PRACTICAL ADVICE
1 Timothy 5:1-2 NLT
1 Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers. 2 Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.
This book jumps from some great spiritual counsel in chapter four to very practical advice in chapter five. Not that the spiritual advice is not practical, but Paul is now helping Timothy deal with how to handle different people situations. Because the culture of that day had no social services, the church was tasked with helping widows, orphans, and the poor. Paul also addressed the teaching leaders in the church and concluded with Timothy’s stomach problems.
Our verses for today are simple instructions to Timothy on how to interact with different groups of people. Even though Timothy was a pastor, these instructions are good practical advice for all of us in the body of Christ.
For the older men, do not speak harshly to them but appeal respectfully as you would your own father. I realize some people have grown up without a father or had an abusive father, so this may be a stretch for them. But the assumption here is that this is an older man, and older people are to be treated with respect. This had to be helpful for Timothy because he was a young pastor and most likely interacted with many people older than himself. So Paul’s counsel was to treat the older men as fathers and the older women as mothers.
I was blessed to grow up in a home where my parents stayed together, took me to church, and followed the Lord. I was also blessed that they required me to be respectful to them as parents and to adults. I was raised by very southern parents who believed in manners. I did not answer with yes or no; it was yes, ma’am, or yes, sir. I know that sounds extremely antiquated by today’s standards, but it helped to teach me respect. I can still go there today with referring to older men as sir and older women as ma’am. But respect is a heart thing more than semantics. Paul was teaching Timothy to treat older people with the respect due an older member of the Body of Christ.
Younger men were to be addressed as brothers. This seems to be trivial at face value, but how often have we heard of pastors who were harsh and abusive to those working under them? Simply following Pauls’ advice would have solved many church conflicts.
Paul was more specific in the treatment of the younger women. They were to be treated as Timothy would treat his sister, with all purity. For Timothy, who was a younger man and apparently unmarried, this gave him a clear boundary when it came to the younger women. You will treat your sister differently than you would a girlfriend. Again, if this was the rule in the church, we wouldn’t have many of the moral failures we have seen.
APPLICATION
These are very practical guidelines. But they are still Holy Spirit inspired and are a good template for us to use today. Treating people with respect is always appropriate. Treating members of the opposite sex in all purity is a huge safeguard. This counsel was good for Timothy then and is still applicable to us today.