Shout Out from the Slave

Paul would begin the book of Titus with some interesting wording...Looking into that for a day or three.

Titus 1:1
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect,

Interestingly enough, Paul, the Roman name given after the blinding light experience, means “little.” In light of this revelation, it is amazing that God chose a name meaning “little” in order to give the Gentile world one of the greatest missionaries and writers of the New Testament(by sheer number of books penned). I suppose all kinds of conclusions could be gathered here, but I will submit to you that there is a minimizing of “us” before God can creatively use us in his kingdom to any great degree.

Shout from a Slave
In the opening words of the story, Paul first and foremost identifies himself first by his name and secondly by the significant title of servant, as the KJV reads, but perhaps more telling in the Christian Standard Bible(CSV) as the slave of God.
This is a remarkable term that Paul would acquire for himself in the interim of his life and service to God, after such a proud and determined young Pharisee. This slavery that Paul would subject himself to replaced a slavery that he had previously experienced. A slavery that totally consumed his being, a slave of sin, of misery, of misled religious leanings, and a bent on killing Christians.


There are numerous yokes that Paul could have chained himself to, and yet that of Jesus Christ was what he chose.
Seems that man(kind) is constantly putting chains on himself, and then shouting to the world, “I’m free, I’m free.”

Chains so often do not come looking like chains, but rather are cloked in some disguise...like...
• Bondage of freedom- the inordinate attachment to being free of all authority.
• Bondage of feelings- the inordinate attachment to loving the feeling of the moment, and obeying the urges of emotion, while negating the absolutes
• Bondage of frailties- the inordinate attachment of those who would rather be bound in body, and living from charity(either in spirit or flesh) instead of labor. This is known as spiritual welfare mentality...loving the disease that ravages the flesh because it brings others to bow at the knees of the sick one.

Freedom is not the detachment of the moorings of life, but more a ballast that holds the ship upright. When one discovers the implications of a life that is set free from all of the chains of life, it often is way too late to recover the ship from the rocks of life. Often, though we don’t like to think of it in this way, we are much better servants of God, church and our families when we have a chain of responsibility yoked to us.

Paul would not hesitate in identifying himself as a prisoner. . .a slave. This is interesting considering the emotional make up of Paul, one that presents itself as one that is a choleric, passionate man that is concerned with being the one in the forefront, taking the lead, and yet he identified as a slave, even to the point of taking up the case of Onesiphorus, a slave that had became a believer.

So, Paul's first identification was that of a slave...

Seems to be that you are going to be enslaved to something in life. . . choose the slavery you put yourself under well