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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadGreater Men and Women of the Bible by James Hastings: 688. His Work in Corinth
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His Work in Corinth
Now this was the distinction of Titus-he was a peacemaker. All his other gifts lent their strength to this, and by it whatever claim to permanence he possessed must be demonstrated. He found an opportunity for the exercise of his special gifts in the critical task which fell to his hand at Corinth and Crete. Here a weaker man must have failed; and that fact alone disposes of the theory of insignificance. We are dependent upon the Second Epistle to the Corinthians for the facts which provide an insight into his character. Corinth was the Church in which St. Paul had felt a founder's pride. “I gloried on your behalf,” he writes to them at a later date. That glorying, however, had been rudely disturbed. News had come from Corinth that filled him with sorrow. A shadow was resting upon the Church, and a state of affairs tending to moral chaos prevailed. Stephanas and his fellow-delegates had to report that the Church was lending countenance to wrong-doers. Faction was rife, a grave moral scandal was being tolerated, and unseemliness had crept into the observance of the sacramental ordinance. A man wise enough to restore unity without appearing to have that object in view, and strong enough to stamp out heresy and evil, was needed; and St. Paul, who, as Thurloe said of Cromwell, “sought out men for places, not places for men,” turned to Titus. And Titus went to Corinth. He went to a disorganized Church with the avowed intention of arranging a collection for the poor of the Church at Jerusalem, but with the deeper purpose of reconciling and establishing the Church at Corinth; and by his discreet and able dealing with the momentous crisis he left it in such a state that the Apostle could say, “I was not put to shame.”
Accordingly the highest praise is given to Titus for his zeal and sympathy, his grief at the sight of what was evil, and his rejoicing over that which was good. “God comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me. Yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.”
Her own harmonious and well-balanced disposition enabled our dear “Fräulchen” (Fanny Lavater) to play the part of peacemaker among stormier natures, and her influence was ever used for good. Never in thirty years of the closest intimacy did I hear a single word fall from her lips by which I could possibly have felt hurt; and I was as ultra-sensitive and liable to take offence, as are most children, who are too harshly brought up. With others I was always looking out for blame,-a scolding seemed the natural thing to expect,-never with her! She could find fault, too, when it was needful, but with so much tact and kindness, and accompanying her criticism with reflections that took away all its bitterness and made it sound almost like indirect praise; and then when I looked up at her, half in alarm, with her soft little hand she would stroke mine and say smiling: “There was the horrid little serpent concealed beneath the roses, was it not?” She was for ever pouring oil on the troubled waters, making life better and happier for everyone.1 [Note: From Memory's Shrine: Reminiscences of Carmen Sylva, 98.]
2. To this we must add another service. A collection was being made at this time for the poor Christians in Judæa; and their Corinthian brethren, though at first they had made great professions of liberality, had been dilatory and flagging in providing the promised fund. This difficulty, too, Titus had faced with much moral courage. When he was first among the Corinthians he had promoted this cause with great energy (2Co_8:6), and now he willingly received the Apostle's commission; indeed he was eager of his own accord to return and urge its progress (2Co_8:16-17). His integrity, too, was as conspicuous as his energy. The fund was large, and the Apostle took great precautions in regard to the proper care of it (2Co_8:20); and he appealed to the Corinthians themselves for a testimony that Titus in this matter had been above all suspicion (2Co_12:18). Reading all these passages attentively, we cannot well doubt that this companion of St. Paul was remarkable for a strong, vigorous, honest, fearless character, as well as for warm sympathies and excellent judgment.
“When I think of Mr. Ewing's work and influence here,” said Professor Drummond, “my soul fills with gratitude and enthusiasm for my friend. His concentration, it is true, was exceptional, his initiative very great, his vitality as exuberant as his hope. It is true-and how wonderful this is-that he never did anything but his work. He had no petty interests. He saw always the main stream of the kingdom of God, all currents in Church or State that make for righteousness, and he threw himself into them. But none of these things could have produced the extraordinary demonstration here on Friday last. Intellectual brilliancy could not have done it, nor ecclesiastical position, nor successful preaching power. What did it was his character, his downright, sterling, pure, strong character. Three and a half years of that-it looks very short. But character knows no calendar, for it alone of all forces is infinitely great, and cannot but do its work.”1 [Note: G. A. Smith, The Life of Henry Drummond, 365.]