Here is an excerpt on a sermon I delivered 1 Timothy 5:17-25. There is a section in this passage about an accusation of wrongdoing by an elder of the church. I have been thinking of this sermon in light of what is going on in SBC life in the last few days.
Paul takes up another item in regards to elders in the church, the matter of discipline. Do not entertain an accusation against an elder… Paul probably has to give this instruction because there were elders who were abusing their authority. Some were rightly accused, perhaps others were falsely accused.
There should be no unsupported, unsubstantiated charges brought against an elder, but at the same time…there must be public rebuke of those who are found guilty.
The point is accusations against an elder should not be brought unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Paul is not arguing for something that would be different for anyone else (see 2 Cor. 13.1; Deut 19.15 – “One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” John 8.17; Heb. 10.28). This instruction is given, not so Timothy can take care of things behind the scenes, but for the sake of the church and the elders it is expected to be passed on to the church. This should protect the elders, who are in public positions of leadership, from being slandered when they are accused of something falsely. But also, it seems that some of the elders of this church are indeed sinning, they need to be called out.
Jesus uses this same passage to instruct on conflict resolution. If there is an offense, go directly to the offender hoping for repentance. If there is no repentance, then take witnesses. If still no repentance, go before the church. If, after you taken all of these precautions to make sure you’ve gotten the accusations correct, and there is still no repentance, put them out of the church (for the purpose of prompting a sadness from being excluded from true, Christian fellowship).
If the accusation is credible, Paul wants the accusation(s) made publicly. This may seem a bit harsh and unloving, but as the next clause that Paul makes, it is for the sake of the whole community: so that the others may take warning. The point is that others in the church (be it elders or regular members) will experience “the fear of God” by such a public rebuke.
This has really hit home lately. Over the past few years, I have been reading about churches not dealing with accusations against their elders/pastors within these guidelines. One of the key features I have been seeing, is a cover up or a lack of accountability. One of the most egregious examples came to light earlier this year. A teenage girl was put into compromising position by her youth minister. He put her in a position where she felt she needed to please him in a physical way because of his position of spiritual authority and/or because of her safety. The youth minister begged her not to tell anyone after his guilt kicked in, and initially she kept her mouth shut. But her guilt and shame built up and she told his superior at their church. That pastoral staff member told her to stay quiet and that he and the senior pastor would deal with it. There was no public action by the staff and this young lady felt betrayed and angry and she told others that something happened. After it started to get out that something (not everything) happened, it was revealed that the youth minister made a poor decision and that he would need to leave the church. There was no restoration, no confession, no apology to this young lady. The man who had sinned was allowed to quietly leave the church with as little mess as possible. This young lady was left with whispers that something happened and that perhaps she was partly to blame. The dismissed youth minister went on to continue his ministerial career until this episode recently came to light again, years later, when he rose to a leadership position in a large church. This whole situation made evangelical churches look bad, because there was the appearance was that the church was more interested in protecting the institution (or reputation of the church) instead of calling out the sin of the offender and offering the victim a chance for healing. I wish this was the only story I know like this, but there are many. If you grew up in the seventies, you may remember this slogan, “the cover up is always worse than the crime”. This is biblical.
Paul adds the charge to do this without partiality or favoritism. Such judgments must be carried out without judgment in advance and taking sides because Timothy and the church also stand before a heavenly tribunal, before God, Jesus and the elect angels. The reference to the elect angels is a strange inclusion, probably standing as a contrast to fallen angels who rebelled in heaven (which Jude makes a reference to in his letter: “the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day”, verse 6). As I was studying this, I wrote in the margin of one of my commentaries: Get this right! Just as a false accusation can ruin someone’s life, to show partiality to an offender because of their position in the church, the community, their status, their wealth, is an egregious sin. We need to get this right when it happens. We get this right when we follow the instructions like this that are found throughout the Bible.
I saw this prayer in response to how the whole #metoo movement has come to the church. It really applies to any situation where our leaders are accused of wrongdoing. May it be our prayer too: Lord... help us to live a life that pleases you. Help us to make good decisions today. Give us guidance to know how to respond when both true and false charges made against us. Give our congregation wisdom. And help us to finish well.
Paul takes up another item in regards to elders in the church, the matter of discipline. Do not entertain an accusation against an elder… Paul probably has to give this instruction because there were elders who were abusing their authority. Some were rightly accused, perhaps others were falsely accused.
There should be no unsupported, unsubstantiated charges brought against an elder, but at the same time…there must be public rebuke of those who are found guilty.
The point is accusations against an elder should not be brought unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Paul is not arguing for something that would be different for anyone else (see 2 Cor. 13.1; Deut 19.15 – “One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” John 8.17; Heb. 10.28). This instruction is given, not so Timothy can take care of things behind the scenes, but for the sake of the church and the elders it is expected to be passed on to the church. This should protect the elders, who are in public positions of leadership, from being slandered when they are accused of something falsely. But also, it seems that some of the elders of this church are indeed sinning, they need to be called out.
Jesus uses this same passage to instruct on conflict resolution. If there is an offense, go directly to the offender hoping for repentance. If there is no repentance, then take witnesses. If still no repentance, go before the church. If, after you taken all of these precautions to make sure you’ve gotten the accusations correct, and there is still no repentance, put them out of the church (for the purpose of prompting a sadness from being excluded from true, Christian fellowship).
If the accusation is credible, Paul wants the accusation(s) made publicly. This may seem a bit harsh and unloving, but as the next clause that Paul makes, it is for the sake of the whole community: so that the others may take warning. The point is that others in the church (be it elders or regular members) will experience “the fear of God” by such a public rebuke.
This has really hit home lately. Over the past few years, I have been reading about churches not dealing with accusations against their elders/pastors within these guidelines. One of the key features I have been seeing, is a cover up or a lack of accountability. One of the most egregious examples came to light earlier this year. A teenage girl was put into compromising position by her youth minister. He put her in a position where she felt she needed to please him in a physical way because of his position of spiritual authority and/or because of her safety. The youth minister begged her not to tell anyone after his guilt kicked in, and initially she kept her mouth shut. But her guilt and shame built up and she told his superior at their church. That pastoral staff member told her to stay quiet and that he and the senior pastor would deal with it. There was no public action by the staff and this young lady felt betrayed and angry and she told others that something happened. After it started to get out that something (not everything) happened, it was revealed that the youth minister made a poor decision and that he would need to leave the church. There was no restoration, no confession, no apology to this young lady. The man who had sinned was allowed to quietly leave the church with as little mess as possible. This young lady was left with whispers that something happened and that perhaps she was partly to blame. The dismissed youth minister went on to continue his ministerial career until this episode recently came to light again, years later, when he rose to a leadership position in a large church. This whole situation made evangelical churches look bad, because there was the appearance was that the church was more interested in protecting the institution (or reputation of the church) instead of calling out the sin of the offender and offering the victim a chance for healing. I wish this was the only story I know like this, but there are many. If you grew up in the seventies, you may remember this slogan, “the cover up is always worse than the crime”. This is biblical.
Paul adds the charge to do this without partiality or favoritism. Such judgments must be carried out without judgment in advance and taking sides because Timothy and the church also stand before a heavenly tribunal, before God, Jesus and the elect angels. The reference to the elect angels is a strange inclusion, probably standing as a contrast to fallen angels who rebelled in heaven (which Jude makes a reference to in his letter: “the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day”, verse 6). As I was studying this, I wrote in the margin of one of my commentaries: Get this right! Just as a false accusation can ruin someone’s life, to show partiality to an offender because of their position in the church, the community, their status, their wealth, is an egregious sin. We need to get this right when it happens. We get this right when we follow the instructions like this that are found throughout the Bible.
I saw this prayer in response to how the whole #metoo movement has come to the church. It really applies to any situation where our leaders are accused of wrongdoing. May it be our prayer too: Lord... help us to live a life that pleases you. Help us to make good decisions today. Give us guidance to know how to respond when both true and false charges made against us. Give our congregation wisdom. And help us to finish well.
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