“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 5:21
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you know a widow? Do you know an elder? Do you drink wine? 1 Timothy 5 has Paul advising Timothy on how to help widows, how to deal with elders and why he should drink wine. Not long before Paul wrote the first of the two ‘pastoral letters’ that he sent to Timothy; Paul may have freed from a jail in the city of Rome. Before Paul asked Timothy to take on an understood felt need in the city of Ephesus – which was to have a guy on site to oversee in the city of Ephesus emergent Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals, Timothy – while Paul was mentoring him, had traveled extensively for at least ten years with Paul on Paul’s missionary journeys. Paul was who was most responsible for the growth of the Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals in the city of Ephesus. While he was on his third missionary journey – which took him to the city of Ephesus, Paul taught in the Tyrannus Lecture Hall in the city of Ephesus his beliefs as a Christ-follower. Paul very probably ‘planted’ Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals during the two plus years that he spent living in the city of Ephesus. Paul’s solution to maintaining order in burgeoning Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals was to position a guy as an elder in each Christ-follower fellowship. As this new belief paradigm that centered on the life and death of Jesus Christ amassed more and more adherents, it became apparent that certain internal issues in Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals needed to be addressed. It may have been that there were a lot of widows who were accepting the absolute truths relevant to the suffering and death – while being hung on and nailed to a cross, of an incarnated guy by the name of Jesus and of Jesus’ subsequent resurrection from being dead and His ascension to heaven. It may have been that there were well-meaning guys who were taking on Christ-follower fellowships’ elder position without first being vetted that included learning how to teach and preach from learned and enabled Christ-follower guys. It may have been that there were guys who were publicly questioning or criticizing a decision or a lifestyle norm of a positioned elder in a Christ-follower fellowship without first going to the elder with two or three other guys who had the same concern or concerns about the elder to confront the elder. It may have been that there was a spirit of disrespect haunting the Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals that were in the city of Ephesus that had old guys having young guys harshly rebuking them, young guys not treating each other as family-like bros and older gals whose husbands had died not being given a proper recognition and/or help in their plights as widows.
How do you feel when you are asked to take on a responsibility that involves overseeing other kids or even guys and gals? An assigned or abdicated responsibility can become stomach wrenching when a decision that has to be made will affect the lives of other guys, gals and kids. It may have been an ongoing struggle for Timothy to make decisions. Timothy – just by the context of his name, may have been timid. Timothy was also probably younger than most – if not all, of the Christ-follower fellowship positioned elders, when Paul asked him to take on overseeing the maturing Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals that were in the city of Ephesus. Paul – when he told Timothy to drink wine, knew that the water in the city of Ephesus was polluted and that was the reason why Timothy’s weak stomach was being aggravated.
Verse 21 is a profound reminder for a guy who is craving to be in a leadership position of a Christ-follower fellowship of guys, gals and kids, “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.” Becoming a Christ-follower fellowship pastor or elder these days – to your grandpaa, should have a lot more Biblically based expectations attached to the position than what it now seems to have. In many Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals today, elders are congregationally voted into the position versus being determined by already positioned elders to be capable and worthy of enacting Christ-follower fellowship responsibilities by have been enabled and skilled in teaching and preaching Biblical absolutes to the guys, gals and kids who are in his Christ-follower fellowship. Today in many Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals, the pastor is expected to appease guys and gals who are fulfilling a social expectation to attend a ‘church’ service. Your grandpaa found out in Guatemala how much influence and/or power that a guy has in a Christ-follower fellowship if the guy has money and/or prestige in the town or village in which he lives. These guys are known as caciques. Caciques in Guatemala have clout. If a cacique thinks that his church’s pastor is not doing enough home visits or does not like the way that the pastor teaches or preaches or does not like his church’s pastor, the cacique will do what he can do to have his church’s pastor removed. Paul ascribed Timothy a cacique type role when he asked Timothy to oversee the Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals that were in the city of Ephesus. Would you be able to pull a Timothy if you were one day given similar influential responsibilities that Timothy had without being able to show a partiality and/or favoritism to another guy or guys?
1 Timothy 5 (967)