Malcolm is a 9-year-old boy who lives in a single- parent home. John is 80 and recently widowed. And then there’s Iris. She recently gave birth to a pair of twins, so now she’s the mother of five girls! Yes, my church is made up of many people with diverse backgrounds and needs. Ministering effectively to each person requires care and sensitivity.
Paul’s instructions to Timothy are particularly insightful in this matter. First, Paul told Timothy that the way you treat people is the result of how you view them (1 Timothy 5:1-2). If Timothy began viewing every older man in the congregation as a father, he would treat them with natural deference and respect. Paul urged an approach to ministry that values relationships, while being firm in encouraging what is right.
Second, Paul taught that the church shouldn’t indiscriminately help everyone. Practical need alone is insufficient grounds for receiving financial assistance from a local congregation (1 Timothy 5:16). Similarly, there’s far more involved in Christian compassion than simply handing out money. The pattern presented by Paul in this passage is carefully structured ministry to the whole person. It encourages and facilitates godliness and a productive life, and it also guards against misuse and abuse that might endanger the church’s witness.
Upon learning the “family view,” I applied it. I started to see the younger men as my brothers and older women as my mothers. The slight mental adjustment has had a significant impact on the way I relate with fellow believers in Jesus. They’re not problems to fix, but people to love.
Let’s continue to look to God for wisdom in how to love one another in a way that encourages godliness and a productive life. After all, we’re one big family.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Acts 7:30-60
More:
Read Galatians 6:6- 10 for more inspired instruction in how to treat others in the household of faith.
Next:
In what ways could you offer assistance or encouragement to someone in your church this coming week? How do you need to begin viewing others more as family and less as church members?
jstabel on October 17, 2011 at 4:14 am
The greatest commandment as Christ puts it,”Love your neighbor as yourself” and the illustration clearly tells us that your neighbor goes beyond the man next door.As Paul would put it,”especially to those of the household of faith”,it points us to the fact that respect is displayed when we show love-here age and color matters little but the “house”called Christ matters most.
sun15 on October 17, 2011 at 7:40 am
Gud one … that’s what God wants His church to be- a one big famiy that is able to stand against the enemy in unity. However with people from different backgrounds it sure is difficult for them to love one another as family members. For instance last sunday, two of our church ladies got into a loud argument after the church. I think one of the key tools satan uses in our churches today is making people feel offended by one another, which spurs anger, gossiping and further misunderstanding.
I pray the ladies in our church would focus on Psalm 119:165- Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
poh fang chia on October 17, 2011 at 11:16 am
You are absolutely right. It is not easy to love. And it gives me great comfort to know that Jesus is the vine and I am the branch (John 15: 5), He will help me to love as I abide in Him and draw all my resources from Him.
I was meditating on John 15:1-17 recently and I am beginning to think that Jesus is referring specifically to our love for one another as the much fruit that the good branches must bear.
winn collier on October 17, 2011 at 8:17 pm
wise, practical words for living our faith in the communities God places us. Thank you.