August 13, 2014 1st Timothy Chapter 5

1st Timothy Chapter 5

Originally posted Friday, September 26, 2008 

1st Timothy Chapter 5:1-6:2a Duties toward and among Believers

The chapter presents specific instructions relating to congregational interrelationships and organizational matters. As noted in the instructions for Bishops and Deacons, the writer emphasizes how both interaction among believers and structure can bring order and thereby foster unity in the church. Special attention is given to widows, Elders (overseers) and slaves.

Addressing other believers is important and must be done with respect. The older men, who may be considered for their wisdom, are to be regarded as a father figure, while younger men are regarded as brothers. In the same fashion, older women are treated as mothers, younger women as sisters - "with absolute purity" of course. We can read into these instructions what the writer has already affirmed: there is a link between the human household and the church which is the household of God. Respectful relationships are expected from those whose faith is expressed in love for one another, itself the heart of ecclesial peace and unity. The writer's parenthetical addition at the end of vs. 2 regarding purity and younger women will be addressed again with regard to the need to "manage" their behavior.

Of particular interest to the writer are widows, older and younger. While all widows are to be honored as the bearers of children, the writer divides them into two classes: the real widows, who have been "left alone," who have no children or other relatives, and those who have living children and/or relatives. As for how the widow is to receive support, the living children and grandchildren of a widow have a religious duty to "make some repayment" as a demonstration of their thankfulness and as a means for her support. Both are pleasing to God.  Such dependence is assumed by the writer to be the responsibility of the widow's relatives and other family members to relieve. In fact, not only is it expected, the writer equates those relatives and family members who refuse to provide support to have "denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever." Real widows, left with no means of support, depend upon God through their prayers and supplications. Although the writer makes no mention of the means by which the real widow is to be supported - beyond prayers and supplications, the early church followed the sensitivities of Judaism where a high premium was placed on the community's duty to support widows and orphans. In vs. 6 he does make a caustic remark regarding those widows whose circumstances are such that they do not need support. To the extent that they live a "frisky" life of personal indulgence, they are already spiritually dead. The writer mandates that these women be instructed in the pious life of prayer and supplications and be "beyond reproach."

The support of "real" widows is clarified through an enrollment process. Widows sixty years and older who have been married only once are to be placed on a register (presumably had she been married more than once, her needs would have been cared for). Besides her age their are certain qualifications - attestations as to her good works and parenting skills, offering of hospitality (washing the feet of the saints as an act of hospitality refers to Christian visitors from other locations). She must be known as one who "aids the afflicted" in the community and "devoted to doing good works." The implication is that these widows, without any other means of support, will be supported by the church.

Those widows under sixty do not fare as well. The writer seems to have a dim view of such women. He is distrustful of their ability to control their passions. In an odd comment he writes that their "sensual desires" become a point of separation from devotion to Christ, for they want to remarry and thereby "incur condemnation." Paul had been clear on this point and he particularly urged widows to remarry rather than be carried away by their passions (only marginally better in attitude about a woman's abilities of self control than our author!). The key to understanding the writer's point may be in the last phrase of vs. 12 - "for having violated their first pledge." It is probably best to interpret this first pledge as the woman's husband who has died. In both categories of widows, the expectation was that one marriage was enough and any additional marriages were the product of lustful passion. However, in what seems to be a self-contradiction the writer hastens to say he would rather have young widows remarry, "bear children and manage their households" rather than have shame brought upon the church. For him avoiding shame and the presence of young widows becoming idle gossips and busybodies is more important than trying to make celibates out of these widows and "their sensual desires." Apparently he has already noted a few widows who have followed that path and "turned away to follow Satan."

The writer's last comment about widows is to urge any believing woman who has a relative who is a widow to assist her so the church

will not have to provide for her support. This is not unsympathetic it is realistic given the number of widows in the community.

What follows are several unconnected additions. The writer turns to the Elders (overseers) of the community.

1) He regards those who "rule well" and those who "labor in preaching and teaching" as deserving of "double honor." Such workers are deserving of their wages (Deut. 25:4, 24:14).

2) If any charge is brought against an Elder the required two witnesses - and three is better, must come forward (Deut. 13:11).

3) Those who have erred and continue to sin are to be publically rebuked as an example to others.

In a closing to this section on Elders he invokes the presence of God, Christ and the elect angels as he exhorts Timothy to justly apply his instructions without partiality (mention of elect angels implies there are angels outside of God's favor, a part of Jewish apocalyptic thought). He is not to use his authority to ordain Elders without examination or to participate in their sin, but to keep himself chaste. Beyond that, and for his own well being, he should drink "a little wine" (as a relaxant) for his stomach and bodily ailments (probably the result of stress).

The doublet on sins and good works are proverbial. Sins that "precede" the sinner to judgment are those that are known to the community and perhaps can be dealt with by community action. Other sins "follow" the sinner to judgment and are unknown to the community and the sinner will be judged on that basis. With regard to good works, some are conspicuous and can be praised. Others are not but they are not hidden from God. This may be a word of encouragement for those who do good works for which they would otherwise not receive praise. God will praise them on the last day.

The writer's concern for slaves is similar to Paul's and those in the Ephesians' household code. The writer encourages the slave to honor his non-Christian master. Not to do so brings dishonor to God which the writer cites as blasphemy. To not honor the master would involve disobedience, idleness or poor work performance. Because the slave is a Christian he is accountable to God for his actions. To act inappropriately puts the Church and the Christian God in disfavor in the eyes of the pagan master. In the case of the master being a fellow Christian, the slave must not take liberties with their equality in Christ which they share, by being disrespectful. Rather, their relationship in Christ should encourage the slave to work even harder for the hard work is to the benefit of a fellow Christian. That all sounds odd to us but the situation of slavery was wide spread in the church and such issues were important in light of the church's need to keep peace with outsiders.

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Note:

The idea of a slave being encouraged to work harder for a master who is a Christian so that God will be pleased and that the results of slave labor will accrue to the slave owner's benefit seems odd if not abhorrent. Christianity lived in a time when slavery was an accepted institution. It is estimated that by the beginning of the 2nd century there were as many as 10 million slaves in the Empire. In fact slavery is what held the Roman Empire together. A loss of slaves would have left Rome stumbling in the dark. Even modest households owned one or more slaves. Although Paul encouraged slaves to gain their freedom - legally, he did not speak out against it or encourage others to do so. To do so would have brought swift and lethal retaliation. He did make it his business to remind the masters that their treatment of their slaves would be tested in judgment. The early Church's attitude to slavery, its acceptance in the Mosaic Law, and the silence of the Gospels was sufficient evidence for this country to accept and thrive on the institution for several centuries while claiming it was God's will and "good" for the slaves who were, so it was said, taken out of their heathen ignorance. All the while the white churches gave scriptural ammunition to undergird the acceptability of slavery, the ownership of one human being by another.

It is difficult to find any shred of the positive in the Church's history in this great sin except that it would eventually be Christians who played a significant role in its abolition. There is another thought that comes to mind. Reasoning from the lesser to the greater: if a Christian slave could be moved to work hard for a Christian master as an expression of his faith, why is it that so many Christians in this century, free from servitude, find it so difficult to work hard for Christ? It's just a thought.