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supervising well

1 Timothy 5:17-25

1 Timothy 5:17 The elders who are effective leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

1 Timothy 5:18 You see, the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and the worker is worthy of his wages.

1 Timothy 5:19 Don’t accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by two or three attestors.¹

1 Timothy 5:20 Publicly rebuke those who are failing,² so that the rest will be afraid.

1 Timothy 5:21 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism.

1 Timothy 5:22 Don’t be too quick to appoint anyone as an elder, and don’t share in the failures³ of others. Keep yourself pure.

1 Timothy 5:23 Don’t continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.

1 Timothy 5:24 Some human failures are obvious, preceding them to judgment, but those of others surface later.

1 Timothy 5:25 Likewise, good achievements are obvious, and those that are not obvious cannot stay hidden for long.

supervising well

The common misconception about Timothy is that he was the “pastor” in Ephesus, and that he was charged to develop leaders for his congregation. I say that is a misconception because in Ephesus there were clearly many congregations and many leaders had already emerged — as is clear from this passage.

Timothy was a missionary, placed in Ephesus by Paul, and his role included the task of developing new leaders for those congregations, and supervising their work.

For Timothy to supervise well, he had to honor those leaders who work hard at preaching and teaching, and to sometimes publicly rebuke those who are failing — missing the mark.

The congregations were still under the apostolic leadership of Paul, and Timothy had been left with instructions to develop and appoint new leaders as needed. He had to do so without showing either prejudice or favoritism.

LORD, give us the wisdom to supervise well.

1 μάρτυς = attestor. 1 Timothy 5:19; 6:12.

2 ἁμαρτάνω = fail.

3 ἁμαρτία = failure. 1 Timothy 5:22, 24.