This week's Bible study will be the rest of 1st Timothy chapter 5

Advice From the Apostle Paul to Church Elders

and Those Who Aspire To Be

[1^st Timothy chapter 5, verses 15-25]

Today we will be finishing up the fifth chapter of First Timothy from verses fifteen to twenty-five. As we begin today we find the apostle Paul finishing his thoughts about widows and how they should be living. Evidently there were at least a few widows who were living it up, and others within the various churches were complaining about it. Apparently word of this had reached Paul, compelling him to intervene. As we begin at verse 16, Paul weighs in on how the more prosperous women should be more willing to assist the most needy and elderly ones.

“If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help the widows who are really in need. The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, 'Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain', and 'The worker deserves his wages'. Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that others may take warning.” (1^st Timothy chapter 5, verses 16-20, NIV)

“If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help the widows who are really in need.” Here we can see in stark detail the difference between what life was like in Paul's time compared to what it is today. Back then, the care of the sick and the elderly was viewed as being one of the primary functions of the church community. This tradition remained much the same way up until around the 1930's during the Great Depression era. The enactment of the Social Security Act of 1935 was the beginning of the end of this tradition, as government took on – I would call it usurped – the care of the sick and the elderly. To exacerbate the situation, some of the churches (never mind which ones, that's not important) became slack in their duties to tend to the needs of the poor, having been given the mistaken impression by the government of that era that, “Your good old Uncle Sam has everything under control”. As anyone who has ever dealt with the majority of the US federal government knows, nothing could be further from the truth. At any rate, the greater Church recognized and began to correct this error when President Kennedy launched his “war on poverty” campaign back in the early 1960's, with the established churches both great and small being inspired by his example. This war on poverty that John F. Kennedy started still resounds today, and I am honored and feel privileged to be a part of it.

“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” Notice that it says those who direct the church's affairs well are most commendable, not just 'those who direct the church'. I see too many pastors today who have turned their churches into profitable enterprises by buying airtime on Christian TV stations for the sole express purpose of soliciting donations. These people are in the ministry for all the wrong reasons, and I prophesy that God will deal with each of them most severely according to what he or she has done. “Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that others may take warning.” How would you like to be involved in a church like that? Getting caught up in a shady business deal, or cheating on one's spouse, or getting caught up in a law enforcement sting operation would, in that eventuality, get any of us vilified right in front of the entire congregation, much to the complete shame and embarrassment of those who would be accused. Now there's something that would instantly cause the genuine fear of God to be firmly planted in the hearts of men and women all over this planet! Bearing that in mind, let's move on now and finish today's study.

“I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and do nothing out of favoritism. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.” (1^st Timothy chapter 4, verses 21-24, NIV)

“I charge you ... to keep these instructions without partiality, and do nothing out of favoritism.” These are timeless instructions, no question about it. Plus, impartiality applies equally to churches as well as businesses. Would any of us run a business favoring one or more employees over the others, or pastor a church showing favoritism to certain members of the congregation while excluding others? Of course not! Yet sadly there are a few – and thank God it's not a majority – who are doing this very thing both in the workplace and at houses of worship. I can practically hear God telling me right now that those who do not confess their sins and repent of them will be dealt with most severely on the Day of Judgment. “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.” Paul was referring to the laying on of hands during prayer for any individual who was sick and asking for healing. Not sharing in the sins of others and keeping ourselves pure are self-explanatory. They should be put into practice from the time we get up until the time we go to sleep at night.

“Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” This is a Scripture, or one of them, that I quote whenever I find myself talking to any Christian who thinks that abstinence from alcoholic beverages is a way into heaven. That is actually only true up to a point. If anyone feels any conviction about their drinking, they should stop. By the same token, if there is one who struggles with addiction, there is certainly no shame in asking for help. This would be an instance where I think the “laying on of hands” would be very appropriate. Just remember that Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine, and it is documented that there were at least two glasses of wine consumed at the Last Supper. Those two facts alone shoot down the argument that one must be a teetotaler in order to be born again. As we have just read, even the apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to drink a little wine for medicinal purposes.

“The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.” The sins of some go before them because of bad reputations. But the sins of the sneaky and the trickster, no matter how cunning they may be, will sneak back up on them in the end. I think it's safe to say that none of us wants to be the unlucky recipient of either of those two fates. Instead, follow Paul's advice. If you want to be a person who has no need to prove themselves to others, then spend as much time as you can involved in contributing to the betterment of others. It doesn't matter what you do or how you go about it, just do what works best for you and for your clients or church members. People who spend their days making positive contributions in the service of others build good reputations that last a lifetime. Even those deeds which aren't very obvious, even if they are deliberately hidden, will still emerge sooner or later, and always at just the right moment. Jesus said it best: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”. God isn't nearly as interested in how much you donate to the church each month as he is in how you treat those around you, or how well you treat people you don't know, especially when no one else is looking. Let's focus on that until next time. Let's love our neighbors as ourselves just as Jesus taught us. Since the world is an infinitely smaller place than it was during the time of Christ, that means our love must by default extend outward globally from each of us. Let's continue to practice that until next time, when we'll be finishing up First Timothy. Shalom!