I Timothy 5, Caring for Those in Your Church

In the previous chapter, Paul has emphasized correct teaching and careful treatment of Scriptural concepts. In this chapter his emphasis is on ministry to particular groups of individuals.  This includes concerns about physical needs and poverty.

1 Timothy 5: 1-2, Treat others with gentleness

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

Timothy is to treat the congregants in his care with compassion and respect.

Paul's advice to Timothy about the treatment of women is sound; they are sisters and mothers.  Not potential conquests.  (I write this living in a country where the president and a variety of politicians and Hollywood producers have all been revealed to have made "lewd comments" about women. There is no room for lewd talk -- or even lewd thoughts -- among men active in the kingdom of God.)

1 Timothy 5: 3-10, Treatment of older widows

Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.

Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.

Widows were often the the most obvious case of poverty and need.  In a culture that tied women to husbands and family, the loss of a husband and the accompanying poverty was devastating.  The church should be the cutting edge in taking over the provisions for these women.  But in a world of considerable basis poverty, Paul is careful that the needs of widows not overwhelm the church.  So he seems to focus on the most extreme cases.

The translation of verse 9 is unclear; the NIV footnotes say "has been faithful to her husband" could be translated "had but one husband".  

1 Timothy 5: 11-16, Treatment of young widows 

As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.

So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.

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 those widows who are really in need.

Paul has concerns about younger widows being put on the support rolls when they may change their minds later and decide to marry and have children.  I don't really understand Paul's concerns, some of which are surely cultural and not reflected in our society.

1 Timothy 5: 17-19, Treat the elders with justice and care

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.

There are two quotations here, one from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 25:4) and one from the New Testament (Luke 10:7.)  This is a rare case in the New Testament in which another New Testament passage is apparently quoted.

1 Timothy 5: 20-23, Steady maturity

Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.

I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to 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.

Here Paul gives a sequence of brief instructions.  Rebuke those (within the church) who refuse to turn away from sin.  Don't act on favoritism.  Don't be hasty.  ("Laying on of hands" is an act of appointment and endorsement; a pastor should be careful about endorsing a junior minister if he/she has not had time to mature.)

The final sentence is personal advice about health. Apparently Timothy was regularly ill and Paul suggests a little wine as medication.  This bit of advice makes it clear that Paul's instructions vary from general principles to specific situations.  As the church, over the centuries, has institutionalized his instructions, it is not clear which of his many instructions (in over a dozen letters) are universal and which instructions are cultural or even personal.  "Culture" versus "universal principle" is an active area of debate in the modern church.

1 Timothy 5: 24-25, Eventually we see good and bad deeds

The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.

Paul echoes the thoughts of Jesus (Luke 8:17) as he insists that what is done in darkness, whether good or evil, eventually comes out.  Sometimes quickly, sometimes much later.  But good deeds cannot be hidden.

Paul wraps up his advice in the next chapter.