In 1 Tim 5, Paul advises Timothy on various pastoral matters pertinent to the churches that TImothy was ministering to. We likewise face various challenges and tough decisions in the church, where Paul’s advice regarding widows and elders likely reveals useful principles that we can apply in the different situations we face. But let us reflect today on Paul’s advice to Timothy himself, as he handled these various affairs as a minister of Christ.

Notice how Paul begins and ends his advice concerning how to handle these 2 groups:

“Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.” (1 Tim 5:1-2)

“I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.” (1 Tim 5:21-22)

Clearly, Paul was concerned whether Timothy could preserve his purity, as he got embroiled in the interpersonal affairs in the church. But why? How can we become impure even as we are serving God?

Impure Hearts

In our interactions with brethren, inevitably there will be times when people do wrong - be it against us, or against others. Paul encourages Timothy not to rebuke, but to exhort or encourage others as if they were his own family (1 Tim 5:1-2). This isn’t to say that Paul felt that rebuking was wrong - in his corresponding letter to Titus, another coworker of his, Paul in fact instructed Titus to “rebuke them (the Cretans) sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13).

Rather, it is our hearts in correcting others that Paul wants us to be watchful for. Too easy is it when we are rebuking someone to allow our anger, our impatience, our self-righteousness to creep in, and we forget that our true purpose must be to restore our brethren in love. We must remind ourselves to love from a pure heart (1 Tim 1:5), lest we become like false teachers (1 Tim 1:6-7) and hypocrites (Matt 7:3-5).

Question for reflection: Think back to the last time you chided/corrected someone. How did you feel and what did you say? Would you change anything you did or said? How can we be more pure in our love?

Impure Eyes

Paul also encourages Timothy to make decisions without prejudice and partiality, and to exercise prudence (not being hasty). As humans, it is very natural for us to form opinions and make assumptions about others. If we are not careful, these biases can easily veil our eyes and cloud our judgments, so that we make hasty decisions. 

For example, when something is broken, we immediately ask the “naughty” boy of the class if he did it, without establishing any facts.

Let us examine ourselves to see what the impurities in our eyes are. Do we judge people by their looks? Or whether they are similar to us or not? Or even what they have done to us before?

James tells us that showing partiality is sin, because we do not love our neighbour as ourselves when we favour one person over another (James 2:8-9).

Just as Jesus looked beyond our faults and saw our need, let us likewise put aside all our biases and prejudices against others and look upon them with clear eyes of love, forgiveness, empathy and compassion.