Titus 2
1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
In his invaluable background work on the New Testament world, Craig Keener makes a very interesting observation about the church and its place in Roman society.
Because the Romans suspected minority religions, especially religions from the East with ecstatic elements to their worship, of subverting traditional family values, minority religions often followed the philosophers in exhorting adherents to follow “household codes.” These codes instructed male heads of households how to treat each member of the household, especially wives, children and slaves. Under the broad topic of “household management,” such codes also extended to treatment of parents, duties to the state (3:1) and duties to the gods. Because the church met in homes and was viewed as a sort of extended family around the household of the patron in whose home the believers met, the instructions naturally quickly extended to categories of relationships in the church.
Early Christian adaptation of Roman social relations was valuable for the church’s witness to society and for diminishing preventable opposition to the gospel (2:5, 8, 10). Modern readers often recognize only the traditional values of their own culture, but one should recognize that Paul addresses instead the traditional Roman values of his day (including the household slavery of his day, which differed from many other societies’ models of slavery).[1]
In other words, in the book of Titus, Paul encourages the believers on Crete to order their households in such a way as to avoid unnecessary offense. The gospel itself was an offense (1 Corinthians 1:18–25) to Roman culture. Paul did not want the households and lives of the believers to be an offense through low living or a lack of integrity. In other words: To offend a skeptical culture with the gospel was inevitable. To offend through disordered homes and lives was not.