Bible Diary - 1 Timothy 5:1-8
February 28, 2008
A young pastor has his work cut out for him. Paul recognized this and offered some guidance for young Timothy, who was left in charge of the church at Ephesus when Paul moved on. I think of a young pastor I served with in the 1970s. I suspect he was quite familiar with this passage in his relationships with the older members of the congregation, because I don’t remember any serious dust-ups due to the age gap. Here, Timothy is admonished to deal with the brothers and sisters in his church flock “with complete purity.”
Youthful leadership in the church
5:1 Do not address an older man harshly but appeal to him as a father. Speak to younger men as brothers, 5:2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters – with complete purity.
5:3 Honor widows who are truly in need. 5:4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn to fulfill their duty toward their own household and so repay their parents what is owed them. For this is what pleases God. 5:5 But the widow who is truly in need, and completely on her own, has set her hope on God and continues in her pleas and prayers night and day. 5:6 But the one who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 5:7 Reinforce these commands, so that they will be beyond reproach. 5:8 But if someone does not provide for his own, especially his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
A pure heart, I believe, is devoid of selfishness, hidden agendas, and malice of any kind. To others we ideally should be transparent in our motives and goals. Because I wasn’t born that way (a gross understatement), progress toward the goal of purity is bumpy and long, ending only when I go home to be with the Lord. The Lord has promised his children that the goal of purity of heart will be accomplished in them.
As for the widows in the church family, the congregation must provide for their needs if they have no support from their children or grandchildren. Applying that rule to Timothy’s flock was probably not too difficult.
What about today? The rule still stands, but our welfare state has ignored the role of the church in caring for widows in particular and the elderly in general. The responsibility in the church today becomes being sure that no one in need “falls through the cracks” of our flawed governmental safety net. In Timothy’s church it was either the church or starvation. In today’s church it is easy to be unaware of gaps between governmental and familial care. It is made even harder by the fact that in our society mom and dad often live separately from their children. The principle to love and to serve each other within the body of believers remains.
Dave, getting a little preachy this morning.
-sdg-
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