Church Family - 1 Timothy 4-6

 1 Timothy 5:1-2 (ESV)

Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

God puts the church in order through the teachings of Paul and other Apostles.  In this section of 1 Timothy, Paul is telling young Pastor Timothy how to lead and grow and administrate the church.  We have to remember that Timothy was young.   In fact, Paul had just said to him:

1 Timothy 4:12-14 (ESV)

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.

Paul did not want the elder men to discourage Timothy.  But, he didn’t want the older men and women to be discouraged either.  In the above passage Timothy was told not to “rebuke” an older man.  The literal meaning of that word is to “strike upon.”   No one in the church is to use their words to “strike” someone, especially those older than them.   But, instead, Timothy is told to “encourage” them.  The word means to “come along side” them.  This speaks more as in discipleship vs condemnation.   When Peter was writing to the persecuted church he concluded his first letter this way:

1 Peter 5:1 (ESV)

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:

This “exhort” word is the same as this “encourage” word in the above passage.  So, we are to come along side the older men and encourage them, which will exhort them as they lead and/or continue in their faith.  

But, our conduct toward older it is not the end of our conduct in the Church. Notice what Paul tells Timothy about woman.  The older women are to be treated as you would a mother and the younger women as you would a sister.   This is the “God’s family” mindset for Timothy.   We are brothers and sisters in Christ.   We are to show “brotherly love” to each other.   

This sets us apart in the world today.  No organization can do this except through the power of the Spirit because in the Church (and in the Church alone) true believers have the the power of the Spirit to allow them and enable them to live this way.