Leadership Lesson #6

Guidelines for Dealing with Other Christians

"Never use harsh words when you correct an older man, but talk to him as if he were your father. Talk to younger men as if they were your brothers, older women as if they were your mothers, and younger women as if they were your sisters...

Honor widows who have no families. The children or grandchildren of a widow must first learn to respect their own family by repaying their parents...

A widow who has no family has placed her confidence in God by praying and asking for his help night and day...

Any widow who had only one husband and is at least 60 years old should be put on your list of widows...

Don’t include younger widows on your list...

So I want younger widows to marry, have children, manage their homes, and not give the enemy any chance to ridicule them... 

Give double honor to spiritual leaders who handle their duties well. This is especially true if they work hard at teaching God’s word...

Don’t pay attention to an accusation against a spiritual leader unless it is supported by two or three witnesses... 

I solemnly call on you in the sight of God, Christ Jesus, and the chosen angels to be impartial when you follow what I’ve told you. Never play favorites.

Don’t be in a hurry to place your hands on anyone to ordain him...

Stop drinking only water. Instead, drink a little wine for your stomach because you are frequently sick.

The sins of some people are obvious, going ahead of them to judgment. The sins of others follow them there. In the same way, the good things that people do are obvious, and those that aren’t obvious can’t remain hidden." 1 Timothy 5 (redacted, please read entire chapter on your own quiet time with the Lord)


As we continue this message on leadership, we come back to Apostle Paul's letter to Timothy.

As we have already mentioned earlier in other messages, these instructions were written for a different place and time and a few of them will not be easy to understand, unless explained in the context on why they were written at that place and time.

But from the redacted passage above, there are at least 10 points that Paul wanted to tell Timothy, that we wish to highlight for any ministry or church leader today. They are:

1. Need to Respect Elders.
2. Need to Respect Women.
3. Help out Widows.
4. Honor Preachers and Teachers of the Word.
5. Be aware that Church Leaders can and do make mistakes but at the same time some "witnesses" may and will bring false or inaccurate charges or testimony against them just like they did to Jesus.
6. Ordaining or appointing Church Leaders are not something that should to be rushed into doing.
7. Some mistakes are easy to see.
8. Other mistakes, are not that easy to notice.
9. Good deeds may be sometimes hard to see.
10. And those good deeds that are hidden will not be kept hidden forever.