Showcase - Harris Creek Sunday Morning | 11a |

DEEP-DIVE SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE Based on: Holding the Line: Truth, Love, and False Teaching in the Church Primary Text: Titus 1:10-16 Time: 90-120 minutes

LEADER PREPARATION

(Read before your group meets)

Overview: This session explores Paul's urgent warning to Titus about false teachers who had infiltrated the church in Crete — people who claimed to know God but whose lives and doctrines told a different story. We'll examine what faithful correction looks like, why silence in the face of error is itself a failure of love, and how the gospel — not the law — is the ultimate answer for corrupted people.

Big Idea: The church is called to hold the line on biblical truth not out of arrogance or culture-warring, but out of genuine love — correcting error, sharing Christ, and never stopping the search for the lost.

Essential Background:

• Titus was a young pastor Paul had left on the island of Crete to organize the churches there. Crete had a well-known cultural reputation for deception and moral laxity — even one of their own poets said so.
• The "circumcision group" refers to Jewish Christians who were adding extra-biblical requirements to the gospel, distorting what people needed to do to be right with God.
• Paul's language in this passage is unusually sharp. Understanding why he gets so intense here is key to the whole study.
• The word "sound" (Greek: hygiainō) is a medical term — Paul is talking about spiritual health, not just doctrinal correctness.

Preparation Checklist:

• Read Titus 1:10-16 at least twice, in two different translations
• Review the word studies below and practice saying the Greek terms aloud
• Think through your own answers to the discussion questions before the meeting
• Pray for each group member by name, especially anyone you know is wrestling with these topics

Facilitator Encouragement: You don't need to be a theologian to lead this study. Your job is to ask good questions, create space for honest conversation, and keep the group anchored to the text. The questions are designed to do the heavy lifting. Trust the process — and trust the Spirit.

OPENING

(5-10 minutes)

Icebreaker Question: Think of a time when someone told you something difficult but true — a doctor, a coach, a friend, a parent. How did you receive it in the moment, and how do you feel about it now?

[Allow 2-3 people to share briefly. This question sets up the session's core tension: truth-telling is an act of love, even when it's uncomfortable.]

TEACHING TIME

(15-20 minutes)

HISTORICAL & CULTURAL CONTEXT

(5-7 minutes)

Paul wrote the letter to Titus around AD 63-65, likely after his release from his first Roman imprisonment. He had left Titus on Crete — a large Mediterranean island with a complicated reputation. The Cretan philosopher Epimenides (around 600 BC) famously wrote that "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons" — a line Paul actually quotes directly in verse 12. This wasn't ethnic slander; Paul is making a rhetorical point: even their own cultural voices recognized the moral problem. Titus was working in a spiritually and culturally difficult environment.

The "circumcision group" (v. 10) were Jewish Christians who insisted that Gentile believers needed to adopt Jewish practices — circumcision, dietary laws, ritual observances — in addition to faith in Christ. They were adding to the gospel. But Paul also describes a broader category of false teachers who were twisting truth for personal gain (v. 11 — "dishonest gain"). This wasn't just theological error; there was a self-serving element. False teaching rarely comes without a payoff for the teacher.

The church in Crete was young and vulnerable. False teaching spreads fastest in communities that haven't yet developed deep roots in Scripture and haven't established trustworthy leadership — which is exactly why Paul's instructions about elders (vv. 5-9) immediately precede this passage. Right people and right teaching go together.

KEY WORD STUDIES

(5-7 minutes)

"Rebellious" — Greek: anupotaktos Literally means "not placed under" or "insubordinate." This word was used of soldiers who refused to submit to military authority. Paul isn't just saying these teachers have wrong ideas — he's saying they have fundamentally rejected the authority structure God has established: Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and the leadership of the church. Their theology problem is rooted in an authority problem.

"Sound" — Greek: hygiainō This is the root of our English word hygiene. In the ancient world it was a medical term meaning healthy, whole, functioning properly. When Paul says he wants believers to be "sound in the faith," he's using a doctor's vocabulary. False teaching isn't just intellectually wrong — it's spiritually unhealthy. Correction isn't punishment; it's medicine. The goal is a healthy church body.

"Pure / Corrupted" — Greek: katharos / miainō In verse 15, Paul contrasts those who are katharos (pure, clean — the same root as "catharsis") with those who are miainō (defiled, stained — used of ritual contamination in the ancient world). This purity/corruption language would have resonated deeply with Jewish readers who understood ritual cleanness. Paul is applying that framework spiritually: what you believe and how you live either reflects the cleansing work of Christ or reveals the contamination of unbelief.

IMPORTANT CROSS-REFERENCES

(3-5 minutes)

• 2 Timothy 3:16-17 — "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." This passage shows that the same activities Paul calls for in Titus — rebuking, correcting — are built into the very purpose of Scripture itself.

• Galatians 1:6-9 — Paul uses even stronger language there ("let them be accursed") about those who distort the gospel. This wasn't a one-time outburst; it reflects a consistent, deeply held conviction.

• Matthew 18:15-17 — Jesus himself laid out a process for addressing sin and error within the community of believers. Correction isn't un-Christlike — Jesus designed it.

• 1 Corinthians 13:6 — "Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing." Genuine love cannot remain passive in the face of error. Silence isn't neutrality; it's a choice.

• Luke 15:11-24 — The Parable of the Prodigal Son, referenced at the sermon's close. The father doesn't lecture the returning son; he runs to him, robes him, and throws a party. This is the posture toward the lost — not condemnation but celebration of return.

SCRIPTURE READING & OBSERVATION

(10-15 minutes)

Read aloud: Titus 1:10-16

Suggested translations: NIV and ESV (or CSB). Have one person read each translation consecutively, then take a moment of silence before observation questions.

Observation Questions:

1. What words or phrases are repeated or emphasized in this passage?
2. What surprises you — either about Paul's tone or the content itself?
3. What does this passage assume about the relationship between belief and behavior?
4. What questions does this raise for you that you'd want to explore further?

DEEP DIVE DISCUSSION

(40-50 minutes)

SECTION A: UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT

1. Paul describes false teachers as "rebellious," producing "meaningless talk," and being "deceitful" (v. 10). What's the connection between those three things? Why would rebellion against authority naturally lead to empty and deceptive speech?

2. Verse 11 says these teachers must be "silenced" because they're "disrupting whole households." What does it tell us that false teaching doesn't stay contained to individuals — it spreads? What does that suggest about how seriously we should take doctrinal error in community?

[Leader Tip: If the group focuses only on big theological heresies, gently redirect: "What are some smaller, more subtle ways corrupted thinking spreads through a family or a friend group?" This brings the question closer to home.]

3. Paul quotes a Cretan poet in verse 12 and then says "this saying is true." Why would Paul — a Jewish Christian writing Scripture — cite a pagan source to make his point? What does that tell us about truth and where it can be found?

4. The command in verse 13 is "rebuke them sharply." The stated purpose is "so that they will be sound in the faith." How does that stated goal change the way you understand the word "rebuke"? What would a rebuke look like that genuinely aimed at someone's health rather than their humiliation?

SECTION B: THEOLOGICAL CONNECTIONS

5. Verse 15 says "to the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure." This is a striking statement. What does Paul mean? How does one's fundamental orientation toward God — belief or unbelief — shape the way they perceive and interpret everything else?

[Leader Tip: This is a philosophically rich question. If the group gets stuck, try this: "Think about how a person's worldview functions like a lens — it affects what they see and how they interpret it. Paul is saying corruption isn't just in behavior; it's in perception itself." Don't rush past this one.]

6. The sermon noted that Paul, who usually leads with grace and mercy, gets unusually direct when false teaching appears. What does that tell us about the nature of the gospel — that it has content that must be protected? How does this balance with the idea that the church should be a place of welcome and grace?

7. The sermon drew a contrast between the law (which shows us we're out of bounds) and the gospel (which brings life). How does this distinction shape the way we engage people who are living in ways that contradict Scripture? What's the difference between leading with law versus leading with gospel?

SECTION C: CONTEMPORARY APPLICATION

8. The sermon identified several specific false teachings that have entered parts of the church — including theological claims about sexuality, gender, universalism, pluralism, and prosperity gospel. Without getting into debate, what do you think makes a church vulnerable to adopting false teaching over time? What protects a church community from drift?

[Leader Tip: Keep this question diagnostic rather than tribal. The goal isn't to criticize other denominations but to honestly assess what conditions allow error to take root. If things get heated, redirect: "What does this mean for us, in our community?"]

9. The phrase "who am I to judge?" often comes up when Christians are asked to address sin or error. The sermon challenged this, suggesting that silence in the face of sin is itself a failure of love. Where do you feel the tension between those two instincts — not judging versus speaking truth — most acutely in your own life?

10. The sermon offered a doctor analogy: a doctor who refuses to give an honest diagnosis out of fear of offending a patient isn't being kind — they're being negligent. How does that reframe the idea of "loving correction"? What would it look like to be the kind of friend who can speak hard truth without being harsh?

11. The sermon closed with the image of an entire neighborhood — multiple families, police officers, friends — mobilizing to find one lost boy. The pastor said that should be the posture of the church toward every lost person. What would it look like for your group specifically to live with that kind of urgency toward people in your circles who don't know Christ?

[Leader Tip: This is a great question to slow down on near the end of the discussion. Let it move from abstract to specific: "Is there someone in your life right now who is lost — and what would it mean to actually go looking for them?"]

PERSONAL APPLICATION

(15-20 minutes)

Take 2-3 minutes of quiet individual reflection before sharing. Encourage people to write down their responses.

Reflective Questions:

1. Verse 16 says some people "claim to know God but by their actions deny him." Honestly and privately — is there any area of your life where your actions are telling a different story than your profession of faith?

2. Is there someone in your life — a friend, family member, coworker — who is living in a way that contradicts Scripture, and you've been silent because it felt easier? What would it look like to speak truth to them in love?

3. The sermon distinguished between a "professed faith" and a "possessed faith." How would you describe the current state of your own faith — not as a judgment, but as an honest inventory?

This Week Challenge:

Choose one of the following and commit to it before your group meets again:

• For those who want to grow in the Word: Sign up for a daily Bible reading plan (the sermon mentioned John Green's plan at Harris Creek) and commit to one week of consistent engagement. Let Scripture become your first filter for the counsel you give and receive.

• For those with a prodigal in their life: Spend intentional time this week praying by name for someone you know who is lost or living in contradiction to the gospel. Then consider: is there one step you could take — a text, a coffee, a conversation — to begin moving toward them?

• For those wrestling with truth and love: Identify one relationship where you've been either too silent (truth without love = negligent) or too harsh (truth without love = a nuisance). Pray about what faithful, loving engagement would look like — and take one small step.

PRAYER & CLOSING

(10 minutes)

Suggested Prayer Focus:

Close in prayer that addresses three movements from tonight's study:

1. Gratitude — for the gospel that makes the impure pure, that gives life where there was death
2. Courage — for the willingness to hold the line on truth and speak it with love, even when it's costly
3. Compassion — for the lost: prodigals in your families, friends without Christ, people caught in false teaching who need the gospel more than they need a debate

Prayer Options:

• Conversational prayer: Invite anyone who wants to pray aloud to do so, organized around those three themes
• Pairs prayer: Have group members pair up and pray specifically for one person in their life who is lost or living far from God
• Leader-led closing prayer: The leader prays on behalf of the group, incorporating what was shared during the application time

Closing Word for the Leader:

End by reminding your group: we were all, at some point, the lost boy in the field. Someone came looking. Someone prayed. Someone spoke truth. Someone shared Christ. We gather not as people who have arrived, but as people who have been found — and sent back out. Go this week as people who have been saved to be sent.

This guide was developed for groups wanting to go deeper into Scripture together. The sermon is the beginning of the conversation — this is where it continues.