1 Timothy Chapter 5

vs 13

There wasn't really much in the way of welfare back in the old days, but this verse shows us that wherever there is welfare, there are welfare cheats. Dole bludgers I've heard many Christians call them. Of course, remember that this system of mercy to those who cannot support themselves through an income is entirely a matter of graciousness from God.

This verse tells us that the amount that the widows were supported by the church was enough to support them completely. They had the time to be idle and busybodies, which means they were supported to a liveable standard. I'm not saying that standard was high. But they didn't starve.

vs 14

You might think it's harsh that Paul is telling someone to remarry after becoming a widow, and that if they don't they might not get any help from the church. But their culture wasn't like ours. Getting remarried would be a lot like getting married - you are pretty limited in who you marry. Most likely your parents or some other person will choose someone for you. Some in this position did choose not to remarry (a lot of people think Paul was a widow), but for the majority of people, marriage was a way of life rather than finding your perfect partner.

vs 15

Whether this means they have fallen into de facto relationships with someone, or just that they've become the busybodies that Paul said they would, it's not clear.

vs 16

This is the same principle as verse 8, but with a different purpose - along with looking after family for the sake of your faith, you should also do this because it means they will be less imposition on the church. Remember that churches weren't big cathedrals demanding tithes or anything at this point. They were just small houses of people who gave what they could to help people out.

vs 17

The idea of being deserving of "double honour" is an interesting one. I've heard it said that this is a verse which supports the payment of those who lead the church, the argument being that "double honour" refers to the honour of being in the position and the honour of being paid. From the words as they stand it doesn't jump out at you, but I suppose there could be some sort of greek colloquial meaning to the term.

But note that it's not all elders - it's only those who do their job well, especially those who preach and teach. So those who don't do their job so well are probably worthy of honour because of the position they hold, but the others are worth double, because they do it well.

vs 18

This is the part that suggests they should be paid. I mean, these quotes from Scripture are obviously about getting paid your fair share. Now you could try and argue that this only stands for the church that Timothy was with, but Paul is quoting Scripture to back it up, so that's a hard argument to back.

What is very interesting about this verse is that it quotes as Scripture Deuteronomy 25:4, but it also quotes New Testament and calls it Scripture (Luke 10:7)! Probably far more important theologically, and Paul wasn't even wanting to make the point - he's talking about elders getting paid.

vs 19

Any position of authority requires a certain level of respectability and protection from slander. This verse provides that for elders. We don't really employ the whole "two or three witnesses" thing in the church much (but it's in the Bible all the time) but I reckon we'd probably still do this if an elder were being charged with something.

vs 20

Notice that the punishment for an elder being found out doing something wrong is rebuking publicly. It's not kicking them out of the office of eldership. This sort of grace and mercy has been lost to the church for many, many years. Our faith in God to be able to rehabilitate one of our congregation is completely gone. The thing is, you should really only stop someone from being an elder if they don't qualify for it. Just because they commit a sin (like everyone else in the whole world will, remember) does not exclude them from eldership, or else we'd have none.

vs 21

The elect angels eh? Well, now I'll do it. Wierd.

Christians constantly show favourtism which is good - favouring our families, favouring our church family, deferring to an elder. But you can't punish one elder for doing something and then not punish the next one for doing the same thing. You can't not put one young woman on the widow's list because she should get married if you put another young woman on because she's your daughter.

vs 22

As far as we know regarding the laying on of hands, it was used far more often as a transmission of authority or blessing from the church (to achieve something) rather than for healing people or passing around the Holy Spirit (sorry Pentes). In this context, it seems obvious to me that Paul is saying not to be hasty in the appointment of people to positions, but to find the right person. Otherwise, it may be possible that you will share in the sins of their disobedience in office, because you were the one who appointed them.

vs 23

Well, good luck applying this one.

vs 24

It's an interesting truth that even though some people will be preceeded by their reputation for doing things wrong, quite often their sins "drag behind them" and even though they rock up to your church and seem like a good, possibly new Christian, you've got to be on your toes - they might have been to half a dozen other churches who have already fallen prey to their activities. This is why patience is valuable - because even though their sins trail behind them, eventually they'll catch up.

vs 25

Good deeds are also sometimes obvious, but again even hidden good deeds will come out eventually. Sometimes they don't come to the fore for years. But eventually people will realise that something really good was done. Certainly God will see it.