruel than leniency which abandons others to sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than that severe reprimand, which calls another Christian in one's community back from the path of sin. We proclaim through biblical discipline that love cares and confronts. It can be tender, but sometimes it must be tough. What it cannot do is stand by and do nothing when one of the family is ensnared in sin. It is as the revivalist Charles Finney wrote, if you see your neighbor in sin and you pass by and neglect to reprove him, it is as cruel as if you should see his house on fire and pass by and not warn him. Because church discipline is brought up so often in the New Testament by Paul and by Jesus, I believe that it is a natural component of the fabric of what the church is and does. No, church discipline is not the focal point of ministry. It is painful, but essential for any church that aims to be a healthy church. Today, as we conclude our study through Paul's letter to Titus, we are seeing two specific aspects for any church that aims to be healthy. Number one is how to handle a divisive person. Now we're ready for number two, which is to be devoted to doing good. Verses 12 through 15 now. When I send Artimaeus or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas, the lawyer, and Apollos on their way. See that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to devote themselves to do good works, so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful. All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Now in the closing verses, Paul conveys some personal information to Titus and he reminds him of the main theme of the letter. Insist that God's people learn to devote themselves to doing what is good in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives. Now surrounding this, Paul reflects his own relational concerns, naming names, personal people and specific situations. And the thing that strikes me as he mentions these ministry partners is this. All ministry, including Paul's, is very dependent on others. we rely on one another to complete whatever the work is that God has given to you and to me. Now, beyond that, here's what I am very much amazed by. I'm amazed the Lord chooses to involve people in his sacred work. God doesn't have to involve people. He could call his host of angels to get the job done far more efficiently. He could bat an eyelash and everything he desires would become reality. Instead, he calls people to become his instruments of his grace. And he equips the church to be the mouthpiece of the gospel. He invites the contributions of men and women who submit to his sovereignty and remain faithful to his calling. If he wants a message declared, he employs human lips. If he wants a truth written, He inspires a human mind and empowers human hands. If he wants grace to be modeled, he calls, saves, justifies, sanctifies, and transforms people to become his examples of loving mercy. What role Have you accepted in the Lord's great enterprise to redeem the world from sin and evil? What call of God have you answered by saying, here I am, Lord, send me? You have been called, you know.