SCRIPTURE
12Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15which he will bring about at the right time -- he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. 16It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:12-16, NRSV)
WHAT
What have we learned from our study of this letter that we know as 1 Timothy? I have found it helpful when finishing a biblical study to look back and try to capture what really spoke to me. This summary is, therefore, personal. This is what spoke to me, but maybe not to you. Your summary may look different. But I encourage you to try to capture what you learned.
I will list several things that stood out to me in 1 Timothy.
First, I acknowledge the academic debate about whether Paul is the author of this letter. I reviewed some of the issues behind that debate in Background Commentary #2. Along the way in my commentaries I noted some places where we seemed to find a difference from what we might have expected from Paul. Never-the-less, I am more convinced than ever that Paul is the author of this letter.
I never really appreciated before writing this series of commentaries how thoroughly intertwined conflict was within the life of the early Church. From passages such as Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-37, you get the impression it was everyone sitting around singing Kum Bay Ya. The fact that Paul was having to coach Timothy to handle conflict with church leaders made the letter seem so very relevant. And the ease with which the church adopts popular cultural philosophies at the expense of the heart of the gospel – even among church leaders – is frightening, and yet very much in harmony with my experience.
Paul creates some hotspots in this letter for many modern interpreters. The issues of the Church’s response to homosexuality and women’s role in the Church have been fanned into flame by some of the things written in this letter.
Regarding homosexuality, I have written elsewhere, and summarized on Day 5 here, my analysis of the Greek word arsenokoitēs which is often translated “homosexuals” in 1 Timothy 1:10 (and also used in 1 Corinthians 6:9). In my own mind, I am settled that it was not until the evangelical awakening of the mid-20th century that English translations began to use the word “homosexuals” to translate arsenokoitēs. My larger analysis, including Old Testament passages often cited in opposition to same sex relationships, has led me to believe that what Paul is condemning in 1 Timothy (and 1 Corinthians) is not committed, monogamous same sex relationships but rather the abusive man-boy relationships of power so common among the elite of his society. Even the emperor had a same sex relationship with a boy! This represents a complete 180 from what I used to believe. Not everyone agrees with me, and that’s fine. But I feel better that I’ve worked out my position on this very controversial issue of our time from my own biblical study.
Regarding women’s role in the Church, especially the ordination and preaching of women, my study led me to be convinced that what Paul was dealing with in 1 Timothy was not meant to be applied outside Ephesus in Paul’s and Timothy’s time. He was dealing with a very specific problem in that church made worse by the presence of the priestesses associated with the temple of Artemis in Ephesus. My conclusion is reinforced by the presence of Paul’s support of Junia as a female apostle and Phoebe as a deacon in Romans 16. I feel no hesitation, therefore, in supporting women’s ministry, including ordination, preaching, and leadership in the modern Church. Unique culturally-induced problems still occur and must be dealt with – but these include problems with male as well as female leadership, just as Paul was dealing with.
In the scripture we looked at on Day 16, Paul tells Timothy to “Pay close attention to yourself…” As I noted in the commentary, this is such good, practical, relevant advice for leaders in the modern Church. So many of them have fallen into moral failure and lost their ministries because they failed to pay close attention to what was going on inside themselves. Paul didn’t know about what modern psychologists call “emotional intelligence” (EI) or “emotional quotient” (EQ). But it is so very apparent that EQ is as important, if not more so, than IQ, especially for people in leadership. And Paul’s advice distills the gist of it down to, “Pay close attention to yourself.”
Paul’s conception of the Church as extended family -- with all the messiness, but also joy and love that goes with it – is so on target. And how practical and realistic Paul’s advice to Timothy was about handling widows in need. It evidences someone who had led actual congregations, with real people, not just an idealistic leader. Paul is writing here not only from the viewpoint of the theologian, but as one very experienced in the realities and practicalities, the faults and foibles, of living in actual Christian community. He knew how easily good theology can still go “off the rails,” and he seeks to share that wisdom and experience with young Timothy who now leads that church. We ought to listen carefully because human nature hasn’t changed much in two thousand years and neither has life in the local church.
I admit my bias, of course, but I found what Paul said about clergy pay very helpful and on point. Pastors should not all be paid the same. People who perform well ought to be paid more, both as a reward to them and as incentive to others to “up their game.”
I have heard it said many times from folks in the pews – “Our church needs to preach the Bible more.” Yet, when you do that, these same people get upset. Case in point – Paul’s admonition to Timothy regarding the false teachers. Paul wanted Timothy to, “Rebuke them in the presence of all…” I cannot even imagine what would happen if I had “preached the Bible more” and followed the teaching of this passage and publicly rebuked people for their sins. I suspect folks want their pastors to “preach the Bible more” until it challenges something they hold dear. Then they rise up in revolt. Just as in Paul’s day.
We saw Paul’s concern that bishops/overseers and deacons be qualified for their work. Especially in regard to the deacons, but about elders and bishops, too, Paul says, “test them”. Make SURE they are qualified. Don’t rush into this. Just because someone says, “I feel a call from God to be a pastor,” celebrate that but test them. Be sure they have the “gifts and graces” to successfully pastor a church. It is extremely difficult to do well, and very easy to do poorly. A pastoral leader, even one with the best of intentions and certainty of their call, can do enormous damage to themselves, their family, and to the church if they are not ready or if they do not possess the necessary “gifts and graces” for pastoral ministry. So, as the NRSV translates it, “Do not ordain anyone hastily.”
I found it to be a new idea expressed by William Barclay that originally, bishops and elders were the same. Episkopos expressed their role as overseers while presbyteros expressed their station in life as elders, mature and experienced to be leaders. It makes sense with everything I have experienced that eventually the need arose for there to be a “leader of leaders,” and thus the role of bishop as we know it today emerged. Further, I found it enlightening to parse the two Greek words episkopē (used in 1 Timothy) and episkopos (used elsewhere by Paul). While both terms are related to oversight and leadership, episkopos specifically denotes a role within the Christian community, whereas episkopē has the broader meaning of oversight or visitation, something which an episkopos does. In other words, having the role of an episkopos derives from having the responsibility of episkopē.
Finally, I found Paul to be on target in urging Timothy to deal with the problem of false teaching head on. It hasbeen my experience that once clear teaching and exhortation starts to fail, we can expect nothing but trouble. Other agendas will come in to take its place. And when that happens the careful work of building up a community of love, trust and witness will be undone in a flash. One way to identify false teachers is their tone – do they confront their opponents with arrogance, bitterness, and attack their character for personal gain? Or do they disagree in love?
In summary, I found Paul to be giving Timothy incredibly practical wisdom and I was glad to be able to listen in. He gave usable leadership advice to real people in real situations rather than formulating abstract principles which would make the moralist feel good but which would be no use to the human beings concerned.
I can’t wait to dig in to 2 Timothy and Titus!
APPLY
Paul gave Timothy incredibly practical wisdom which I need to hear. He gave usable leadership advice to realpeople in real situations rather than formulating abstract principles which would make the moralist feel good but which would be no use to the real human beings concerned.
PRAYER
Thank you, O God, that I got to listen in as Paul gave young Timothy advice for leading a real church with real people with real problems. It is all so very relevant! In Christ. Amen.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What are you taking away from our study of 1 Timothy? How can you apply its insights in your life?