1 Timothy 5:9-16, Widows in the church

There was a time in the past when Shawnna and I had an emergency food pantry, where we distributed food to those in need. One of the hardest things about doing this type of ministry is that we quickly learned that everyone who requested help didn’t need help. They were just looking for a free handout and was more than capable of providing for the needs of their family. After discussing the issue with some others who were more established in this form of ministry, they said that they had joined a local database that tracked distributions in the region. The database would log in individuals who received a food basket and where they received it at. They had to do this because un-needing people would go to every food bank in the region getting food when they didn’t need it, they was just abusing the system that was in place and actually taking from this who were in true need. Paul warns Timothy of the same thing when it comes to the care of widows in the church, the church should only be caring for the widows who are truly in need.

It is a shame that our society is in the condition that it is in, but I have seen this over and over in ministry; People show up for handouts and giveaways through the church and they are by no means in need. Paul tells Timothy that when it comes to the widows, they are ministering to that they need to make certain that they have no one providing for them or are not able to provide for themselves. He says that those who are idle (younger widows) tend to become busybodies in the community and causing problems. It is hard as a minister to see those abuse the church and ultimately take from those who are in true need because of their greed. In this pastoral letter Paul make sure that Timothy knows that it is church leaderships responsibility to see that such abuse of charity doesn’t occur.