“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.” 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. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.” 1 Timothy 5:17-25 NIV
As we’ve discussed charity in the last post there should be something that stands out. Being conformed to this world’s ideology is so easy to do, right? The media and the public schools frame a so-called narrative – a public philosophy, really – in which we develop a humanistic framework of thought unless we challenge it through Scripture. If our minds are “drifting along” in the saturation of social media, the news, and modern education then it’s a virtual certainty that we’ve been inculcated into the propaganda of the modern secular state. This means that we’ll interpret the Bible through the lens of the world rather than the other way around.
So, are you sitting down?
Are you ready?
God not only provides the definition of and means to ameliorate true poverty, but he establishes the basic building blocks of a proper society. Poverty that requires charity is actual widowhood defined previously and/or due to literal tragedy beyond one’s control. This is a sin-sick world and we will be challenged in adjudicating instances where people do, in fact, warrant the church’s financial assistance. In one case I know a young married man in his 40’s, with several small children, who suffered a massive stroke that rendered him unable to work. Obviously, there was no way for him to support his family and just as obviously there was no moral issue involved in the horrible tragedy. His stroke was beyond his (and his family’s) control. Therefore, the church corporately, and its members privately, should render financial assistance to his family.
Giving financial aid to women who refuse to marry and/or are living sinful lives is against God’s moral order. Of course, a single individual may or may not contribute to such a cause. That’s their business and upon their faith, but the church can’t, via 1 Timothy 5, use its resources to protect members from the consequences of deliberate sin.
Okay…but there’s more.
We see that elders and pastors deserve their pay. A “teaching elder” (the Bible’s way of saying a pastor) must be supported for their hard work. And preaching/teaching/leading is quite arduous indeed. Timothy apparently has a stomach problem from all the stress of leading the Ephesian church, so Paul tells him to take a little wine. This means that God demands that His ministers be fairly paid for the labor of leading His flock. A good rule of thumb is that pastors and other leaders receive a salary commensurate with the average wage of its members. A pastor who doesn’t make enough will be unable to support his family. That’s obviously not a situation that’s sustainable. Again: God doesn’t call his pastors to labor for free. But He also doesn’t allow for them to live in opulence either. They must be free from greed (1 Timothy 3:3, 6:10).
I’ve seen some local “pastors” with multi-million dollar houses and even private planes. These men are not pastors. They’re wolves. They’re false teachers. Beware. In nearly every case of such “leaders” the outward signs of greed are apparent and then the sordid tales of sexual sin soon follow. Indeed, the sins of some are very evident right away and for others they follow. By their fruit we’ll know them (Matthew 7:16).
A true man of God should “earn his wage” and live with Godly contentment. The love of money and comfort is like a “gateway drug” to other sins. The local church should tithe in order to provide for a reasonable standard of living for their pastor, elders and essential staff. The Lord provides “living principles” here in which each church may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable (Romans 12:1-2), within that framework. The goal isn’t the building itself (though that needs to be paid for) or outside signs of wealth or comfort. Balance is key and this is why elders must be mature men of God who can rightly decide the best course for each local congregation.
God’s order for life clearly establishes three distinct spheres and the first two are the most important. They are: family, church, civil government. In regard to charity and social order, the family is the primary unit. It’s easy to mis-interpret this whole swath of 1 Timothy and its wonderful ordering of life due to our minds being clouded by modern humanism. A strong family unit is presumed at every turn, not an all-powerful state. The elders and deacons, as a matter of basic qualification, must be family men. And these family men must have a proven track record of providing for the material needs of their wives, children, and even aging parents. Being wealthy by world standards isn’t the point – responsibility is the issue. The man of God is to be trustworthy at home and work. Whether he’s a CEO or a janitor he has a pattern of predictable reliability in the Lord. His profession of faith is suspect, if not totally useless, if he’s lazy and irresponsible.
Again, this is a basic requirement and the Holy Spirit goes so far as to say that if a man doesn’t provide for his family, spiritually and materially, excepting some form of tragedy, he’s renounced the faith. If a man makes millions but his wife and children live in spiritual poverty, he’s a failure in the eyes of the Lord! Work must never consistently steal a father and husband from his primary responsibility, which is the spiritual nourishment and true servant-leadership of his family.
If western civilization collapses into some form of anarchic nightmare from the book of Judges, it’s because the church has failed to preach the full gospel to men.
There’s lamentable confusion on this point throughout the church where grace is confused with compassion. Godly compassion is rooted in truth, not enabling the sins of indulgence and laziness. God commands that church resources not be used willy-nilly. Giving precious resources to men who won’t work or women who are sexually irresponsible is contrary to the teachings of Scripture. Anti-family behavior is always unloving and must not be supported doctrinally nor materially by the church. The very reason our nation’s welfare schemes appear so overwhelming is because we’ve tolerated the teachings of Jezebel (Revelation 2:20) and her advocacy of fornication.
Imagine if Christian men were spending as much time reading Scripture and praying with their family, or working on some productive enterprise or another, as they do surfing porn or playing video games.
Told ya this was going to be hard to hear.
If God actually commands the financial assistance of unmarried women who have children out of wedlock that throws this whole section, not merely a line of Scripture, but a whole chapter, into contradiction. A person MAY provide assistance to an unemployed, shiftless adult. That’s between them and the Lord. But there’s no command to do so. Furthermore, to command that others do likewise is sinful as the Bible clearly teaches otherwise.
For a strong family to exist there must be sexual fidelity and work-ethic. Our society teaches the opposite on both fronts. What messages do our young men and women receive from the culture? Is it biblical? In the immortal words of our president, “c’mon man!”
The sweet simplicity of life taught in the Bible is everywhere opposed. The family is fractured because simple faithfulness in marriage is demeaned while self-indulgence, vanity, and consumerism are extolled.
This explains why even within the church there’s little thought given to education, health care, charity, and retirement. Want to see how idolatrous you are? Want a test? Look at those critical life subjects and see who you think should pay for them. Whose responsibility is the education of our children? Who is our “safety net?” The Bible tells us unequivocally that it’s us – the family, then the church. What about medical care, groceries, work, and all the rest? The average churchman these days has a big ole 666 stamped on his forehead through the belief that the state is the ultimate provider, not God.
The basic presupposition of Scripture is family and church first. The state is, in God’s economic and social structure, the mere referee – calling balls and strikes. His state – and it is His (Romans 13:1) – is an avenger punishes the wrongdoer who committed a crime. The state exists, therefore, to punish, not provide. We’ve completely rejected this standard and that’s no small thing because it means that we don’t have faith, that we don’t trust Him with the details of life. It means, indeed, that we’re saying He’s a liar.
If we understood the nature of this insult to the holy God, and the depth of the offense to His character and name, we’d recoil in horror. That’s why I said this is an acid test of our faith over against idolatry. Do we believe God knows how to establish order in society or do we look to our “experts?”
The importance of this point is seen in how, in our passage today, that Paul tells Timothy that he must judge a wayward elder in the sight of Christ Jesus and the elect angels. Wow. If an elder sins, because the stakes are so high, he must be disciplined fairly and according to God’s word/law. Timothy must not show any partiality. Why? Because this is His church, not ours!
Furthermore, because of the seriousness of the issue, and the tendencies of sinful gossip, a charge against an elder can only be brought by multiple witnesses. Get that? The same follows in all of Christian life. We aren’t to quarrel over opinions – only sin. What sin are you accusing someone of or being accused of? If it’s not a sin, let it go for the sake of the Lord. If it is a sin, for the same reason, because God is holy, we must bring another witness to the offending brother (in this case an elder) or else we need to have strong evidence of the sin. Love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:5), so, again, we aren’t talking about personality quirks. We’re talking about sin. To make an accusation against an elder (and by extension any other believer) that’s not a sin, literally is a sin. Just the same, and horribly, to not punish sin in the church is a violation of God’s clear command.
Unequivocally, we see a much different world around us than the picture painted (and assumed) by Paul. Millions of dollars of our taxes go to support schools that teach children the doctrines of self-sufficiency, rather than the principles of faith. A family that homeschools, for example, must still pay for that which it disagrees with. Many more millions go, through various government channels, to a medical/pharmaceutical apparatus that drug children for the various behavioral challenges of living in a sin-sick world. Spiritual counsel and parental discipline are in many cases against the law now because the idolatrous state presumes that children are first its own and not the parents’.
Ah, so many resources given to the gods of secular humanism so that the church is starved. In the New Testament there’s no minimum tithe commanded. We give abundantly out of love. What men like Bernie Sanders try and create out of government coercion, a tithe to the god-like state, to the glory of man and the ultimacy of the state, God commands we do in love. Christ is freedom and love. The false-gods are always tyranny and coercion. Real charity is always for His honor and according to His precepts. Imagine instead of the education-government complex if we had freedom. Imagine elders (yes, paid elders, not just pastors) having the resources to really minister to their flock, teaching young men to be Godly leaders in the home and older women – the widow brigade! – ministering to the new mothers. Imagine a team of biblical scholars with hearts of ministry – elders – in every church. This is the glorious freedom that exists in following the precepts of the Lord.
Instead, in confusion, we dance around the golden calfs of society because Moses hasn’t come down the mountain yet. We can’t imagine truly living by God’s word because we think – and here’s the greatest tragedy in the church – that He won’t provide for us. It’s true. It’s so true. Many have made a profession of faith but gone back to Egypt because they think it’s safer there. We can’t imagine freedom in the Lord because we don’t trust Him.
So, ask yourself this. Ask yourself if you truly believe He’s able to save your soul from death and, if so, why He’s not able to provide for you too? How is it that if Christ had the power to walk out of the tomb Sunday morning, He’s not able to provide a job and a meal on Monday? Yes, we need to ask ourselves this and hear Moses say:
“then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi [the priestly tribe] gathered together to him.” Exodus 32:26 AMP
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