The Church, Part Three - 1 Timothy 5:8-15
The Church, Part Three – 1 Timothy 5:8-15
by Pastor Lee Hemen
June 8, 2008 AM
When is the church, the church? No, this is not a trick question nor the beginning to a joke about the church. Rather, it is a straight-forward question in regards to what the church truly is supposed to be. Contrary to popular opinion, we do not find the church in the New Testament involved in inviting the unsaved into its midst. Surprised? In fact, quite the opposite is true. The Christian was not to have anything to do with the non-Christian activities that could lead them astray. Instead the church was to go into the world, but never attract the world into the church! Paul addresses these very issues.
The church today has become something of a mere shadow of its former self theologically, spiritually, and vibrantly. Why? I believe it is because it does not do the hard stuff anymore. We have relegated church to being a Sunday morning spiritual moment. Now, that is not to say that churches do not have great people in them that are doing the work of the Lord, but if the Christian Church in America was truly following and experiencing God, we would see a dramatic change in America that we do not see. Paul, gives Timothy some tough lessons on the church, let’s see what they are…
READ: 1 Timothy 5:8-15
There were a lot of widows in Paul’s day. That was because people did not live as long as they do now and that most men died long before their spouses. Because of this we find the Lord making provisions for widows clear back in Exodus. Jesus had compassion on widows during His earthly ministry and his own mother was probably a widow by the time he went to the cross for our sins. Here, we find Paul telling Timothy that the church should…
I. Create some guidelines!
1. People who do not follow the rules, get eaten! – Sign at the beginning of an African tour. Welfare is the governmental answer to what the church is supposed to be doing. Paul gets pretty tough when he lays down some guidelines for Timothy concerning widows in his church! He lists three criteria for widows to be “put on the list of widows.” A widow must be “over sixty,” “faithful to her husband,” and “well known for her good deeds!” Notice, Paul even has the audacity to name what good deeds they could be doing: 1) bringing up children, 2) showing hospitality, 3) washing the feet of the saints, 4) helping those in trouble and 5) devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds! How many widows, who belong to any church, meet these kind of guidelines? Paul also has guidelines for “younger widows.” He relates, “do not put them on such a list.” Why? Because Paul knew that younger women are more concerned for other things such as “their sensual desires,” and these normal desires could “overcome their dedication to Christ,” for the simple reason they might “want to marry” again! It was often the only way for these women to take care of themselves in his day! Paul wanted Timothy to create some God-given guidelines so that no one would “bring judgment on themselves.” These guidelines would help widows not to break “their first pledge” of committing their lives to Christ completely. When a church is the church it creates some guidelines to help its people be what God desires them to be.
EXAMPLE: In his book Lessons Learned Early, Jerry Jenkins tells a story about his freshman year in college. It was 1968, a year of tremendous political and social upheaval in the US.
Riots had broken out in many major cities. From the rooftop of his dorm in Chicago, Jerry heard sirens and saw fires burning. Students had been told to stay on campus, but Jerry wanted to see what was happening.
As he ran toward a store that was blazing a few blocks away, a police car pulled up beside him. “Don’t go down there,” the officer warned.
Jerry waited till the car pulled away and then kept walking. The officer returned. This time he made it more clear as he repeated, “Don’t go down there”—and leveled a shotgun out the window.
Why is it that people, including Christians in the church, need guidelines? Because we all want to do our own thing. Paul taught Timothy a lesson about pasturing his church: Creates some guidelines!
Paul wasn’t trying to be mean-spirited here, nor was he being sexiest. He sincerely wanted Timothy’s church to be aware of what it should do. Evidently they were not taking care of their people like they should. In fact, many churches are more than willing to go somewhere else to do missions and ministry to the outside world, but ignore their own congregation’s needs. So here, we find Paul telling Timothy that the church should…
II. Maintain some ministries!
1. Helping others means setting aside your desires first! Paul was not trying to help people feel good about themselves! He wanted them to “provide” for their families. If they did not they had “denied the faith” and were “worse than an unbeliever!” He wanted Timothy to seek God’s will with “requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving,” (v. 2:1) to see where God wanted his church to minister. That was the only way they would be effective! Paul knew that God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” but not all men would. Ministering to widows in his church would show the outside community it cared for its own. But to be a little more blunt, Timothy had a problem: Women! They were not dressing with “modestly, with decency and propriety,” and instead of showing “quietness and full submission ,” they were boisterous and crass. They evidently assumed teaching roles over men that they should not have (2:9-12). Paul was not giving Timothy or future churches absolute guidelines for all time, but he was addressing specific ministry concerns for Timothy’s church. Evidently new female converts needed to be ministered to appropriately. The male leadership also had not been the godly examples they should have been! They needed to be “the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money,” and able to “manage his own family well!” All churches, like Timothy’s in Ephesus, need to maintain some ministries!
EXAMPLE: People around the world instantly recognize Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch from the children’s TV show Sesame Street. But Caroll Spinney is not a well-known celebrity, even though he has brought both characters to life on the popular program since 1969. A skilled puppeteer, Spinney has been content to work behind the scenes. I believe God calls every follower of Jesus to take a similar approach in making Him known to the world.
Ministry should be done by the church so that the community benefits from the influence of Christ. Far too often ministry is done to enhance the church instead of Jesus. Oswald Chambers reminds us: “Goodness and purity ought never to attract attention to themselves, they ought simply to be magnets to draw [others] to Jesus Christ.” The church should draw people to Christ by maintaining ministries.
I believe Timothy had allowed some of the women in his church to begin to control the spiritual and emotional attitude of the church in Ephesus. They were causing more harm than good. Enough of them evidently had way too much time on their hands. Timothy needed to take control again and the church there needed to do what it was called to do in the first place. This church had become a social club instead of the body of Christ it was meant to be. Sound familiar? Far too many churches fall into this category today. Here, we find Paul telling Timothy that the church should…
III. Keep its members involved!
1. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop! People left to themselves without something Godly to do often get into trouble! Paul said that younger widows with nothing better to do had gotten “into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house.” They had “become idlers,” “gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.” People certainly get into trouble when they are not involved in the cause of Christ in His church. Paul was pretty succinct when he counsels them to do several things: These “younger widows” needed “to marry,” they needed “to have children,” “to manage their homes,” and finally “to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.” Why? To keep them busy in the work of the Lord instead of getting into trouble. Paul knew that some in Timothy’s church had “in fact already turned away to follow Satan.” Can you imagine any pastor getting up in church today and saying such things to the congregation? In our day we have to show heartfelt concern and compassion for anyone, even the ungodly in our midst! Do you see Paul directing Timothy to do such a thing? Absolutely not! He would say, “Keep busy-bodies, busy in the work of the Lord!” The church should keep its members involved!
EXAMPLE: There was a stressed-out woman who was tailgating a man as they drove on a busy boulevard. When he slowed to a stop at a yellow light, the woman hit the horn, cussing and screaming in frustration and gesturing angrily. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a police officer who ordered her to exit the car with her hands up. He took her to the police station and placed her in a holding cell.
An hour later, the officer returned and said, "I'm sorry, Ma'am. This has been a big mistake. When I pulled up behind you, I noticed your 'What Would Jesus Do?' license plate holder and your 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker. I assumed the car was stolen!"
Satan doesn't care so much if you're a Christian as long as you don't act like one. If he can get you to live by his signals, he can damage and disarm you every time and dishonor the name of Christ in the process. Paul knew this to be true and told Timothy to keep the members of his church involved.
Conclusion:
Here, we find Paul telling Timothy that the church should create some guidelines, maintain some ministries, and keep its members involved.
---
NOTE: This article is copyrighted by Pastor Lee Hemen © 2008 and the property of Pastor Lee Hemen. You are welcome to copy it, email it, or use it but please if you copy it, email it, or use it you must do so in its entirety.
by Pastor Lee Hemen
June 8, 2008 AM
When is the church, the church? No, this is not a trick question nor the beginning to a joke about the church. Rather, it is a straight-forward question in regards to what the church truly is supposed to be. Contrary to popular opinion, we do not find the church in the New Testament involved in inviting the unsaved into its midst. Surprised? In fact, quite the opposite is true. The Christian was not to have anything to do with the non-Christian activities that could lead them astray. Instead the church was to go into the world, but never attract the world into the church! Paul addresses these very issues.
The church today has become something of a mere shadow of its former self theologically, spiritually, and vibrantly. Why? I believe it is because it does not do the hard stuff anymore. We have relegated church to being a Sunday morning spiritual moment. Now, that is not to say that churches do not have great people in them that are doing the work of the Lord, but if the Christian Church in America was truly following and experiencing God, we would see a dramatic change in America that we do not see. Paul, gives Timothy some tough lessons on the church, let’s see what they are…
READ: 1 Timothy 5:8-15
There were a lot of widows in Paul’s day. That was because people did not live as long as they do now and that most men died long before their spouses. Because of this we find the Lord making provisions for widows clear back in Exodus. Jesus had compassion on widows during His earthly ministry and his own mother was probably a widow by the time he went to the cross for our sins. Here, we find Paul telling Timothy that the church should…
I. Create some guidelines!
1. People who do not follow the rules, get eaten! – Sign at the beginning of an African tour. Welfare is the governmental answer to what the church is supposed to be doing. Paul gets pretty tough when he lays down some guidelines for Timothy concerning widows in his church! He lists three criteria for widows to be “put on the list of widows.” A widow must be “over sixty,” “faithful to her husband,” and “well known for her good deeds!” Notice, Paul even has the audacity to name what good deeds they could be doing: 1) bringing up children, 2) showing hospitality, 3) washing the feet of the saints, 4) helping those in trouble and 5) devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds! How many widows, who belong to any church, meet these kind of guidelines? Paul also has guidelines for “younger widows.” He relates, “do not put them on such a list.” Why? Because Paul knew that younger women are more concerned for other things such as “their sensual desires,” and these normal desires could “overcome their dedication to Christ,” for the simple reason they might “want to marry” again! It was often the only way for these women to take care of themselves in his day! Paul wanted Timothy to create some God-given guidelines so that no one would “bring judgment on themselves.” These guidelines would help widows not to break “their first pledge” of committing their lives to Christ completely. When a church is the church it creates some guidelines to help its people be what God desires them to be.
EXAMPLE: In his book Lessons Learned Early, Jerry Jenkins tells a story about his freshman year in college. It was 1968, a year of tremendous political and social upheaval in the US.
Riots had broken out in many major cities. From the rooftop of his dorm in Chicago, Jerry heard sirens and saw fires burning. Students had been told to stay on campus, but Jerry wanted to see what was happening.
As he ran toward a store that was blazing a few blocks away, a police car pulled up beside him. “Don’t go down there,” the officer warned.
Jerry waited till the car pulled away and then kept walking. The officer returned. This time he made it more clear as he repeated, “Don’t go down there”—and leveled a shotgun out the window.
Why is it that people, including Christians in the church, need guidelines? Because we all want to do our own thing. Paul taught Timothy a lesson about pasturing his church: Creates some guidelines!
Paul wasn’t trying to be mean-spirited here, nor was he being sexiest. He sincerely wanted Timothy’s church to be aware of what it should do. Evidently they were not taking care of their people like they should. In fact, many churches are more than willing to go somewhere else to do missions and ministry to the outside world, but ignore their own congregation’s needs. So here, we find Paul telling Timothy that the church should…
II. Maintain some ministries!
1. Helping others means setting aside your desires first! Paul was not trying to help people feel good about themselves! He wanted them to “provide” for their families. If they did not they had “denied the faith” and were “worse than an unbeliever!” He wanted Timothy to seek God’s will with “requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving,” (v. 2:1) to see where God wanted his church to minister. That was the only way they would be effective! Paul knew that God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” but not all men would. Ministering to widows in his church would show the outside community it cared for its own. But to be a little more blunt, Timothy had a problem: Women! They were not dressing with “modestly, with decency and propriety,” and instead of showing “quietness and full submission ,” they were boisterous and crass. They evidently assumed teaching roles over men that they should not have (2:9-12). Paul was not giving Timothy or future churches absolute guidelines for all time, but he was addressing specific ministry concerns for Timothy’s church. Evidently new female converts needed to be ministered to appropriately. The male leadership also had not been the godly examples they should have been! They needed to be “the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money,” and able to “manage his own family well!” All churches, like Timothy’s in Ephesus, need to maintain some ministries!
EXAMPLE: People around the world instantly recognize Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch from the children’s TV show Sesame Street. But Caroll Spinney is not a well-known celebrity, even though he has brought both characters to life on the popular program since 1969. A skilled puppeteer, Spinney has been content to work behind the scenes. I believe God calls every follower of Jesus to take a similar approach in making Him known to the world.
Ministry should be done by the church so that the community benefits from the influence of Christ. Far too often ministry is done to enhance the church instead of Jesus. Oswald Chambers reminds us: “Goodness and purity ought never to attract attention to themselves, they ought simply to be magnets to draw [others] to Jesus Christ.” The church should draw people to Christ by maintaining ministries.
I believe Timothy had allowed some of the women in his church to begin to control the spiritual and emotional attitude of the church in Ephesus. They were causing more harm than good. Enough of them evidently had way too much time on their hands. Timothy needed to take control again and the church there needed to do what it was called to do in the first place. This church had become a social club instead of the body of Christ it was meant to be. Sound familiar? Far too many churches fall into this category today. Here, we find Paul telling Timothy that the church should…
III. Keep its members involved!
1. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop! People left to themselves without something Godly to do often get into trouble! Paul said that younger widows with nothing better to do had gotten “into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house.” They had “become idlers,” “gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.” People certainly get into trouble when they are not involved in the cause of Christ in His church. Paul was pretty succinct when he counsels them to do several things: These “younger widows” needed “to marry,” they needed “to have children,” “to manage their homes,” and finally “to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.” Why? To keep them busy in the work of the Lord instead of getting into trouble. Paul knew that some in Timothy’s church had “in fact already turned away to follow Satan.” Can you imagine any pastor getting up in church today and saying such things to the congregation? In our day we have to show heartfelt concern and compassion for anyone, even the ungodly in our midst! Do you see Paul directing Timothy to do such a thing? Absolutely not! He would say, “Keep busy-bodies, busy in the work of the Lord!” The church should keep its members involved!
EXAMPLE: There was a stressed-out woman who was tailgating a man as they drove on a busy boulevard. When he slowed to a stop at a yellow light, the woman hit the horn, cussing and screaming in frustration and gesturing angrily. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a police officer who ordered her to exit the car with her hands up. He took her to the police station and placed her in a holding cell.
An hour later, the officer returned and said, "I'm sorry, Ma'am. This has been a big mistake. When I pulled up behind you, I noticed your 'What Would Jesus Do?' license plate holder and your 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker. I assumed the car was stolen!"
Satan doesn't care so much if you're a Christian as long as you don't act like one. If he can get you to live by his signals, he can damage and disarm you every time and dishonor the name of Christ in the process. Paul knew this to be true and told Timothy to keep the members of his church involved.
Conclusion:
Here, we find Paul telling Timothy that the church should create some guidelines, maintain some ministries, and keep its members involved.
---
NOTE: This article is copyrighted by Pastor Lee Hemen © 2008 and the property of Pastor Lee Hemen. You are welcome to copy it, email it, or use it but please if you copy it, email it, or use it you must do so in its entirety.
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