Is there a better season than Advent and Christmas for Christian families—both at home and in the church—to ponder, pray, and sing? Trees and lights go up, candles are lit, hymns fill the air, and hearts turn again to the wonder of the Word made flesh and to His return in glory.

Yet right here, in the middle of this holy season, Paul tells Titus to rebuke people sharply. Paul’s reasons for rebuking in the first century are just as valid in our day, and rebuking is no less necessary in December.

Titus 1:10–16 (NIV)
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 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. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

The troublemakers Titus encountered were not pagan outsiders but “believers” within the church whose lingering “Cretan-ness”—lying, greed, laziness, empty talk—made them wolves in sheep’s clothing. By their false teaching they were overturning entire families. Their mysticism, asceticism, and rule-keeping were leading families away from true faith in Jesus. Lies kill.

Paul’s command to Titus was blunt: Rebuke them sharply; stop them from telling their lies. Why? So that they (and the homes they were ruining) might become healthy in the faith.

December will bring some sheep you shepherd year-round and others you see less frequently. All of them remain sinners in need of both rebuke and comfort. They all need the gospel that alone makes people “sound in the faith.” They need you to direct their eyes to the Baby in the manger—to His person (the God-man), His words (full of grace and truth), and His work (redeeming lost sinners by His life, death, and resurrection). They need you to direct their eyes to the clouds.

Advent and Christmas do not call for muted law or diluted gospel. The twinkling lights and joy-filled carols do not cancel the need for spiritual shepherds to protect the flock. They highlight that need. For Christ came as one of us to destroy the works of the devil and to guide us into all truth.

So silence the liars. Guard the homes. Proclaim the coming King.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, bless the pastors of our church body during this time of Advent and Christmas. Through their faithful ministries, guard Your sheep. Make pastors a blessing to their own families and to the family of God; through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

P.S. For further reading, we recommend Pres. emeritus David Valleskey’s recent book, The Splendid Task of the Ministry: A Pastoral Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles (NPH, 2023).