Category: 1 Timothy

“Now a true widow, a woman who is truly alone in this world, has placed her hope in God. She prays night and day, asking God for his help. But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives. Give these instructions to the church so that no one will be open to criticism. But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers. A widow who is put on the list for support must be a woman who is at least sixty years old and was faithful to her husband. She must be well respected by everyone because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she been kind to strangers and served other believers humbly? Has she helped those who are in trouble? Has she always been ready to do good? The younger widows should not be on the list, because their physical desires will overpower their devotion to Christ and they will want to remarry. Then they would be guilty of breaking their previous pledge. And if they are on the list, they will learn to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in other people’s business and talking about things they shouldn’t. So I advise these younger widows to marry again, have children, and take care of their own homes. Then the enemy will not be able to say anything against them. For I am afraid that some of them have already gone astray and now follow Satan. If a woman who is a believer has relatives who are widows, she must take care of them and not put the responsibility on the church. Then the church can care for the widows who are truly alone.”

“I thought the church was supposed to help people!” he shouted over his shoulder as he left the church.  I’m not even sure how he had found his way into the building. I walked into our main auditorium, and he was sitting next to one of the outlets with his phone plugged in.  When he saw me, he asked if the church could help him financially. He needed money for rent. I explained that the church didn’t have finances set aside for rental assistance, and he was offended.  Wasn’t it the church’s job to help people?

In these verses Paul addresses a similar situation.  In his society, elderly widows would have been financially at risk.  They probably didn’t own property, which was the primary medium of investment.  If they had no family and they couldn’t work, they could easily end up homeless and starving.  Paul lays down several rules for when a local church should get involved in this kind of dire situation.  First, if the woman has family, the family not the church should be doing the care-giving. Second, if the woman is young enough, then she should care for herself – she doesn’t need the church’s help.  Finally, she must have earned respect through godly living. These three simple boundaries probably would have stopped the church from getting financially involved in most situations. However, sometimes a situation would arise that met all three criterion, and then the church would be free to help the widow.  

Here’s your freedom for today: just because someone claims that a situation is dire doesn’t mean it is.  There are an endless number of people, situations and causes begging for assistance today. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t mean pouring money into whatever situation presents itself.  Paul clearly teaches here that giving financially to some situations will cause greater harm than good. Generosity requires wisdom, and we are fortunate that here Paul begins to offer some of that wisdom.  More can be found in the book of Proverbs in the Bible. If you’ve never spent time in the book of Proverbs, Freedom for Today offers this series to get you started. Wisdom is a journey; take a step today.

 

“Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!” Do not listen to an accusation against an elder unless it is confirmed by two or three witnesses. Those who sin should be reprimanded in front of the whole church; this will serve as a strong warning to others.”

When I was in college, I visited dozens of different churches.  In some I saw the pastor deeply respected and revered. He was seen as a leader to follow – a vision caster.  In other churches, however, the pastor was treated as everyone’s personal employee – he was paid to carry out the will of the people. Since I was preparing to be a pastor, I became curious.  What did the Bible say about the role of the pastor? As I studied the Bible’s teaching on this topic, this set of verses is one that I found myself coming to.

These verses give several principles about how church leaders (including pastors) should be treated.  First, they should be held to a standard. The church has every right to expect the pastor to do his or her “work well.”  Poor pastoring need not be tolerated. On the other hand, however, when a pastor does his or her job well, the church experiences a two-fold responsibility to the pastor. First, the church is expected to respect the pastor.  This is more than saying nice things – it is treating the pastor with honor. Second, the church has a responsibility to care for the pastor’s financial needs. Pastoring is both time-consuming and challenging work. The church can make it as easy as possible by making sure that pastors at least aren’t financially strapped.

Here’s your freedom for today: give freely to the local church of your time, energy and finances.  Caring for pastors is just one of the responsibilities of the local church. It is a good example of the fact that when a “church” is responsible for something, that means that the people of that church are actually responsible.  The church only does what the people of the church do. There is incredible power in this truth. When the people of a local church band together, they can change their local community. When people in a local church give extravagantly of their time, money and resources, there is nothing the church can’t do.  

 

“I solemnly command you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the highest angels to obey these instructions without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone. Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader. Do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often. Remember, the sins of some people are obvious, leading them to certain judgment. But there are others whose sins will not be revealed until later. In the same way, the good deeds of some people are obvious. And the good deeds done in secret will someday come to light.”

I had just finished a really fun, light-hearted meeting with a newer guy at the church. We had talked about baseball, and our kids, and his job.  He’d told me about growing up in Connecticut and about how much he liked action movies. We had a lot in common, and it was an easy “get-to-know-you” meeting.  As the conversation drew to a close, he stood up and walked to the door. As his hand rested on the doorknob, he turned around. “By the way,” he said, “do you know anything about abuse?” He had saved the real reason for the meeting until literally the last possible second.  Over the next few months we met quite a few times. Those conversations were not easy, but they were helpful. He was able to open up, and through that to explore the path of healing in his life.

Many of Paul’s letters often end with that sort of hurried last minute sort of comments.  If Paul were writing today, it would be a series of P.S.’s. For him, however, it’s just a final list of quick commands.  They are often very practical and very challenging. And for Paul, as you can see by how he introduces this set of comments, they are incredibly important.  Sometimes they are recap statements, like when he says “Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader.” He already said that, but he’s wanting to make sure we don’t forget.  Other times, they are completely new thoughts like “the sins of some people are obvious….But there are others whose sins will not be revealed until later.” Whether a new idea or a recap idea, however, we can be sure of this: Paul thinks they are important, and so should we.

Here’s your freedom for today: listen to the Bible’s commands.  The importance of what the Bible says can’t be judged by how many words it takes to say it.  A command that is explained across several chapters isn’t necessarily more important than a simple command that is simply said once.  Regardless of how much explanation is offered, each command in the Bible is an offer of freedom. If we follow the Bible’s commands, we will find ourselves living the most wholesome, healthy, fulfilling lives possible.  If we ignore the Bible’s commands, we will never know how much we are missing out on. So don’t always rush through reading, especially through a list like this one. Take the time to reflect and ask yourself questions about your own obedience.  Even a single sentence in the Bible has the power to completely change your life.

 

“All slaves should show full respect for their masters so they will not bring shame on the name of God and his teaching. If the masters are believers, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. Those slaves should work all the harder because their efforts are helping other believers who are well loved.”

“How can anyone trust the Bible?” he asked.  “After all, isn’t the Bible pro-slavery?” We were talking about what it meant to let Jesus lead your life, and we had gotten as far as accepting the Bible as God’s word.  This is where he got tripped up, because the Bible didn’t seem like a very modern book. It certainly didn’t seem like a trustworthy book. So he asked his question and then waited to see what I’d say.  

Today’s verses from 1 Timothy are several from among the range of verses that address slaves. First, it is important to note that slavery in Paul’s era had little in common with modern-day slavery or with the slavery of American history. Second of all, note that the verses address slaves, not the concept of slavery.  These verses are not written to men and women who have society-wide impact about how to address a social institution. They are written to a community of believers that included some people who were actual slaves themselves. What does it mean to live life by Jesus’ rules if you are a slave? The answer: respect your master.  This is powerfully consistent with Jesus’ own teaching that his followers should love their enemies.

Here’s your freedom for today: God’s love can empower us to love the unlovable.  From the perspective of a slave, who could be less lovable than a slave-owner? Who could be less worthy of respect than a person who believes that he can own another human being?  There is no human reason to show love or respect in a situation like that. From a human point of view, from the perspective of human rights, the slave has every right to hate and disrespect his master.  Jesus, however, calls every person in every situation to act out of love. This doesn’t mean acceptance of evil social forces or practices. It doesn’t mean condoning injustice. The challenge is far greater than that: to show the love of the crucified Christ even in the midst of taking a powerful moral stand against evil.  Only the power of God can release us to do that.

 

“Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life. Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.”

Before I became a parent myself, some friends of ours invited us to go and watch their son’s soccer game.  He was six, and it was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. This group of kids had been taught to be kind and share, but that wasn’t helping.  The team with the gold shirts happily kicked the ball to the team with the purple shirts. They team with the purple shirts stopped to cheer for the team with the gold shirts.  The whole thing may have been an example of good manners, but it was awful soccer.

In these verses, Paul draws a line.  He has spent this entire letter telling Timothy to teach the truth and to train other leaders to teach the truth.  Now he acknowledges an important fact: there will be teachers who are teaching something else. Paul draws a sharp line between teachers like himself who teach the truth as it is found in Jesus and these other teachers.  He does not seek to be empathetic or tolerant. Instead he speaks in starkly negative terms. Why? Because untruth is destructive.

Here’s your freedom for today: the truth is worth fighting for.  Paul devoted himself to knowing the truth, understanding the truth, and teaching the truth. He took a strong and uncompromising stand against those who taught lies, deceptions or half truths. (Note that he took this hard stand against those who taught deception, not those who believed it). The Bible teaches that “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).  That is only true if you know the truth. It is only true in the lives of others if they learn the truth. The truth has great potential for freedom, so devote yourself to it. Devote yourself to knowing and standing for the truth.  It has the power to set the entire world free.