Letters to young leaders: Caring for those in need
Imagine, if you will, a young couple visiting a church on a Sunday morning. As they make their way into the sanctuary you can almost hear the whispers of excitement as the “regulars” watch them take their seats, “There is a new couple visiting!” As soon as the service is over they pounce on the two new faces, “What do you do?” they ask the young man. “I’m a high-school teacher and my wife teaches music,” he answers. The eyes of the church folk grow wide at his answer and they genuinely try to make the couple feel extra welcome. But then, somebody blurts out, “We sure hope you make this your church home, because we can really use you!”
We know the sentiment that is being expressed, but boy, sometimes the body of Christ sounds far different from how Scripture describes us.
The church as Paul depicts it in 1 Timothy 5:1-16 is to be a body of believers that loves people instead of using them. The central issue of the text is that widows who are really in need should receive help from the church. With all our social benefits, insurance and pension plans it may difficult to identify with the plight of widows in the first century. But they faced many challenges. Foremost, they were women and therefore had no way of working to provide for themselves outside the home. Also, there were no community agencies or government programs that offered help. If the church did not care for the widow, no one else would.
Widows in our day don’t generally face the same challenges of Paul’s day but there are groups of people in our culture who are without resources and without anyone to care. They are like the man that Jesus spoke of who was beaten, robbed and left for dead at the side of the road. The people you think would care, a priest, and a Levite passed by him on the other side of the road. But a Samaritan “came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.” (Luke 10:33,34)
I Timothy 5:1-16 and Luke 10:25-37 are pictures of how the church is to be. We are to be a people who don’t use others, but genuinely care for them in their need.
May Christ find us faithful, Pastor Tom.