{"id":28005,"date":"2023-09-17T22:00:58","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T05:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-timothy-5_9-16-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-09-05T13:32:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T20:32:48","slug":"1-timothy-5_17-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-timothy-5_17-25\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Treat and Choose Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Timothy 5:17-25\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a01\u00a0Timothy\u00a05:17-25.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

1<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Timothy<\/em><\/strong>\u00a05<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/strong>17<\/em><\/strong>-18 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n17<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.\u00a0<\/em>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a017-18: \u00a0Here Paul gives instructions on how the senior leaders of the church (also sometimes called “overseers” and “elders” elsewhere in the New Testament) should be treated.\u00a0 He says that those who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those who preach and teach the congregation.\u00a0 What kind of “double honour” did Paul expect the church to give their most senior leaders?\u00a0 Of course part of that “double honour” includes speaking to them with love and respect and treating them well.\u00a0 From verse 18 we learn it also includes making sure that they are adequately compensated financially for their ministry.<\/p>\n

To support the notion that the senior leaders of the church should be financially compensated, Paul cites Deuteronomy 25:4. Paul’s reasoning is that if God shows concern for a hard-working ox, a church should show proper concern for their hard working leaders.\u00a0 As further support for the idea that the church should financially compensate their leaders, Paul cites Jesus’ instruction about workers in Luke 10:7. \u00a0(By the way, Paul calls Jesus’ saying here “Scripture”, which shows that in Paul’s mind Jesus’ words were the equivalent of holy Scripture.)<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Churches must treat their hard working leaders honourably, including in the way they financially compensate them for their ministry.<\/p>\n

1<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Timothy<\/em><\/strong>\u00a05<\/em><\/strong>:19-20 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.\u00a0<\/em>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 19-20: Here Paul gives instructions on what to do if a pastor\/overseer\/elder is accused of wrongdoing.\u00a0 He tells\u00a0Timothy\u00a0not to entertain an accusation against a pastor\/overseer\/elder unless at least two or three witnesses are willing to go on record and make that accusation.\u00a0 If it turns out that the accusation is true, then a form of discipline should be applied so as to prevent the sin from taking place again.<\/p>\n

1<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Timothy<\/em><\/strong>\u00a05<\/em><\/strong>:21-22 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>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.\u00a0<\/em>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 21-22: \u00a0Paul tells\u00a0Timothy\u00a0to keep these instructions about how to treat leaders without showing any partiality or favoritism (v21).\u00a0 He also tells\u00a0Timothy\u00a0not to be too quick in “the laying on of hands” (v22); in other words, don’t make the mistake of elevating someone too quickly to a senior leadership role. \u00a0 It’s a reminder that we should be careful about whom we elevate to a place of leadership (that includes not just in church but in business and in personal relationships as well).\u00a0 That person may be talented and charismatic, but always remember that character is what makes or breaks a leader.\u00a0 If you don’t know that person’s character well enough, give yourself more time before you elevate that person to a leadership level.<\/p>\n

1<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Timothy<\/em><\/strong>\u00a05<\/em><\/strong>:23\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 23: \u00a0Paul cared for\u00a0Timothy\u00a0like a loving father cares for his son.\u00a0 Thus in addition to all these instructions on how to take care of the church, here Paul gives\u00a0Timothy\u00a0some advice on how to take care of himself personally.<\/p>\n

What’s the lesson here?\u00a0\u00a0Great leaders don’t just use the people who work for them; they care for them personally as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Timothy<\/em><\/strong>\u00a05<\/em><\/strong>:24-25 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n24\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.\u00a0<\/em>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 24-25: \u00a0Some people are great at hiding their flaws, others not so much.\u00a0 Some people’s strengths and accomplishments you can notice immediately, while for other people you might not discover their strengths and accomplishments until much later.\u00a0 In any event,\u00a0when a person has a major character weakness or a major character strength, that weakness or strength will eventually become clear with time.\u00a0 Like cream, a person’s inner character will eventually rise to the top.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Keep this in mind when deciding whether to elevate a person to leadership.<\/p>\n

Father, thank You for the hard working leaders You have placed in my church, those whom You have used to lead our church and to preach and teach God’s Word.\u00a0 I pray that I personally and my church as a whole would treat our leaders with great love, honour and respect.\u00a0 Help me also to be wise in how I deal with leaders, including how to choose leaders in my life.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a01\u00a0Timothy\u00a05:17-25.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

1\u00a0Timothy\u00a05:17-18 (NIV)\u00a0
\n17\u00a0The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.\u00a0
\n18\u00a0For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a017-18: \u00a0Here Paul gives instructions on how the senior leaders of the church (also sometimes called “overseers” and “elders” elsewhere in the New Testament) should be treated.\u00a0 He says that those who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those who preach and teach the congregation.\u00a0 What kind of “double honour” did Paul expect the church to give their most senior leaders?\u00a0 Of course part of that “double honour” includes speaking to them with love and respect and treating them well.\u00a0 From verse 18 we learn it also includes making sure that they are adequately compensated financially for their ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28005"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28008,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28005\/revisions\/28008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}