Church, Family, Community

I am intrigued this morning by 1 Timothy 5. At first, it just seems like this ridiculously exhaustive to do list that Paul is doling out to the church. Now, I’m a list person… I enjoy my yellow steno-pad with things I can mark off. But this is overwhelming even to me. But as I’ve learned to read the Bible, I’ve learned that though God does give us rules to live by, He’s much more interested in the heart. So that led me to ask… God, what is your heart in this list of instructions?

The title above 1 Timothy 5 says “Instructions for the church” and it most definitely is. “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him…” “Honor widows…” “…provide for relatives…” But there are two overtones I’m sensing… 1) family, 2) community living.

I don’t know that I’ve ever fully grasped the importance of physical family in the Bible. It’s easy for me to go out on the streets of Atlanta and feed a homeless man who’s lost most of his mental capacity. I can sit with him for hours. But call my grandad who is in a nursing home and doesn’t have anything to talk about? Now that’s hard… And 1 Timothy is a good reminder this morning that it’s not okay to stay that way. “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” I can’t go to the homeless gypsy in Ireland, never call my grandfather, and call my job complete.

The other part of this chapter that sticks out to me is the community aspect. Church in our society is becoming increasingly more and more a place to either punch in your timecard and just survive, or a place to become entertained. 1 Timothy 5 says nothing about attendance or entertainment. In fact, it says that what a church is supposed to be about is caring for people. We’re to be a people who, when you see a need, meet the need. When there’s a widow with no family, you bring her into your family. This is where I heard God’s heart behind this To Do List… care for my people. The idea behind this passage is not “How to set up a widows ministry.” The idea behind this passage is that we are involved with each other… we are caring for each other… we hurt when others hurt… we are never alone.

And really… it goes back to family again. If someone has no family, make them family. Community living is about being family beyond blood. Which then circles back around to the previous point… “If anyone does not provide for his relatives…” So we are to live life in a way that the old woman down the road is no longer the weird neighbor… she becomes grandmother. And the run-away youth becomes brother… and the orphan in Africa… she’s now my child. And because they are my family, I care for their needs… I hurt with them… I cry with them… I rejoice with them… Because we are community… we are family.