This is a letter written in wartime. 1 Timothy 1 tells us that there are those teaching false doctrines, and those who do so have made a shipwreck of their faith. Instead, Paul encouraged Timothy to continue to teach all that he has learnt faithfully.
Paul calls Timothy to teach the true doctrine in the church. This extends to how he is to select leaders who display the mystery of godliness, Jesus, who came, died and rose again (1 Tim 3). The leaders of the church are to image and show Christ.
Timothy was also called to train himself in godliness (1 Tim 4). This whole matter of godliness is about whether he is following God or the teaching of demons and deceitful spirits. There are only 2 ways — belong to God or Satan.
What do you think comes next? Do you expect the words of 1 Timothy 5 to follow after he talks about training in godliness?
(A) Instruct the church as the household of God (1 Tim 5:1-2)
1 Timothy 5:1 follows from the earlier instructions to train and grow in godliness. In 1 Timothy 4, we see Paul charge Timothy, and it is written with seriousness because it was a matter of great importance.
In 1 Timothy 5, Paul speaks of the way that Timothy is to teach these in the church. He is not to rebuke but encourage older men. This is the kind of authority that is to be displayed in the church — strong and kind. After all, we take after one who, a bruised reed he will not break.
Paul also helps Timothy to understand the relationships in the church. He uses familial terms to describe how Timothy is to relate to the men and women that are older and younger than him. Older men are to be treated as fathers, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers and younger women as sisters (1 Tim 5:1-2).
For many, becoming a Christian could be one where they are rejected by their families, hence, the church is a new family for them.
This presupposes that Timothy knows people that are unlike himself — older men, younger men, older women and younger women. Gender and age matters. There are real differences and context matters. Notice that he is to honour the older men and women — as fathers and mothers — and also to dignify those younger — as brothers and sisters. There’s something special about this family.
Timothy is not to superimpose his experience in his family, as he was charged to respect men and women as fathers and mothers, not his father and his mother. Rather, he is to live out the God-given vision of family. Living with others in the church in this way also shows us that there is a real way to speak with a measure of grace — not just rebuking, but also encouraging.
Family can be difficult, but it is God’s good gift that we are to receive with thanksgiving. The church is to be instructed as the household of God, and to be as a family. The household of faith reforms and rewires our relationships in our household of flesh.
Jesus said these words in Mark 10:29-20, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”
This is God’s design for the church and for all who follow Him! Isn’t it also wonderful when people who are unlike one another gather around the gospel? People who ordinarily inhabit different worlds find themselves living together, and show this world that perhaps we are made for different world. If you are not in this relationship in church, you are denying yourself so much of God’s goodness and blessing.
Paul also knows that there is a certain gender dynamics and men are to steward their relationships with younger women as though they are their own sisters, with all purity (1 Tim 5:2b). Men, are you clear about your relationships with other younger women? How do your conduct yourself? After all, didn’t Jesus speak about the severity of sin, and how we are to completely flee and avoid it in Matthew 5:29-30.
Men and women, what price have you paid so that purity will be known in your life and in this household of God? Do you see the church as the family of God? If so, how are you relating to your family members?
(B) Unburden the church to bear the right burdens (1 Tim 5:3-16)
Paul speaks on widows here (1 Tim 5:3). Why is it important for the church consider how they relate to widows? Widows in their context were not just bereaved, but also lacked the means to provide for themselves.
What is at stake is also God’s reputation. After all, He is the protector of the weak, father of the fatherless (c.f. Ps 68:4-5). Thus, it follows that the church also pays attention to, and helps those who are lacking in everything. This is serious enough for Paul to write to Timothy to command these things (1 Tim 5:7). How we behave and relate to one another in the church is important! It reflects and shows the gospel.
However, Paul also tells Timothy to honour widows who are “truly widows” (1 Tim 5:4). Paul is not concerned about them being not generous enough. Rather, they were too generous and possibly caring for more than they should.
The widow who is a true widow is one with no one to support and help her (1 Tim 5:3). The family of faith is not to replace the family of flesh. The widow’s biological family has a responsibility to care for and honour her. It is a matter of godliness. This is also repeated in 1 Timothy 5:7-8, 16a.
This does not make sense if we operate as atheists, believing that we are in the family that we are in by chance. Or, thinking that family is a social construct, made to make life more expedient. Christians see the family as God’s design, and the specific family that we are born into is also a part of God’s plan. Thus is why the stakes are so high. If one does not honour the family that he is born into, he doesn’t recognise God’s plan and sovereignty.
Paul explicitly states that a true widow is one who is left all alone, set her hope on God and continues in supplication and prayers night and day (1 Tim 5:5-6). She is a Christian, and embodying Godward hope. She exemplifies Godlike living in her prayers and supplication. These are what the church is supposed to do (c.f. 1 Tim 2:1-4). This widow is not a super-Christian, but is to just be a regular christian.
In contrast, a false widow is self-indulgent (1 Tim 5:6). Her indulgences show her hope (c.f. 1 Tim 2:8-9). What does it mean that she is “dead while she lives”? She is showing herself to be not a Christian, thus, this speaks of spiritual death. All who live with hopes set on indulging themselves have a growing hope in dying things, instead of a growing hope in things that are eternal. Pause and think about your future plans. What do you think about your leave and travel? What does it reflect about your life?
This issue of widows is probably a problem, as he spends a lot of time talking about them compared to the elders in the subsequent verses. In 1 Timothy 5:9-15, Paul also compares and contrasts the differences between widows who should and should not be supported.
Paul also writes, “Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows. (1 Tim 5:16)” These verses teach us how we should think about ministries of mercy. The church is to model godly care and relationships. Ministries of mercy done to the household of faith images Christ. Jesus calls His people to live in such a manner — loving one another — just as He has loved us.
Do you know those in your church enough that you can identify such relationships? If not, consider how Jesus loves you? Are you poor in Spirit? Do you recognise that Christ has lavished His love on us? What examples of godliness in this text do you need to work out in your life today?