Thoughts on 1 Timothy 5

Today’s reading: 1 Kings 16; Timothy 5

I wonder how much paper work and red tape the average church today would have to put in place to try to take 1 Timothy 5 seriously.

I say this because Paul assumes a lot of intimate knowledge of people’s lives in what he writes to Timothy. Looking at what he says about adding widows to the list to be provided for by the church, he expects that they would know a lot more about these women, their history, their conduct, their families, etc. than merely that they are widows. I feel like a church wanting to take this seriously today would probably have a long form for a widow to fill out, along with some references and such, and then a small committee that would get together on the second Tuesday of the month to go over applications, contact references, and then ultimately make a decision as to whether or not the widow qualified for church support.

The sad thing to me is that I doubt many people would see a problem with this kind of process. But do you think Paul is telling Timothy to get a committee together and develop an application? Of course not! These people knew each other. They were a community. They did life together. If this letter was read in the church they would have all, collectively, known, “Oh yeah, Betty fits the bill there, but Susan is too young, and Jean does have family who could take care of her.” Sure, there were probably some women on the cusp that the elders or others would have to make a decision on, but the point is that they would have had the info to make that decision without a 10-page application. 

Our culture is so incredibly individualistic and autonomous, but the church should not be this way. We aren’t called to emulate the relational depth of the culture around us, nor should we be content with doing a little better than others. God created us for, and calls us to, radical community. The fact of the matter is, when Paul lays out these requirements in 1 Timothy 5, there is no hint that he expects this is going to require a lot of investigative effort or energy on Timothy’s part. This kind of knowledge and understanding of one another’s lives seems to just be the baseline Paul is assuming.

So to that end, let me ask you, do people in your church community know you this well? Do the people God has put in your life to encourage, strengthen, admonish, challenge, love, and support you know enough about you to do those things in your life? If you were a widow looking for help, would you have to fill out an application to make your case, or do people know you well enough that the answer would be self evident?

In order to be the kind of community God calls us in the New Testament to be, and to experience the goodness that He promises in that community, we have to be willing to put ourselves out there in radical ways compared to the world around us. The status quo simply will not cut it here.