Living in the heart of the "Bible belt" usually means when you meet someone here they ask you where you go to church. Many people who live in Tennessee claim to know Christ—being a Christian is just part of the culture.
Titus was a man familiar with this kind of experience. He lived on the Island of Crete and was leading a group of churches which Paul had originally founded. Paul's description of the Cretans culminates with verse 16. "They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."
This is why in the previous section (vv 5-9), Paul's qualifications for leaders in the church are not only that they know sound doctrine and be able to rebuke those who contradict it (vs 9). But also that they be, "above reproach." That means he wants their behavior to reflect what they claim to believe about Christ.
Our behavior also reflects what we believe. Does your behavior show others that you are a follower of Christ? If we profess to know God, then our actions should reflect that claim. You see, a knowledge of the truth and a godly life go hand in hand for the true believer.
So I want to encourage you in the same way James encouraged his church: Be doers of the word! Show yourself to be above reproach by listening to God's word and doing what it says.
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