Let’s turn in our Bibles to 1 Timothy 5:17-25. Last week we talked about the family of God in the church. And Paul spent a significant amount of time talking about how to care for the most vulnerable members of the church family—the widows. And the bulk of that conversation with Timothy had to do with when and how to support destitute widows with church finances.

Now, in verse 17 and following, Paul turns back to the subject of elders. He dealt with elders already in chapter 3. But now, he revisits that subject. Why? What’s the link with widows in the previous section? Well, I think the link is finances. Because some elders in the church are financially supported just like some of the widows. And Paul says that it’s good for elders to be financially supported, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 

Paul says, 

17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 

That double honor statement there indicates financial support. All elders are worthy of honor and being honored. But some elders, those who labor in preaching and teaching, are worthy of honor and an honorarium. In other words, they are worthy of financial support so that they can focus on the task of preaching and teaching.

Now that’s not all that Paul addresses here in respect to elders. Paul’s going to give Timothy some additional statements concerning elders, and some of those statements have to do with how to discipline an unruly elder. And also how to safeguard the office of elder and prevent premature and unwise installations of unqualified elders. We’ve talked about that already in 1 Timothy 3. But Paul circles back with this in chapter 5 because this is an incredibly important issue in the church. As the elders go, so (often) goes the church.  

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Go ahead and take your notes and write down the three main points of this passage. I’m going to give you these main points as we begin this morning, and we’ll flesh these main points out with subpoints from the passage. Paul gives Timothy three commands in this passage:

1) Support faithful elders (5:17-19) 

2) Reprove unfaithful elders (5:20-21) 

3) Safeguard the office of elder (5:22-25) 

Let’s look at these in sequence. First, “support faithful elders.” 

17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

The word for “elder” here is πρεσβύτερος. You should be familiar with that word already. And the word for “rule” is προΐσταμαι, which means to “guide, lead, direct.” All elders rule. The elders of a church work together to lead and guide the church. There’s no such thing as an elder who doesn’t rule. But some who rule well are worthy of διπλῆς τιμῆς (“double honor”). 

Also, all elders are worthy of honor. They are worthy of “single honor,” you might say. All elders should be respected in the church. The author of Hebrews wrote, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you” (13:17). Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over (προΐσταμαι) you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.” Elders are worthy of honor because they sacrifice time and energy to serve the church. They are gifted and appointed by God to lead the church. They carry the burdens of the church, and shepherd the souls of the sheep as under-shepherds of Christ Jesus (1 Pet 5:1-4).  

But a subset of the elder team involves elders who specialize in preaching and teaching. These teaching elders give themselves to that task. And if a church is able to support teaching elders who can dedicate significant time and energy to preaching and teaching, then the church should take advantage of that and add an honorarium to their honor as an elder.

Just for clarity’s sake, I am the “teaching elder” or the “senior pastor” who labors at preaching and teaching. “Preaching” means declaring the gospel so that those who are unsaved will hear it clearly and come to Christ. “Teaching” means teaching the Word of God and the doctrines of the church. And a good church will have both preaching and teaching. And a good “teaching elder” will be skilled at doing both: teaching the Scriptures and preaching the gospel. I’ve never bought into the notion that a church needs to be either an evangelistic church or a Bible teaching church. That’s a false dichotomy. A healthy church needs to do both. And for a pastor to do that effectively, that takes time and energy, which is why financial support from the church is encouraged by Paul. It’s a wise investment on the part of the church. It’s not unlike the Levitical priests of the OT who were supported by the tithes and offerings of the other Israelites. 

And notice the qualifier at the beginning of verse 17. A “double honor elder” needs to be skilled at preaching and teaching. But he also needs to “rule well.” In other words, he provides effective leadership alongside the other elders. It’s not like the teaching elder can just delegate all administrative and leadership tasks to the other elders and focus solely on preaching and teaching. No, he needs to lead too. He needs to be able to shepherd the flock well. As Peter tells all elders in 1 Peter 5:2-3, “[S]hepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”

And why is it good to financially support a teaching elder in a church? Well, here’s why. This is not the most flattering analogy for a senior pastor. But Paul says in verse 18. 

18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” 

In other words, I’m your “ox,” Verse By Verse Fellowship. I’m your beast of burden. I don’t know if Paul’s being flattering or comical or illustrative with this analogy here. But he is being biblical. Because this is the OT imagery that’s brought to mind when he thinks of a teaching elder. So if the shoe fits, I’ll wear it.

and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” 

Paul draws this image of an ox from Deuteronomy, which in its original context involved the humane treatment of animals (25:4). As the ox was laboring, working hard to provide food for its owner, it would be inhumane for the owner to not let the animal share in the harvest. Perish the thought that an ox would actually starve to death as it worked diligently for its owner. So God says, “unmuzzle the beast of burden so that he can eat as he goes and be refreshed as he labors.” In other words, “Let him share in the blessings of the harvest.”

Paul also quotes Jesus with this second statement, “the laborer deserves his wages” (Luke 10:7). Jesus and his disciples were often financially supported by the people that they ministered to (e.g. Luke 8:3). They were blessed by the people who supported them, and the people who supported them received a blessing. It’s a symbiotic relationship. And when both parties are faithful—the pastor leads and teaches the Word faithfully and the church body supports the pastor and his family—both parties are reciprocally blessed.   

The first point from our passage today was “support faithful elders.” And there’s two ways that a church can do that. Write this down under 1a. First of all they can…

a. Provide financially for vocational elders 

  Now this can vary from place to place. I know a group of pastors in Africa who are paid in bags of grain and the occasional goat or chicken. That’s appropriate in that context because that is commensurate with the wages of the average churchgoer. Wherever the church is located, it’s good for the church to financially support their preaching pastor or vocational elder. 

Kent Hughes asks, “So what is an honoring stipend, a fair wage? As a rule of thumb, pastors ought to be paid on the same scale as others in the congregation of the same age, education, level of experience, and responsibilities. They should not live above or below their congregation. And it is generally better for the church to err on the plus side!”

And that doesn’t mean that non-elders can’t be financially supported by the church. We have other staff here who don’t serve as elders. This passage doesn’t preclude support for worship leaders or administrative assistants or other ministry roles within the church. But I would say this. The church needs to prioritize the support of its vocational elders, especially the teaching elder of the church. 

Whenever I’ve been involved in church-planting in the past, and I hope to be involved in church-planting here at this church. The first priority for that church is who’s the teaching elder. Who’s the guy and how is he going to get things off the ground for the church. You can’t have a children’s director or worship leader or small groups coordinator until you have the senior pastor/teaching elder.  

And this doesn’t preclude the possibility of bi-vocationalism either. Paul was bi-vocational, and some pastors have to balance their work at the church with their work elsewhere. I served for many years alongside a pastor who was bi-vocational. And he was a hard worker. And that’s just where we were as a church. It wasn’t always the easiest thing for him and his family. But he did his best to make it work.  

But honoring faithful elders goes beyond just financial support for the teaching elder. Paul adds in verse 19 a more general command for all elders.

19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 

Go ahead and write this down as 1b in your notes. Churches need to provide financially for vocational elders and they need to… 

b. Protect the elders from spurious accusations

Elders, especially if they meet the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3, should be guarded against personal attacks. They should receive the benefit of the doubt whenever there’s an accusation. So Paul says, “Do not admit a charge against an elder…” The word “charge” here is the Greek κατηγορία, and it means “accusation” or “charge” in a legal context. Pilate asked the religious leaders regarding Jesus, “What accusation [κατηγορία] do you bring against this man [Jesus]” (John 18:29).

Now this doesn’t mean that elders operate above the law or have immunity from church discipline. We can infer from the situation in Ephesus that Timothy will have to discipline some of the existing elders of the church. The two groups that were probably causing the most problems in the church were the widows and the elders. And Paul wants Timothy to confront both. But Paul wants to make sure that Timothy doesn’t make decisions based on hearsay or gossip or somebody’s personal vendetta.

Paul says instead, make sure there are two or three witnesses whenever there’s a charge brought against someone. This goes back again to the book of Deuteronomy and to a precedent set in the OT for accusations. Moses said, “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established” (Deut 19:15). And the context of that passage has to do with protecting people against a malicious witness. Having two or three witnesses doesn’t always protect someone against a false accusation. Just look at what happened with Jesus and the false witnesses that multiplied in his trial. But it will help protect an elder against spurious accusations. 

The reality is this. It’s inevitable that church leaders will have stones thrown at them. I’ve been an elder in the church for almost two decades. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen good men receive accusations from disreputable people. And the hard thing to come to terms with is that God allows this. God allows these accusations to materialize in the church. I think it’s part of the sanctification process that God brings into our lives. Nevertheless the church body should not act hastily whenever a formal charge is brought against an elder. There should never be a “guilty until proven innocent” mindset in the church. The world might rush to judgment… especially when it has to do with Christians or the church. But the church body itself can’t do that. 

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But there is another side to this discussion. Yes, elders who serve well are worthy of honor, even some double honor. But what about elders who don’t serve well? What about elders, like what Timothy may have encountered in Ephesus, who are engaged in persistent sin? What about situations where two or three or even more witnesses bring a charge against an elder? Well Paul transitions now and deals with that matter. 

20 As for those [that’s the elders] who persist in sin, rebuke them

The word for “rebuke” here is different than the Greek word used in 5:1. Paul said, “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father.” The Greek word in that verse has the idea of a browbeating or an excoriation. The word in verse 20 is softer; but it’s not soft. It has the idea of reproof or correction. 

Rebuke [or “correct”] them in the presence of all [that is, the entire church], so that the rest [that is, “the rest of the elders” but also “the rest of the entire church”] may stand in fear. 

I’ve already given you the second point: “Reprove unfaithful elders.” Let me give you two sub-points to put under that:

a. Publicize the persistent sins of an elder

b. Prohibit any display of partiality 

21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. 

Paul gives two instructions immediately after he tells Timothy and the church body to support its elders. First of all in verse 20, the “persistently” sinful elder needs to be rebuked publicly. This is not substantively different than anyone else in the church. For any sinner in the church who persists in sin after being confronted by an individual and then a group of two or three witnesses, then they must be publicly outed. 

The guidelines for church discipline, as such, are detailed in Matthew 18, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector (18:15-17). 

That’s the church’s game-plan for an unrepentant sinner. And it’s the same for an elder as it is for everyone else! If that’s the case, then why does Paul emphasize this for leaders in this passage? He does it for two reasons. 1) To counter the call for respect in the previous verses. Respect for elders doesn’t mean that they can operate with impunity. 2) To protect the reputation of the church. The actions of the elders are particularly scrutinized by the church and the outside world, so the church needs to deal swiftly and publicly with elders caught in sin. There’s a sense in which elders are called to a higher standard than non-elders. Their faithfulness earns them a greater measure of respect within the church. Their failures earn them greater censure.

But there’s a further instruction. Paul warns Timothy to not only publicize the persistent sins of an elder but also guard against any display of partiality. 

21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. 

In other words, “Don’t show favoritism, Timothy.” Notice how solemn this warning is: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules.” Yikes! Talk about terrifying. “Don’t screw this up, Timothy. God and the hosts of heaven are witnesses of your actions.” 

Why would Timothy need such a solemn warning against partiality? I don’t know. I don’t even know which party Timothy would be more inclined to favor—elders or non-elders. Maybe there were elders who had injured Timothy personally? Maybe there were persistently sinful elders that Timothy was good friends with? Either way, Paul says “Be objective Timothy! Don’t be guilty of partiality. Don’t be guilty of prejudging. Take a look at the facts, and judge accordingly.” 

You might remember that Timothy’s mother was Jewish, but his dad was a Gentile. So maybe Timothy was tempted to favor the Jews over the Gentiles in Ephesus or vice-versa? Or maybe Timothy was tempted to judge in favor of younger men in the church, since he was a younger man himself? 

We don’t know why Paul gave him this exhortation. But I do know this—we are all in danger of showing favoritism. We all tend to show partiality to people who are like-minded with us… people who look and act like we do! Paul says, “Don’t do it! Don’t you show partiality! Be objective.”  

Look, favoritism can be a problem at all levels of the church. This isn’t just an elder issue. The Apostle James said in his epistle, “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (2:1). He says also, “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (2:9). Proverbs 24:23 says, “These also are sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good.” Paul says in Romans 2:11, “God shows no partiality.” And neither should we.

So I would challenge you with a few questions in that regard. This is not just for the elders; this is for everyone in the church. Have you struggled with showing partiality or favoritism to certain people in the church? What are some ways that you can guard against that?

Let me take this in a little bit different direction: Have you been victimized by favoritism in the church before? If so, have you forgiven those who hurt you in this way? Are you using the injustice that you experienced as fuel for your own display of favoritism or are you using it as fuel for impartiality in the church? God wants us to rid favoritism and partiality from our church. Proverbs 20:10 says, “Unequal weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the LORD.”

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So Paul tells Timothy 1) Support faithful elders in the church. Also he tells him to 2) Reprove unfaithful elders. But also, here is a third thing he tells Timothy. 

3. Safeguard the office of elder (5:22-25)

Paul says in verse 22:

22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. 

There are two ways that the office of elder can be safeguarded in the church. Paul mentions both of these in verse 22. The first way to do this is to:

a. Prevent hasty elder installations

Secondly, Paul conveys another expectation of Timothy:

22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. 

Don’t just prevent hasty elder installations. You also need to be proactive. Don’t just play defense, play offense too! 

b. Purify the church’s reputation

This command starts with Timothy himself. Paul is telling Timothy indirectly here, “Keep yourself pure, young man! Make sure your integrity is impeccable first, Timothy.” In Jesus’s words, “Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matt 7:3-5). 

The “laying on of hands” in this passage is the symbolic gesture of appointing a person to a leadership position in the church. Jesus laid hands on others as an act of healing (Matt 9:18; 19:13, 15; Mark 5:23; 6:5; 7:32; 8:23, 25; Luke 4:40; 13:13). Paul laid hands on others to symbolize the move and the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5; 8:17, 19; 9:12, 17; 13:3; 19:6; 28:8). In a church setting, this laying on of hands acknowledges the spiritual gifting of a leader and publicizes their spiritual fitness for serving as a leader. Paul says take time to discern a person’s fitness for leadership before you lay hands on them and appoint them over the church. Don’t be guilty of what sociologists called “the halo-effect.” That’s where you project a person’s character based on first impressions. First impressions can be misleading, and a man’s character is not immediately ascertainable. It takes time to observe those things. Even for deacons, Paul says in 1 Timothy 3:10, “let them also be tested first.” If that’s true for deacons, how much more for elders!

I went to this church planting conference once, and this church planter was talking about his church and how he was in a big hurry to install elders. He had elders brought over from his mother church, but he was ready to get rid of them and install some local elders in the church. 

And he told his mother church, “I need some help at my church. I have these guys that can serve in that position. I’m ready to move forward.” And these outside elders, who were more experienced then him, kept saying, “No. Just be cool. Wait and take your time. Don’t install elders too hastily.” And sure enough these guys who the church planter wanted to install as elders eventually showed their immaturity. And they did some things that really hurt the church. And the impact of their actions could have ripped the church apart if they had been elders at the time. And sure enough this principle proved true, “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands.”

One of the things that we’ve been working on as elders is how to evaluate future elder candidates. How do we vet them? I said a few months ago that in a few decades, most of us as elders will be six feet under. And even before that, we’re going to need to recruit, train, and install elders to take our place and continue the work here at VBVF. And there’s no guarantee that everyone we recruit, vet, and install will serve the church well. But we can mediate that risk… we can improve our odds, and we can safeguard the office of elder by not laying hands on someone too hastily.

Paul closes this discourse on elders with the following statements. Look at verse 23 with me.

23 (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) 

Verse 23 kind of comes out of nowhere, and it might be a bit of a shocker for some of you who grew up in a culture where alcohol was considered ungodly. And I think the ESV was right to put this verse in parenthesis. It’s tangential to Paul’s overall argument. Nevertheless it is Scripture, and Paul is communicating something important here. 

At the end of verse 22, Paul says “keep yourself pure.” But in verse 23, he says drink wine as well as water. Why does he do that? I think he’s trying to tell Timothy that abstaining from alcohol is not necessary to remain pure. Probably Timothy was abstaining from drinking wine, like a Nazarite in the OT, because there was such a problem with intoxication in Ephesus. It’s actually admirable that Timothy would do this. Maybe also he doesn’t want to be a stumbling block to his brothers? So he restricted his freedom accordingly. Or maybe he’s been seduced by some of the asceticism that was running rampant in the church (1 Tim 4:3)? Either way, Paul fascinatingly tells him to stop being a teetotaler. Timothy’s actions are actually robbing him from the medicinal value of wine.

And what kind of ailments was Timothy having? Well, we don’t know, but he’s probably dealing with some serious medical issues after taking over this high-maintenance church. The widows are out of control! The false teachers are circling the church like vultures! Timothy has to install good elders and deacons in the church. That’s enough to give a young pastor ulcers! 

Just so you know, it was well-known in the ancient world that wine could be used for medical purposes. It helped ease dietary problems and it helped prevent disease, especially dysentery, in parts of the world where the water was unclean. And we need to be clear, the Bible never equates wine-drinking with drunkenness or immorality. Wine is a morally neutral substance. It can be used for good; it can be used for evil. We need to respect it as a substance that can control us, but we need not demonize it. That’s clear from this passage. And it’s clear from Jesus turning water into wine that we can use wine for enjoyment with moderation too (see John 2:1-11). 

And then Paul says this, which really comes on the heels of verse 22. So let me read verse 22 and skip the parenthetical citation and go straight to verse 24.

22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure… 24 The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25 So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.

There’s an old adage that goes like this. Tell me if you’ve heard this before: “Truth and time walk hand in hand.” It takes time for the good deeds and the sins of men to be discovered. Some sins are conspicuous, meaning they are obvious to everyone. Other sins are more inconspicuous. They are not obvious at first glance. So Paul is saying here, “Take your time, Timothy, evaluating elder candidates within the church.”

Some sins are inconspicuous, but also some good deeds are inconspicuous. I heard a story once about a pastor who wondered why the grass never grew at the church. Every time he went to the church the lawn was nicely manicured and taken care of. And he didn’t find out until a few years into his pastorate that a godly saint was taking care of the church lawn on his own time without even being asked. Some good deeds are conspicuous. Some are inconspicuous. 

I know that there are things happening behind the scenes in this church that I don’t know about. I know there are people serving faithfully in ways that I don’t know about, and our elders don’t know about. But God knows those deeds. And that is true of both sin and good deeds. You can hide good deeds from me and our elders. God sees them. You can hide sins from us. But God sees them. Someday the Lord will sort that all out with judgment and eternal rewards.  

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I’ll close with this. And I want this to lead us into our time of communion. I can imagine in a room like this that some of you have been failed by a pastor or an elder in the church. There’s no shortage of news stories that demonstrate that fact—pastors behaving badly or elders behaving badly. Maybe some of you have seen church leaders spread divisiveness in the church and that led to deep church hurt? If that has happened, let me just say on behalf of your elders here at VBVF, that we are sorry you went through that. And let me ask humbly for you to pray for me and the other elders here that God would help us to be faithful and honorable in our spiritual tasks.

But let me remind you too, that whereas elders and parents and other authority figures will fail you in your life, Jesus Christ never will. And maybe shepherds in your life have failed you, but the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, never has and never will. And even more than that he gave his life as a ransom payment for your sins. He suffered, so that you don’t have to. He sacrificed himself, in order to save you. He’s our Chief Shepherd, our Great Shepherd. And he’s the real Senior Pastor of this church. So let’s remember him now.