Bulletin Articles
“SHE WHO IS REALLY A WIDOW” (Part 2)
“SHE WHO IS REALLY A WIDOW” (Part 2)
Before I conclude our study about “she who is really a widow,” or “widow indeed” (1Tm.5:3-16), I want to remind you of the points I made last week. 1. The widow indeed was supported by the local church (v.3,16). 2. Because she had no other means of support (v.3-5), the widow indeed was enrolled for full-time support (v.9). 3. The widow indeed had made a pledge to permanent widowhood, in order to give full-time to serving God (v.5,11-12). For more specific details, you may want to consult the article from last week.
This information also helps to explain the “qualifications” of verses 9-10. These qualifications make no sense if we are merely discussing financial aid, but make perfect sense if the widows are rendering some kind of service. Let’s consider them. First of all, the phrase, “sixty years old,” indicates that she has the maturity required make the “pledge” to remain a widow (in contrast to the “younger widows,” v.11-12). Further, “the wife of one man,” indicates someone stable – i.e., she is not a “floozy” (again, cp. v.11-12). The phrase, “well reported for good works,” and the specifics which follow, may reveal some of the works a “widow indeed” might do. Let’s note them...
For instance, “if she has brought up children,” indicates that she might provide instruction and care for children (cp. Tit.2:3-5). “If she has lodged strangers,” indicates that she can help care for such (cp. Ac.9:36,39). “If she has washed the saints’ feet,” indicates that she knows how to show hospitality to brethren (cp. Ac.16:15). “If she has relieved the afflicted,” indicates that she can help care for such (cp. Rm.16:1-2). She could devote herself to prayer on behalf of the church (1Tm.5:5). These are some services which she might offer in exchange for full-time support.
Performing such services for the church would also keep these widows from becoming “idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not” (v.13). Since “idle hands are the Devil’s workshop,” it was better for them to remain actively involved in the Lord’s work, so they could stay out of trouble.
Let me hasten to add that I do not mean to imply that these women were “appointed” to any “official” capacity in the local church; but only that they were expected to work for their support. This is similar to “helping out around the house” when you’re a guest in someone’s home, to ease the burden you’ve placed on them. The “widow indeed” would render some needed service to the church in exchange for her continued financial support. This is not a position of “authority,” but of service; so, there is no need to worry about violating 1 Corinthians 11:3; 14:34-35; or 1 Timothy 2:11-12. Finally, it should be noted that with modern-day retirement plans and government programs, the idea of ongoing assistance to a “widow indeed” has virtually become obsolete in American culture.
I realize that I am “reading between the lines” to some extent in my analysis of this text, but this interpretation solves some of the difficulties of the text, and makes it more clear to me. What do you think?
Before I close, I want to note a very interesting comment by W.E. Vine with regard to the word “widow” (Greek, “chera”). He said, “1 Tim. 5:9 refers to elderly ‘widows’ (not an ecclesiastical ‘order’), recognized, for relief or maintenance by the church (cf. vv. 3,16), as those who had fulfilled the conditions mentioned; where relief could be ministered by those who had relatives that were ‘widows’ (a likely circumstance in large families), the church was not to be responsible; there is an intimation of the tendency to shelve individual responsibility at the expense of church funds.” Think about that highlighted phrase. Many of our brethren have not learned this very important lesson! They still want to “shelve individual responsibility at the expense of church funds,” by involving the local church in all manner of activities which are not assigned to the local church. If 1 Timothy 5:16 teaches anything at all, it teaches that there is a clear DISTINCTION between individual and local church obligations. We must learn to respect this Divine limitation! Let the church be the church!
--Lanny Smith
