Loving with our Heads, Hands and Hearts
Having a Good Regard for the Older Ones
Do not rebuke…” – 1 Timothy 5:1
This passage comes from a letter that Paul, the apostle and an experienced teacher, preacher, and pastor, wrote to Timothy, his spiritual son. This letter was written to instruct Timothy in pastoral matters (how to lead the church and so on). In 1 Tim. 5:1-2, Paul’s instructions are clear: “Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father”. As I read this, I was puzzled. Why did Paul have to tell Timothy not to do this? A clue may be found in the earlier part of this letter. In 1 Tim. 1:4 we see: “…[do not] give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes”. Aha! Perhaps the people had become obsessed with untruths and trivial matters, and had started to quarrel with one another, and possibly, some of the younger ones had started to rebuke their seniors!
Paul clearly did not approve of this kind of behaviour, and he warned Timothy against it. As young people, we ought not to have the attitude that we know better than the older people. In Bethany, as in the rest of Singapore, there are many older ones who were not taught to speak English, many who did not have as many opportunities as we do today to get a good education. Our ability to think and reason well does not give us any right to scold the older ones and not show them respect! I learn to respect the older ones as I see how they have had a wealth of life experiences and many have much wisdom about life. It is not my place to rebuke them, as if I know more than they do.
Learning to Relate to Them
But exhort him as a father…” – 1 Timothy 5:1
The older ones in our midst are not one homogeneous category of human beings with the same thoughts and feelings – they are individuals, with their own emotions, and like us they sometimes go through times when they feel discouraged with life and their circumstances as well. Let’s take time to relate to the older people in our midst, by greeting them and asking after them.
Even more than that, let’s learn to relate to them as our own fathers and mothers. The picture Paul paints here for Timothy is that of the church as a spiritual family, where we can relate to all members of the church as various members of the family! The older ones are to be treated as fathers, mothers, people whom we ought to love and honour. I am particularly challenged by this as well, as this requires that I re-look both my relationships with my parents, and my relationships with older ones in church, to see if they are honouring and pleasing to the Lord.
Doing All With Purity
With all purity” – 1 Timothy 5:2
This New Year, let’s not do things just because we have been told to do so. Let us instead reflect on what the Lord’s word tells us about how we ought to regard our older ones. As we reflect, may our minds be changed and our hearts moved to love the older ones more, with all purity and sincerity. Let us practise this that each of us may “be an examples to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12)!