According to this verse, the aged men are to be temperate. To be temperate is to have self-control and to be moderate. It is often easier for an elderly person to be offended or angered than it is for a young person to be bothered in this way. As an elderly person myself, I can testify that in a family it is usually the older ones who become irritated or impatient. Today I can be bothered by certain irritations or nuisances that did not affect me in the least fifty years ago. This indicates that, as an elderly man, I need Paul’s charge to be temperate. Of course, temperateness is a virtue needed by everyone in the church life.
Elderly men should also be grave. Gravity is a qualification of human character which is worthy of utmost respect. It implies dignity and it inspires honor and invites it. Gravity is a virtue which invites the respect of others.
In verse 2 Paul charges the aged men to be of a sober mind. He says the same concerning young women (v. 5) and younger men (v. 6). In 1 Timothy 3:2 Paul lists this among the qualifications of an overseer. To be of a sober mind is to be sensible and also discreet in understanding. No matter what our age may be, we all need a sober mind. If we are of a sober mind, we shall avoid the extremes of being too hot or too cold. On the one hand, we need to be burning in spirit; on the other hand, we need to be of a sober mind. If we would be a proper human being, we need this quality.
If we would be healthy in faith, we need daily to be under the transfusion which comes through the organic union between us and the Triune God. The word faith in verse 2 does not refer to the objective faith, to the things we believe, but to our activity of believing. In our daily living we need a faith which keeps us in the organic union. In order to be healthy in faith, we need to come to the Word and contact the Lord by praying in a living way with our spirit. Then we shall have faith, the infusion of the living God into us through our contact with the Word in the spirit. Faith, therefore, is a living Person infused into us. The more we remain in the organic union with this divine Person, the more healthy we shall be in faith.
If we are healthy in faith, we shall automatically be healthy in love. It is possible to love others too much or too little. In either case, our love is not healthy. Instead, we are somewhat sick in our love.
Why do you love a certain brother very much and another brother hardly at all? It is because you love others according to your own taste. In Philippians 2:2 Paul says that we should have the same love. This means that our love for all the saints should be on the same level. To have a different love for different saints is to be unhealthy in love. But to have the same love for all is to be healthy in love.
According to Titus 2:2, aged men should also be healthy in endurance. If we have adequate endurance, we shall be able to bear the things which bother us and trouble us. We have pointed out that it is rather easy for an elderly person to be bothered. As one who has many children and grandchildren and who is involved with so many churches and co-workers, I can testify of the need for endurance. For example, I need endurance simply to care for all the mail I receive day by day. I receive so much mail that I have developed a filing system to categorize and arrange it. Even this takes endurance. If I were short of endurance, I would not know what to do with all this mail.
Especially those of us who are elderly need endurance. The older we become, the greater is our need of endurance. In particular, the elders in a church need endurance. For example, sometimes telephone calls come late at night. To take care of such a call in a proper way requires endurance.
Once again I wish to emphasize the fact that in the church life we aspire to live a proper human life, with all the human virtues. We do not want to be angelic. Our desire is to be genuinely human.
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