1 TIMOTHY

Paul writes this pastoral letter to his long-term, trusted co-worker Timothy, whom he left in charge of the church in Ephesus (1 Tim 1:1-3).
The dating of the letter is difficult, as the scenario of Paul leaving Timothy behind to look after the church in Ephesus doesn’t easily fit the Acts record. It is therefore likely that 1 Timothy was written after the events described in Acts. Acts ends with Paul imprisoned in Rome (60-62 AD), who is hoping for his imminent release. It is probable that Paul was released from prison and left Rome for Greece and Asia Minor, where problems in the churches had appeared. If this is so, the date for 1 Timothy is roughly 63-64 AD, Paul writing it from what could be called his fourth missionary journey. Timothy and Paul would then have been co-workers for thirteen to fourteen years (since 50 AD, second missionary journey).
By this time Timothy has already looked after several churches and run many errands for Paul, but it seems that due to his rather shy personality, his relative youth (1 Tim 4:12) and the difficulty of ensuring sound teaching in the large church of Ephesus, Paul’s encouragement, authorization and instruction were indeed vital for Timothy. Therefore Paul writes this letter.
Paul had been involved with the church in Ephesus almost since its founding, together with good people like Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:18-19) and Apollos (Acts 18:24-28). Paul uses Ephesus as his ministry base from 53 to 55 AD and spends extensive time there for evangelism, teaching, training of workers and outreach to the entire area (Acts 19:8-10). When talking to the elders in Ephesus about a year later (Acts 20:17-35) he says that he has been “declaring to you the whole purpose of God” and predicts that one of the challenges ahead will be false teachers (Acts 20:29-30).
Ephesus being a center for Greek idolatry, black magic, mystery religions and gnostic teachings, the Ephesian church from the start experienced many challenges and staunch opposition (Acts 19:11-41, 2 Cor 1:8-9). It has continually been battling false teachings and their exponents. In total Paul mentions five (!) of them by name: Hymenaeus, Alexander (1 Tim 1:20), Phygelus, Hermogenes (2 Tim 1:15) and Philetus (2 Tim 2:17), two of them twice.
Paul therefore above all exhorts Timothy to be model of godly leadership to this church. He encourages him to be a good servant of Christ, nourished on the word of faith and on sound teaching, to be an example of godliness, sound speech, good conduct, love, faith and purity; to be one able to teach, correct and exhort (1 Tim 4:6-16).
Then he instructs Timothy to appoint good leadership for the church, both elders and deacons, persons of integrity, godly lifestyle, self-control and hospitality (1 Tim 3:1-13).
He also instructs Timothy to challenge and – if they don’t respond well – silence those teaching false doctrines; for example over-focus on the law, genealogies, Jewish myths and abstinence from food and marriage. Paul also instructs Timothy to silence those who teach or influence others for selfish motives, like pleasure, gossip, greed or having control over people.
All the false teachers whom Paul addressed but are not responding to the truth happen to be male. But is seems that women also played a role in the deception and false teaching plaguing the church. On the one hand Paul finds it necessary to rebuke widows who are idle, gadding about, gossiping and living for pleasure (1 Tim 5:6, 13-15), on the other hand there is a specific woman who is teaching wrongly and influencing the church negatively. In contrast to the male false teachers whom Paul mentions by name, he does not mention this woman by name. It seems Paul has hope that she will respond to the truth if taught correctly, which is what he commands Timothy to do (1 Tim 2:11). Yet in the meantime she needs to stop teaching and influencing the church (1 Tim 2:11-12). Paul addresses false Jewish myths that were prevalent and that must have made things worse, like the teaching that said that women are the source of wisdom and that men receive enlightenment only through women, a parody of Gen 3:6. Paul counters that it was not wisdom, knowledge and enlightenment that came through Eve, but rather sin and deception. But he ends on a note of hope: Eve was promised to give birth to the one who would defeat Satan, Jesus (Gen 3:15). And through him salvation would come.

The apostle Paul writes this pastoral letter to his long-term, trusted co-worker Timothy, whom he left in charge of the church in Ephesus (1 Tim 1:1-3).

Dating of the letter
The dating of the letter is difficult, as the scenario of Paul leaving Timothy behind to look after the church in Ephesus doesn’t easily fit the Acts record. Some suggest that the letter must have been written during the three years Paul spends in Ephesus (53-55 AD) when Paul might have left for a shorter mission trip, leaving Timothy in charge of the church in his absence. Others suggest that this happens when Paul has to urgently leave for Corinth and Greece due to a massive church conflict there (55 AD, 2 Cor 1:15-2:4). What speaks against these two options is that Paul – if present in Ephesus and just shortly away on a trip – would have hardly tolerated so much false teaching to spring up without addressing it himself before leaving.
It is therefore likely that 1 Timothy was written after the events describes in Acts. The Acts record ends with Paul imprisoned in Rome (60-62 AD, Acts 28:16, 30-31), who is hoping for his imminent release (Php 2:24, Phm 22). It is probable that Paul was released from jail indeed and left Rome for Greece and Asia Minor, where problems in the churches had appeared. If this is so, the date for 1 Timothy would be roughly 63-64 AD, Paul writing it from what could be called his fourth missionary journey. It would explain why false teaching had a chance to arise. What speaks against this is that Paul predicted himself in 56 AD that he will not see the church in Ephesus again (Acts 20:25,38), which is in conflict with him leaving Timothy behind in Ephesus in around 63 AD.

An approximate time line of Timothy’s life

Timothy’s life and character
Timothy is a young men from Lystra, born to a Greek father and a Jewish mother. Though his mother is Jewish, Timothy hasn’t been circumcised. He is well spoken of in Lystra and the neighboring Iconium (Acts 16:1-3). In the short time between the first and the second missionary journey (maximum two years) Timothy has already become a wholehearted, outstanding believer in his church. It seems he made some sort of public confession as a believer, probably at his baptism (1 Tim 6:12). His grandmother Lois and mother Eunice were both believers before him (2 Tim 1:5) and carefully taught him the “sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation” (2 Tim 3:15). Timothy has heard Paul’s teaching, seen his conduct, aim in life, faith, patience, love and steadfastness in suffering in Galatia in 47-48 AD with his own eyes and therefore has a quite realistic picture of what apostleship means (2 Tim 3:10-11, Ac 14). It is interesting that Timothy, as a very young and rather shy person, is not put off by Paul’s strong personality or his sacrificial life style.
What is Timothy’s age when Paul recruits him? Nothing exact can be said but quite a few years later (depending on the dating of 1 Timothy, it could be as many as fourteen years later), Paul still says “let no one despise your youth” (1 Tim 4:12). So Timothy must have been young indeed when he joined Paul’s team.

Timothy does seem to need some encouragement to fully step out: “do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders” (1 Tim 4:14) and “rekindle the gift in you through laying on of my hands” (2 Tim 1:6). Paul commands him to not let anyone despise his youth (1 Tim 4:12) but rather for him to practice preaching, teaching and public reading of scripture (1 Tim 4:13-15). He instructs the Corinthian church to treat Timothy well (1 Cor 16:10). He encourages Timothy to study the word (1 Tim 2:15) and encourages him that God “has not given us a spirit of fear, but a Spirit of power, love and self control” (2 Tim 1:8). So probably Timothy was not a natural pioneer, nor an up-front leader or a happy-go-lucky type. Rather he seems to have been introverted, quite timid and holding back. He is therefore quite different from Paul, which does not prevent Paul from recruiting him, but rather leads to years of friendship and co-work, in spite of their differences.
Paul circumcises Timothy so that his ministry could extend to the Jews (Acts 16:3). He quickly becomes a significant part of Paul’s team, and is given a number of missions to accomplish for Paul: he is left in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1), left with Silas in Beroea (Acts 17:14-15), sent to Thessalonica twice (1 The 3:6), sent to Macedonia from Ephesus (Acts 19), sent to Corinth from Ephesus (1 Cor 4:17, 16:10), sent to Philippi from Rome (Php 2:19) and now left behind by Paul to look after the Ephesian church (1 Tim 1:3).
His tasks included helping to plant churches; inquiring about and judging churches’ welfare or situations (1 The 3:6); seeking to correct doctrine (1 Tim 1:3); dealing with false teachers (2 Tim) and giving news of Paul (Php 2:23).
Paul warmly recommends Timothy as his fellow worker (Rom 16:21), his brother (2 Cor 1:1, Col 1:1, Php 1, 1 The 3:2, Heb 13:23), God’s servant (1 Cor 4:17) and says about him: “I have no one like him, who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare. They all look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But Timothy’s worth you know, how as a son with a father he has served with we in the work of the gospel” (Php 2:20-22).
As Timothy grows in his ministry, Paul invests increasing authority in him and instructs him to “charge certain persons not to teach different doctrines” (1 Tim 1:3), to “command and teach these things” (1 Tim 4:11), to “teach and urge these duties” (1 Tim 6:2), to “remind people and charge them” (2 Tim 2:14) and to “convince, rebuke, exhort” (2 Tim 4:2).

The need for the letter
Timothy and Paul have been co-workers since 50 AD, the beginning of the second missionary journey. By the time Paul writes the letter of 1 Timothy, Timothy has already looked after several churches and run many errands for Paul. Yet it seems that due to his rather shy personality, his relative youth (1 Tim 4:12) and the difficulty of ensuring sound teaching in the rather large church of Ephesus, Paul’s encouragement, authorization and instruction were indeed needed.
Since 1 Timothy is a pastoral letter (as also 2 Timothy and Titus), it is also secondarily addressed to the church Timothy pastors right now. An example Paul also addressing the church can be seen in 1 Tim 2:1. The church of Ephesus is meant to hear what Paul instructs Timothy to do, so that they understand the need for his actions, accept Timothy’s leadership and support him in the difficult task of appointing elders and silencing bad influences on the church.

The Historical background of Ephesus and its church
Ephesus is an ancient port city, situated on the River Cayster near the sea. From Ephesus roads lead inland toward Colossae, Syria and the entire East. Due to overgrazing by goats and deforestation for ship building, the river Cayster was silting up and by the time Paul reaches the city, it is declining and mostly living off past glory.
As early as 550 BC the city’s great and famed Artemis temple was starting to be built. It was the biggest temple known to the Ancient world and counted as one of the seven world wonders. Ephesus is thus spiritually a significant center of idolatry with rampant prostitution and lucrative business associated with it. It is threatening this business that made Paul the target of a violent uprising (Acts 19:21-41). Ephesus is also a center for back magic, mystery religions and syncretism (Acts 19:11-20).
It is not surprising, therefore, that the Ephesian church from the very start faces many challenges and staunch opposition (Acts 19:11-41, 2 Cor 1:8-9) and is continually battling false teachings and their exponents. In total five (!) are mentioned by name; Hymenaeus, Alexander (1 Tim 1:20), Phygelus, Hermogenes (2 Tim 1:15), Hymenaeus again, Philetus (2 Tim 2:17), Alexander again (2 Tim 4:14-15), possibly the same Alexander as in Acts 19:33.

Paul’s history with the Ephesian church
Paul had been involved with the church in Ephesus almost since its founding, together with good people like Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:18-19) and Apollos (Acts 18:24-28). Paul uses Ephesus as his ministry base on his third missionary journey from 53 to 55 AD, and spends extensive time there evangelizing, teaching, training workers and reaching out to the entire area. Acts summarizes this time saying “this continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:8-10). It seems that most of the churches mentioned in Revelation and some other letters were planted by Paul or by people he had trained in Ephesus, like Epaphras and Philemon (Rev 2-3, Col 1:6-8, Phm 1-7).
When talking to the elders in Ephesus about a year later (Acts 20:17-35) Paul says that he has been “declaring to you the whole purpose of God”, implying that he fully taught them. This is in contrast to some other churches where he spent very little time, like Philippi and Thessalonica (Acts 16-17). Paul in his address to the elders of Ephesus also predicts that one of the major challenges ahead will be false teachers (Acts 20:29-30), which seems to have come true. By the time John writes Revelation the church of Ephesus is commended for withstanding false teaching: “I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false … you hate the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Rev 2:2, 6).

Timothy as a model leader
Paul therefore above all exhorts Timothy to himself be model of godly leadership to this church. He encourages him to be a good servant of Christ, nourished on the word of faith and sound teaching, an example of godliness, sound speech, good conduct, love, faith and purity; one able to teach, correct and exhort (1 Tim 4:6-16). This will be the basis of his authority to implement good leadership in the church.

Appointing elders
Paul also instructs Timothy what sort of persons need to be appointed for church leadership. In the case of elders, the requirements are the following: “Now a bishop must be above reproach, married only once, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way – for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil” (1 Tim 3:2-7).
The requirement of “married only once” or “husband of one wife” (other translation) is not an obligation for all elders to be married. Otherwise Jesus, Paul, any widower or any woman would be automatically disqualified. Rather this is a stand against polygamy: A person who lived in polygamy and then converted is welcome to be in the church, but should not be made a model for others.
An elder must be “hospitable”, a lover of people, enjoying and valuing relationships, an open person, loving the foreign, the new, the different. He must be welcoming, accommodating, inviting, open-minded and releasing.
Self-control is absolutely essential for leadership: “gentle, not quarrelsome, temperate, sensible, not a drunkard, not violent”. An elder must be a person who creates a safe environment for others.
Elders should not be “a lover of money”, because greed will set leaders up to take advantage of their position, influence and power. Greed will eventually override adherence to God’s will and undermine integrity in the leader. Ulterior motives are destructive. The major temptations for leaders have not changed over the centuries: money, sex and power. One must evaluate where an aspiring elder places importance. How do I prevent greed in myself? By practicing thankfulness, contentment and faithfulness.
Elders should “manage their own household well”. They should be an example. A truly flourishing, thriving and respectful family is a powerful testimony. This cannot be achieved by controlling the wife and children with dominance. God never uses coercion, and neither should a leader. Though here a requirement, a parent is not ultimately responsible for the choices of an adult child. Otherwise there would be no such thing as a free will.
An elder should not be a “recent convert”. This must be weighed against Paul establishing churches and church leadership rather fast (Acts 13-14). Do not deny chances to young, godly, upcoming leaders. Yet if this is not followed, some people will be set up for pride and failure, and will hurt many while failing. A recent convert’s enthusiasm, successful outreach and inter-relations with unbelievers is great, but a bishop’s role is quite different.

Appointing deacons
As for the case of deacons, the requirements are the following: “Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine, not greedy for money; they must hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them first be tested; then, if they prove themselves blameless, let them serve as deacons. Women (deacons) likewise must be serious, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be married only once, and let them manage their children and their households well; for those who serve well as deacons fain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 3:8-13).
The introductory word “likewise” is important: there is not principal difference between elders and deacons, between different levels of leadership. Jesus’ servant leadership is the model for all.
Similar to elders the requirement of self-control is important (concerning the tongue, wine, etc.) and also the absence of ulterior motives (greedy for money). Deacons should be serious, take responsibility and prove themselves faithful, blameless and able. Again there is the requirement of monogamy. Sandwiched in the middle of this passage are parallel instructions to women in leadership, here by context clearly referring to woman deacons. Some have translated this as ‘wives of deacons’ but since there clearly were woman deacons in the early church (like Phoebe in Rom 16:1), this is an unnecessary departure from the obvious context.
It is interesting that the Catholic Church has concluded from this text (and 1 Cor 7) that spiritual leaders in the church should always be unmarried, where as the Reformed church has concluded that spiritual leaders should always be married. Quite clearly neither is indicated.

Stopping the influence of false teachers
Paul instructs Timothy to ensure that false teaching will not spread in the church. Who are the people who teach falsely? There are a minimum of five false teachers who are mentioned by name, all of them male: Hymenaeus, Alexander (1 Tim 1:20), Phygelus, Hermogenes (2 Tim 1:15), Hymenaeus again, Philetus (2 Tim 2:17), Alexander again (2 Tim 4:14-15), possibly the same Alexander as in Acts 19:33. These seem to be people Paul has addressed repeatedly but not gotten a good response of humility or willingness to learn. After several attempts Paul probably excluded them from the church in a procedure parallel to 1 Cor 5 and no longer allows them to teach in the church in any form.
What were they teaching? They are teaching “different doctrine” (1 Tim 1:3), they seem to be leaning to mystery teachings (having a fascination with ‘knowledge’, 1 Tim 6:20). They are busy with myths (1 Tim 1:3), godless and silly myths (1 Tim 1:14) and endless genealogies (1 Tim 1:3). They promote speculation and vain discussions (1 Tim 1:4), godless chatter and contradictions (1 Tim 6:20), resulting in anger and quarreling in the church (1 Tim 2:8). They are teaching about the law, legalism (1 Tim 1:7), abstinence from foods (1 Tim 4:3) and forbid marriage (1 Tim 4:3). They probably are saying that only some people have access to salvation, for Paul counters that thought: God wants all to come to salvation. He wants all to be involved in prayer and fruitful ministry (1 Tim 2:1-7) and is the Savior of all men (1 Tim 4:10). The false teachers were probably doubting the divinity of God, as Paul counters this thought with assertions of God being the “King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Tim 1:17), as alone having immortality (1 Tim 6:16), the one God (1 Tim 25), the only sovereign God (1 Tim 6:15), having eternal dominion and dwelling in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16).
It seems that all the mentioned false teachers whom Paul addressed but who are not responding to truth happen to be male. Yet women also played a role in the deception and false teaching plaguing the church. On the one hand Paul finds it necessary to rebuke widows who are idle, gadding about, gossiping and living for pleasure (1 Tim 5:6, 13-15), on the other hand there is a specific woman who is teaching wrongly and influencing the church negatively. In contrast to the male false teachers whom Paul mentions by name, he seems to have hope that this woman will respond to the truth if taught correctly, which is what he commands Timothy to do (1 Tim 2:11). Yet in the meantime she needs to stop teaching and influencing the church (1 Tim 2:11-12). Paul addresses false Jewish myths that were prevalent and that must have made things worse, like the teaching that said that women are the source of wisdom and that men receive enlightenment only through women, a parody of Gen 3:6. He counters this myth by saying that what came through Eve wasn’t wisdom, knowledge and enlightenment, but rather sin and deception. He ends on a note of hope, though: Eve was promised to give birth to the one who would defeat Satan: Jesus (Gen 3:15) and through him salvation would come.

Difficult Passage 1 Tim 2:1-15
1 Tim 2:1-15 is indeed a difficult passage. It has raised many questions and also, sadly, very narrow interpretations. Here are some more details on this text.
First the structure of the passage needs to be looked at: Paul first states a general principle, then applies it to men (1st example) and then to women (2nd example). Within the verses talking about women, he first speaks about women in plural (referring to all women), then he speaks about a woman (referring to a specific woman), and then he goes back to a summary statement about all women.
The principle is stated in 1 Tim 2:1-7: Paul requests prayer for everyone, for kings, and for government, so that the believers can lead a quite and peaceful lives in godliness and dignity (1 Tim 1:1-2). Through that the church take a positive and peaceful role of fulfilling God’s dream “that all may come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:3-4). Paul uses very inclusive language in these verses, taking about ‘humans’ (Greek: ‘anthropos’) fulfilling his dreams, a gender inclusive term.
Then he applies this to men (1 Tim 2:8): In the context of all believers praying, a specific instruction to men on how to pray is given: to lift up holy hands, no anger, no argument. Paul shows how they should respond to persecution or ungodly and unjust pressure.
Paul then turns to women (1 Tim 2:9-10): “Likewise women”, still in the context of everyone praying, Paul gives a specific instruction how women are to pray: “dressed modestly, decently, in suitable clothing, not hair braided or with gold, pears or expensive clothes, but with good works, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God”. Adorning was understood to be a mark of promiscuity. Roman culture had elaborate hair dressings, taking hours to create. Pearls were the most expensive of all, like diamonds today. Paul challenges the women not to focus on outward things nor compete in outward appearance but rather to become strong, godly and contributing figures in the church.
Paul then switches to the singular (1 Tim 2:11): “Let a (the) woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit not a (the) woman to teach or to have authority over a man, she must be silent”. In 1 Cor 5, when Paul addresses someone he has hope will accept correction and will respond well, he doesn’t mention his name. In the same way in 1 Tim 2, he doesn’t mention the woman’s name, because he wants her to receive teaching and correction. But for now she must be stopped from teaching, for her theology is wrong. Paul nowhere forbids godly women to speak in church (1 Cor 11:5) nor does he forbid them to teach (Acts 18:26). Paul doesn’t instruct this specific woman to be silenced because she is a woman, but because she teaches falsely. The Greek word used in both verses describing her learning is ‘hesuchia’, which means to learn with an attitude of submission, humility and willingness. In Jewish rabbinic literature the word ‘hesuchia’ is used for the attitude of a model disciple. Paul commands Timothy to teach her. Greek has two grammatical forms for commands, a stronger and a weaker one. In 1 Tim 2:11 is the strong form is used (the only one in all of 1 Timothy): Timothy must teach this woman! Paul commands Timothy to make sure this woman has a chance to learn and become somebody that can safely be released to teach others. But until then, she must be stopped from teaching.
Many Jewish myths were prevalent at the time of writing this letter, which Paul warns against in 1 Tim 1:14. For example there was a Jewish myth saying that man receives knowledge, wisdom and spiritual insight through woman, a parody of the Adam and Eve story (Gen 3:1-6). Some Jewish myths said that woman preexisted man, and that men only became men through women. The concept that knowledge and union with the spiritual world was gained by contact with women was also widespread in general idolatry, where sex with temple prostitutes meant to be spiritually enlightened. Some mystery religions had the same concept, as also did Greek mythology, where for example the oracle of Delphi was female, bringing enlightenment. Paul counters all this by saying that Adam was created before Eve, and that it was not knowledge, wisdom or enlightenment that came through Eve’s deed, but rather deception: “For Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor” (1 Tim 2:13-14).
Paul then adds (still in singular) “Yet she will be saved though childbearing” (1 Tim 2:15a). This sentence on its own seems to contradict Paul’s theology as he expounds it on every page he ever wrote: We are saved by grace through faith in Christ, not through anything a human can do. Therefore 1 Tim 2:15 cannot mean that woman are saved by childbirth (not to speak of what such a theology would mean for barren women or girl children dying). But what does Paul mean then? Actually the context makes it clear: Paul was talking about that one deceived woman, whom he linked with Eve, the first deceived woman. The childbirth that will save is predicted in Gen 3:15, immediately after the passage of the fall: one will be born of woman, who will defeat Satan. Gen 3:15 is the Bible’s first Messianic prophecy: a Redeemer will be born in the human race that will undo the sin problem: Jesus. Jesus is the child born of woman that will save. Then Paul switches back to plural, encouraging women (in general) to “continue in faith and love and holiness with modesty”.
In summary: Always interpret unclear passages in the light of clear passages, not the other way round. Paul has never said that anything a human can do will achieve salvation for him or her, only faith in Jesus can. Paul has never excluded godly women from ministering and teaching. Two examples from Paul’s writings to Timothy: In 2 Tim 2:2 Paul uses the gender-inclusive pronoun for the sentence: “teach faithful persons, who will be able to teach others as well”. If Paul meant only men to teach, he would have used the male pronoun, but as it is he uses the gender-inclusive pronoun, meaning he equally wants faithful women to teach others. Also Paul commends Timothy’s own grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice for teaching Timothy well: “continue is what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it. and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation” (2 Tim 3:14-15).

Instructions concerning widows
One problem that seems to have surfaced in Ephesus was the church supporting numerous widows, some of whom did not live exemplary lives. So what social or financial responsibility does the church have towards needy widows?
Basically needy widows need to be taken care of by their own families, as far as they still have children or grand-children (1 Tim 5:4, 8, 16). But widows who have no family should be taken care of by the church. This ministry is to be taken seriously (Acts 6:1-6). Yet Paul also lays many conditions on the widow: she needs to be “well attested for her good works, as one who has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to doing good in every way” (1 Tim 5:10). They must “set their hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day” (1 Tim 5:5). So widows need to depend on God, not look to others and they must keep positively contributing in the way they can, for example by prayer. But “the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives…. they learn to be idle, gadding about from house to house, and they are not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say” (1 Tim 5:6, 13) – in this case they shouldn’t be supported, definitely not by the church, possibly not even by the family. No responsibility without limits, no authority without limits, it seems.

Honoring or rebuking elders
Paul also instructs for good leadership to be respected: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching” (1 Tim 5:17-18). Elders are working hard for the church, seeking its best and are therefore worthy of double honor. Paul further instructs: “Never accept any accusation against and elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses” (1 Tim 5:19-22). Church leaders are not above evaluation or accountability, rather both is needed. If they are doing well, they should receive double honor. If they sin or have problems, there needs to be a justice process (see Mth 18:15-20 or Tim 3:10). Paul warns not to jump to believe negatives about a leader. Yet if there are several witnesses, the issue must be addressed. In this case don’t cover it up, verify what happened and judge accordingly (Example: sexual abuse by church leaders).

Addressing slaves
Paul instructs slaves: “Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful to them on the ground that they are members of the church; rather they must serve them all the more, since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved” (1 Tim 6:1-2). Paul doesn’t let slaves think of themselves as victims but sees them as powerful witnesses to their masters and responsible to represent the name of God. Those who have believing masters must not take freedoms but respect them all the more.

Addressing riches
After several warnings to leaders to not be motivated by money he picks up the issue one more time, in a positive way: “godliness combined with contentment will bring great gain”. He also gives practical instructions or an attitude check list for those who happened to have wealth: “do not be haughty, do not set your hopes on the uncertainty of riches, set hope on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment, do good, be rich in good works, generous, ready to share. In this way they will take hold of the life that really is life” (1 Tim 6: 17-19). Paul is not condemning the rich, but – as in the case of slaves – tells people to make the most of whatever circumstance they find themselves in.

The letter closes with Paul charging Timothy – and us! – to guard what has been entrusted to him (1 Tim 6:20-21).

Coming.