1 Timothy 5:22-25
Paul is talking about ordaining elders and tells Timothy not to be hasty in that task but to do his homework: interview the candidate, interview the people who know the candidate (family, friends, co-workers) and make sure that they are worthy. The reason is that by laying hands on that person and giving authourity to that person, he (or she?) now acts on behalf of the church. Of course, we all act on behalf of Christ as his disciples and ambassadors and everything we do reflects on him and his body. However, by ordaining a person we are basically condoning them, holding them up as an example and authourity on behalf of the church.
Not only are we giving but we're taking on their identity - if they are crooked, we share in their sin and become identified with their sin. This gives the nominating committtee in our church a huge load to bear.
This was obviously an arduous task that caused Timothy stomach trouble (ok, maybe I'm over-reaching the passage) so Paul prescribed some wine for him. Maybe we should prescribe the same for our nominating committee... (Who picked 1 Timothy anyway?)
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1 comment:
Thanks for your comment. I am going to be checking up on your devos everyonce in awhile. I started Lent late this year. Poor Marylee has to be here for my first few days of coffee withdrawal.
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