Week 37, Day 5
September 16, 2022 Scripture: 1 Timothy 5 “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.” (1 Timothy 5:22) I’ve stayed silent on much of the controversial passages in 1 Timothy. But today I’m feeling convicted to share my conviction. If there is something that I can be clearer on, let me know. Don’t let this keep you from a conversation with me! Much of Timothy for me is contextual. I don’t take it as literal as other passages of scripture. That often gets me in trouble with people who I deeply respect and care about. The letter to Timothy has such wonderful counsel for us, if we can draw from it the principles in their spirit, as opposed to literal legalism that can squelch the spirit in which it is written. Paul is concerned that people who are in need are being neglected. A situation with widows is proving much for Timothy to manage. The testimony of the church, its witness, is being compromised because people are not being cared for, particularly widows. So Paul gives a plan to care for them. In that context, it makes sense. In our context, should we build up a policy on who gets cared for based on this situation here in Timothy’s church? Or do we take the counsel that Paul offers here and overlay it as a guidance for us in the decisions that we make? I try to choose the latter. The instructions are all about caring for people. If there are those who are in need and their needs are not being met, then we better care for them, and figure out what’s getting in the way. If we as Christians aren’t caring for our family, then we need to get back on track. What gets me into trouble with this sort of interpretive style is that people will then tell me that I’m not taking the Bible literally. I suppose the accusation is true. There are lots and lots of passages I take literally! Jesus truly rose from the dead! I take that literally! Yet there are others that I am open to reading in a different way. Here in Timothy, I’m wanting to read with a bit of nuance, understanding that this seems like a very specific situation that needs addressed. There is wisdom to be learned by Paul, wisdom that comes from God. So I want to watch and listen how Paul corrects and directs his protégé. Consider with me for a moment across some of Paul’s other writing and how we interpret it. Paul deals with sin in 1 Corinthians and casting out the sexually immoral. Why aren’t we taking that with the same literalism that is often projected on 1 Timothy? When’s the last time someone with immoral behavior was cast from the community? I know elders who need to have been rebuked in front of a congregations, but that never happens. Paul teaches that to Timothy here. When’s the last time you saw or heard that? I know women who are told to be silent in the church. How silent do they need to be? This letter has all sorts of makings for conflict, especially in the 21st century. Literal reading does not help build unity or glory to God. It seems to bring about legalism that always bears the fruit of hypocrisy. Am I wrong here, in this proposition? How do we pick and choose what is literal or not? This isn’t ala carte theology. It’s not, pick your favorite and ignore the rest. I get accused of that, I get it. I’m trying not to do that. Here’s how I interpret what Paul is doing in 1 Timothy. This is the guidance that I gleam from him: What will glorify God and what won’t? That’s the spirit of Paul here, in everything. The sin that entangled the Corinthians needed delt with and removed. The women in the context of Timothy’s church addressed in 1 Timothy were apparently incredibly disruptive and gossiping. This sin, it needed to be silenced. Widows were neglected, they needed to be cared for. There were things going on in the community that were far from glorifying God, they needed to be stopped and behavior needed correction. Today, the circumstances that surround us are different, for sure. But the principle at the heart of all of Paul’s correction and guidance is: What will glorify God and what won’t? Let’s make sure we glorify God in all we do and cease what doesn’t. I think he teaches it to Timothy here: “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.” (1 Timothy 5:22) Be quick to care for others. Be sure to avoid sin. So women can talk in church. So can children. Men are to be held to a high standard, especially elders because they are leaders. People will look to them for how they glorify God, and they ought to set a wonderful example in this. Let us all conduct ourselves honorably, and when we fall short, repent and turn to God. Care for everyone, especially those in need. Guard our mouths from disruptive talk that tears apart the community of believers. If we are to speak, any of us, may it be to uplift one another and glorify God. What will glorify God today? What won’t? Choose the former, and repent of the latter.
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AuthorJordan Ickes, Minister of Etna Green Church of Christ. Archives
December 2022
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