PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

Paul also tells Timothy to entreat "younger men as brothers; elderly women as mothers; younger women as sisters." Timothy was not to assume an elevated position as a bishop, regarding himself as superior to others. On the contrary, he was to behave as a brother to younger brothers and sisters, as a son to a father, and as a son to a mother. In the church life there are many fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters. To deal with the saints as such is to behave humanly.

Our contact with the saints must be in a proper atmosphere and with the right attitude and spirit. The atmosphere, attitude, and spirit in our contact with others mean a great deal. If a young brother assumes some kind of elevated position in relation to an elderly man, the relationship between them will be damaged. But if he would contact him as a son speaking to a father, their fellowship will be intimate, loving, touching, and even inspiring.

Suppose that in my relationship with the saints I conduct myself as a teacher and treat the saints as my pupils. If this is my attitude, my contact with the saints will be quite poor. But if I am very human in my relationships with the saints and regard myself as a brother among brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, the contact will be loving and intimate. What a difference it makes when we are truly human in our relationships to one another! I repeat, in the church life we all must be human.

EXERCISING WISDOM

In 5:16 we see in the second place that Paul instructed Timothy to exercise wisdom. His word not to upbraid an elderly man, but to entreat him as a father is a word of wisdom. It is a matter of wisdom not to rebuke sharply an elderly man. In dealing with saints of different ages, we need not only love, but also wisdom. We need to realize whom we are contacting. Are we speaking to an elderly brother or sister? Then we must speak to them as a son to a father or mother. Are we contacting a younger brother or sister? Then we must speak to them as a brother to a brother or a brother to a sister. Furthermore, we should speak one way to a father, another way to a mother, and in other ways to brothers and sisters. For example, in our human family we do not speak in the same way to all members of the family. We do not talk to our father in the same way as we do to our mother. If we speak the same way to all members of our family, we are indeed foolish. In all our relationships with saints of different ages we need wisdom.

If we exercise wisdom, we shall speak differently to saints of different ages. The brothers will talk to brothers in a way appropriate to brothers, but they will speak to sisters in a way appropriate to sisters. This is wisdom. We must not speak to a young sister in the same way as we do to an elderly man. Furthermore, one sister may embrace another. But a young sister should not show her love for a brother, young or old, by embracing him. Do not love the saints in a foolish way. Instead, always exercise wisdom, realizing whom you are contacting.

IN ALL PURITY

Third, all our dealings with the saints must be "in all purity" (5:2). Every contact with the brothers and sisters in the church life must be pure in every way. We need to be pure in our motive and intention.

In the contact between brothers and sisters there is especially the need for all purity. For this reason, a brother and sister who are close to the same age should not talk privately in a closed room. Either another brother or another sister should be present. Consider the example of the Lord Jesus. He spoke to Nicodemus in a house alone at night, but He talked to the Samaritan woman out in the open during the day. This indicates that the contact between brothers and sisters must be in all purity.

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