Be good people (Titus 3)

Titus concludes with instructions for the Cretans.  They need to be reminded of the following:

1.  Obey rulers (v. 1)
2.  Do what is good (v. 1)
3.  Do not slander people (v. 2)
4.  Be peaceful and considerate (v. 2)
5.  Show humility (v. 2)
6.  Avoid foolish controversies of the law and the genealogies (v.  9).

The fact that Paul feels he must remind the Cretans (via Titus) underscores the situation of Crete at the time.

One thing that came to mind about obeying rulers and authorities is that it is an interesting contrast to anti-government paranoia I have seen among some Christians in America.  Taken to the extreme, it can get ugly.  Just recently someone sent ricin to various government officials.  Of course, as of now, there is no evidence whoever did this was Christian or not.

But that said, we live in a time of vehement political discourse in America.  Extrapolating from this letter to Titus, I think it is not only a Christian duty to obey the rulers, not slander, and be peaceful and considerate, but ensure the political dialogue adheres these principles.  Likewise, Christians should teach others to be peaceful and considerate and foment vehement political dialogue.  It does not matter what the issue is - gun control, abortion, taxes - Christians have a duty to ensure a safe, respectable, political dialogue.

With regard to foolish controversies of the law, we can infer that Paul is referring to the circumcision debate since he refers to it earlier in Titus 1:10.  But that said, the emphasis of the letter is on peace and ending the division.  We know where Paul stands on circumcision from other letters.  He does not address the substantive issues now, other than to say that the division is more problematic.

The Epistle of Titus ends with Paul expecting to come visit Titus.  This indicates that Paul probably has not been imprisoned yet.  Likewise, there is no mention of Titus abandoning Paul in Rome, which is alluded to in 2 Timothy 4:10.