We pick up where we left off in Chapter 5 with Paul instructing Timothy how to treat various members of the church. We concluded yesterday with him telling Timothy which widows to put on the list of church members that the church is to support financially. Today he begins by telling him what type of widows not to put on the list, then he will move on to instructions involving church elders.
"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." (1 Timothy 5:11-12) It's not a sin for a widowed person to remarry, so why is Paul being so harsh regarding these young widows? In consulting a number of commentaries, it would seem that the overriding consensus is that these women are so eager to remarry that they will marry outside the faith, thus being unfaithful to Christ. Bible scholar Adam Clarke's commentary was quite helpful, for he points out that Paul is saying in the original Greek that these women are like horses who have been set free of the rein, who are running wild, who are using their freedom from a husband to indulge in passion. So it appears that these women who are not trying to rein in their physical desires are falling for the wrong type of men. They are getting carried away. They are choosing the next husband not on the basis of his godly character but on the basis of nothing but strong physical attraction.
With nothing to focus their energies on, Paul thinks that young widows (and especially those who have no children) will become bored and will spend their time in unfruitful pursuits. "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 busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to." (1 Timothy 5:12-13) We have to remember that Paul lived in a different culture than we do. In his day there weren't that many career women. Most young widows didn't have a job to occupy their time. With only themselves to look after, it didn't take much effort to keep the housework and laundry caught up, so there were a lot of empty hours in the day.
We know Paul doesn't think there's anything wrong with widows remarrying, as long as they marry a fellow Christian, because his advice to young widows is this: "So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity to slander. Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan." (1 Timothy 5:14) Some of the young women, in their loneliness and boredom, have given in to sin. We don't know if it's the sin of gossip and of stirring up trouble. We don't know if they have indulged in sexual affairs or if they have married unbelievers. But something about having too much empty time on their hands has tempted them to get involved in things that are unbecoming to Christian women.
"If any woman who is a believer has widows in her care, she should continue to help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need." (1 Timothy 5:16) This verse repeats what Paul said yesterday in verse 4. The family members of widows are to provide for them if they were not left financially well-off. This allows the church to have enough money to provide for widows who have no family members to help them.
Now Paul instructs the church that those who work in the church deserve to be paid for their work. I've heard people (usually unbelievers) say, "Why should pastors be paid for preaching? Shouldn't they be preaching simply because of their love for the Lord? Shouldn't the reward of working for the Lord be enough?" But this is not Scriptural---not in the Old Testament or in the New Testament---as we shall see in this next passage. "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, 'Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,' and, 'The worker deserves his wages.'" (1 Timothy 5:17-18) Paul quotes Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7, proving that both the Old Testament and the New Testament back up what he's saying. The priests made their living from the temple during Old Testament times; this is why no territory in the Promised Land was given to the priestly tribe, because they were to make a living not from tilling the soil or from raising flocks but from doing the Lord's work.
The pastors and church officials in our day deserve to make a living wage from the churches they serve. I attend a large church and we have a senior pastor and an associate pastor. There's too much work for only one pastor, so we pay both of these men a full-time salary. They deserve it. They are basically on call twenty-four hours a day. Their sleep is often interrupted by calls about emergencies or deaths. They miss time with their families because they are at the hospital or at the funeral home. They have to be available to counsel church members who must work during the day, so that means they sometimes miss the evening meal with their wives and children. It's hard work running a church. Those who devote themselves to this work deserve to be paid.
If an elder gets himself in trouble, they aren't to be treated as if they are better than anyone else. But such matters are to be carefully investigated to make sure that any accusations against them are true. "Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, 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." (1 Timothy 5:19-21) Unfortunately, gossip and jealousy are sometimes present in the church, so Paul warns Timothy not to believe everything he hears. If someone comes to him with an accusation or complaint against an elder, he needs to find out if there's real evidence against the elder or whether the accuser is just trying to make trouble. If the accusation of sin proves to be true, based on the testimony of one or two others, the matter should be brought up at a meeting of the elders and deacons. The problem has to be dealt with---for the sake of the offender, for the sake of the other church leaders, and for the sake of the church as a whole. The matter isn't to be swept under the rug because of who the person is. If an elder is living in sin, he shouldn't be treated differently than someone who doesn't hold an office in the church. Sin is sin. God doesn't show favoritism and neither should we.
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