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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. Okay, we're in the second half of first Timothy, and I gave a challenge yesterday, all right, to read all of first Timothy instead of half of it, and then today read all of it again. So hope that it's kind of like getting into your mind. If you've done the reading, then let's jump in. If you have not done the reading, then you want to just go ahead and time out, pause, go do the reading, and then come back. I'll be right back here. Two things when it comes to context clues. Well, maybe we'll get in, like, two or three things as themes for first Timothy, but definitely stuff that shows up in the second half of first Timothy, big time. Okay, here's hashtag context, clue. The first time, like, Paul gets stoned in Lystra, Timothy would have been there, and Timothy would have, you know, been someone who saw, like, miracles, stoning and preaching, like, all in one go. Like that first trip to Lystra, you got the full gamut. And I would. I can imagine Timothy just being, like, inspired. He doesn't 100% fit in with a Greek audience because he's too Jewish for the Greeks, but he doesn't fit in with a Jewish audience because he's not circumcised, so he's too Greek for the Jews. And I can imagine Timothy, um, I think that Paul's giving him a charge like, hey, don't be timid. You know what I mean? Don't, like, don't let anyone look down on you, because I kind of see Timothy as, like, a bit of a nerdy, caring, loving, like, guy, you know? And so here's. Here's the context that I want to create, is that Timothy, he sees Paul, you know, heal someone. That first day in Lystra, he sees Paul get stoned. He. He's been in prison with Paul. He sees Paul preach. I think that Timothy's probably been with Paul for about 10 years before Paul enlists him as the pastor of this church in Ephesus. And so Timothy has really proven, like, that he's got the chops not because of his gifts or his charisma, but because he's lasted the test of time. And time is really the word that I want us to focus on. Cause there's a couple of things that Paul is gonna say and I think if we read in between the lines, what's happened at this church in Ephesus is there's a lot of leaders that have risen that have come up into leadership, but man, they've microwaved what can only be crock potted. They are leaders that in haste or in a rush to like get to a platform, they've really missed some foundational character building, some, some foundational blocks that really help leaders to build character. And so I want us to read a couple of these verses because I think there's a theme here and that theme is like slow and steady wins the race. And I think that's an encouragement in the culture that we live in. Because man, if there's a massive temptation of that I think are facing American Christians and American church leaders is, man, if you're not famous by 25, you just missed it. If you're not church planting by 30, you just, you know, you, you haven't done what God's called you to this planet to do. And I think we're just living in the age of like, you know, 30 year old billionaires and Forbes 30 under 30. And, and there's this desire to achieve or Attain not at 60 or 70 or 80, but at 25, 30, 35. And I think that first Timothy is pushing back against that because I think the Ephesian Church has had a lot of leaders come in who looked like they had the chops. They rose up in leadership, but really they didn't last the test of time. And Timothy has, Timothy has walked with Paul for probably a full decade imprisonment. Highs, lows, mountaintops, valleys. And so Paul has placed him as the leader of this church because really I think he, I think Timothy understands timing. I think he understands the kind of inner work that is necessary in order to be the person that God's called you to be. I want to go to First Timothy, chapter 5, verse 22. So I think this is on display. It says this, do not ordain anyone hastily, man. I know as a leader sometimes you can come across people, you recruit people and it's almost like you want to platform them quickly. And Paul says right here, he's giving Timothy advice, said, hey, do not ordain anyone hastily. And I'll just give some leadership, you know, advice right here, man. You can always wait to give someone a title, but once you give it to them, then it's really hard to take it Back. And the last thing you ever want to do is to put somebody in a leadership position too fast. And clearly leadership is the biggest issue here in this church in Ephesus. There are people who have been given the microphone that shouldn't have been given the microphone, people who have been platformed that shouldn't be platformed. Doctrine and teaching is coming up again and again and again and again. Not only is there an issue with being platformed too quickly, but there also seems to be an issue in the church of people who are being platformed because they want money. They see ministry as a road to financial success. And so the reason that Paul is saying, hey, don't ordain people quick. Like, rising up in leadership fast is not always the best thing, because with influence always comes finances. Like, those things go hand in hand. If I can gain influence, then I can influence people to give me money. Like, like that's not just like a 21st century problem, okay? If we want to think about being a celebrity pastor or, you know, pastors who attain great wealth, like, that's not new actually in the Greco Roman world. Here we go. Here's a nerdy nugget. There are sophists. These are people who are professional philosophers. And they were very wealthy. These people were insanely wealthy. Remember, there's no Netflix, there's no entertainment. The most entertaining thing that you could do is like go to the theater or watch somebody, like give a speech, a monologue. Okay? So public speaking is always going to attract wealth. And so here's what Paul says. Chapter three, verse eight. I know we chackled chapter three yesterday, but I'll. I just want to go back just a little bit. Chapter three, verse eight. Deacons likewise must be serious. Not double tongued, not indulging in much wine. That theme is going to come up a lot, actually. Like the issue of, of drinking, not indulging in much wine. Not greedy for money, okay? Not greedy for money. Immediately says, hey, deacons can't be greedy for money. If, if you go to chapter six, verse four, this theme is going to come up again, okay? Chapter six, verse four. It says this. Teach and urge these duties. Whoever teaches others otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the teaching that is in accordance with godliness is conceded understanding nothing and has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words. Okay? So people who just want to argue, to argue, it says this. From these come envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among those who are Depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. What do you mean godliness is a means of gain? Paul, kind of clarify what you mean. Okay, verse six. Of course there is great gain and godliness combined with contentment. For we brought nothing into the world so that we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. It's funny because that's verse nine of chapter six and we always jump into verse ten. Okay, but we don't read what comes before verse ten. Here's verse ten, you'll probably recognize. It says, says this for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. And in their eagerness to be rich, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. So Paul again, I mean, it's almost like Paul is taking painstaking time to just go, hey, deacons shouldn't be hungry for money. They shouldn't be greedy. Hey, anyone that you ordained, don't do a fast, hey, teach people that, like godliness is not a means of gain. And then goes on to kind of expound on that. And I honestly, it's funny because somebody was asking me recently, yo, why do we see so many moral failures in church? And, and I said, because capitalism is the air that we breathe. And even me, I'll be vulnerable. You know, I remember my first ministry job and I was struggling with being sexually pure. But I was afraid to tell my pastor because my pastor was also the person who signed my paycheck. And so there's this part of me that's like, oh, I know I need freedom. I want to get out of this prison of, of sexual temptation and sexual desire. But if I tell my pastor, he's going to fire me and then what am I going to do for work? And no one prepares people to navigate the nuance between, hey, like, this is something I'm called to do. I have gifts to do this, but man, this is also going to become my source of income and livelihood. And how do I keep my soul safe while also providing for myself and my family. What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just the tip of the iceberg? The Bible department is actually powered by arma. What is arma? I'm so glad you asked. Arma is an online subscription based platform that we Designed to help people, everyday people, learn the Bible for themselves. We started ARMA so that anybody, anywhere could have access to trustworthy and entertaining Bible and theology content. In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing, and women in ministry. But really, ARMA is a community, a community of people that I've gotten to know. A community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions and nerding out on the Bible together. If you want a community to read the Bible with you this year, or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want more exclusive access to me and the entire armor team, how about you go to thebibledepartment.com I'll be sure to post the link in the description of this video. Let's make this your year to become a Bible nerd. And I think Paul is doing a really, really, really good job here. So verse 17 of chapter 5. Okay, so here's the nuance. Now Paul's gonna hold these things intention, okay? He's gonna say, don't get people who are greedy. Don't, don't, don't get people who see godliness as a means to gain. And then chapter five, verse 17, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor. Okay, cool. How should we honor them? Okay. Especially those who labor in teaching and preaching. Because then some of us hear those verses about greed and we immediately go to the other extreme and we become Catholic, essentially, and pastors shouldn't have any money past, and we want all preachers to be broke. But here's what Paul says, okay? Verse 18. For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox while it's treading out the grain. So the, the ox is working for you. Don't muzzle it, Let the ox eat. Okay? If the ox is working to make your job as a farmer easier or to expedite your work as a farmer, don't muzzle the ox, let the ox eat. So don't, don't muzzle an ox while it's treading out the grain. The laborer deserves to be paid. So again, Paul is going to force us to think with nuance because there are people who are billionaires, they're still greedy people who are billionaires and they're content. So Paul doesn't say, hey, go after people who are making too much money. He's, he's, he attacks the issue of the heart, which is greed, which is this insatiable desire for, for More. And it's never consumed, it's never fulfilled. There's nothing's ever enough. That's a lot of context and there's a lot in there. And I think the big themes here is greed. Like I think that keeps coming up over and over and over finances. And then the second is time that we should not try to microwave debt, which should be crock potted. Okay, There's a nerdy nugget that I actually want to share and it's from chapter one, verse eight. We didn't deal with it yesterday. I really think it's important to deal with it today. Now we know that the law is good if one uses it legitimately. That's a good verse. And here's why. It's our nerdy nugget. Because it's the reason that we put our Bible reading plan. It's the reason that we put Paul's books in chronological order. Because if you can remember, this is his second to last book that he's writing. We're spanning about two decades of Paul's life. If we start in Galatians, okay, in Galatians, Paul's position on the law was really harsh. I mean, you're talking to a hot headed young preacher. His position on the law in first Timothy has really changed. And that's because Paul is a human. He's a person. And people's positions grow, change and evolve. That doesn't make someone inconsistent, that just makes someone human. And I think a lot of times, especially leaders, we want to box leaders into whatever opinion or stance or conviction they had when they had it. And I'm not advocating to be wishy washy, but what I am saying is that we can see in Paul's human journey that his stance on something like the law changes from Galatians to first Timothy. That's a nerdy nugget. I hope that's helpful. Our timeless truth for the day. And actually it's my favorite passage in the entire book of first Timothy and it says these are the things you must insist on and teach. One of the things that I love about first Timothy is the emphasis on teaching and doctrine and the emphasis on the role of the person who's teaching and preaching. That their doctrine matters, that their life matters, that what they say matters. That if someone's theology or their doctrine or their life is off, Paul's like, it doesn't matter how charismatic they are, it doesn't matter how gifted they are. We don't need to platform people whose life and doctrine do not line up with the standard of Scripture. One extreme is to idolize people. The other extreme is to dishonor people. And Paul says, we're not going to do either of those. We're going to honor people who do a good job at teaching and preaching the word, but we're never going to idolize them. And I've seen a lot of churches that either go to one extreme or the other. They either idolize the pastor or they totally dishonor the pastor. And I think that it is very healthy to say no. We are. We can hold these things in tension. We can honor and not idolize. Okay, Simultaneously. Okay, let's. Sorry, let's keep going. Chapter four, verse 11. These are the things you must insist on and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love and faith and purity. Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture. Okay? Read scripture out loud. It is good for people to hear the word of God. Okay? Read public reading of scripture to exhorting. It's like encouraging, edifying, building up to teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Put these things into practice. Devote yourself to them so that all may see your progress. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching, continuing these things. For in doing this, you. For in doing this, you will save both yourself and your hearers. When I was a youth pastor, I had that verse kind of on a. On a flashcard. It was just like at my desk. Okay, Devote yourself to these things. I want you to pay close attention to yourself and your doctrine, yourself and your teaching. If you ask me, like, what I need to steward as a communicator, I need to steward me, like, my soul, and I need to steward the stuff that comes out of my mouth. If I do those two things, God gives a promise through Paul in this letter, then I'll save myself, okay? But I'll also save the people who are listening to me. And that is the entire book of First Timothy I. Also, there's just one last nerdy nugget. I think there's something going on with drunkenness and drinking and consuming too much wine. But again, like, Paul gives multiple instructions, okay, like right here in chapter three, verse three, that a bishop can't be a drunkard, okay? In three, verse eight, deacons must not be indulging in much wine. So there is something here when it comes to, like, alcohol. But I love Paul because He always holds tension because he says in chapter 5, verse 23, no longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. So what Paul is saying is, dude, you've probably stopped drinking wine altogether because there's an issue with drinking, like, in the church in this time period. Water's not. Water's got parasites in it. Water is not always a hundred percent, like, distilled or purified or filtered. Okay? No tap water in the kitchen in the ancient world. So in a lot of places, the wine was just healthier than the water. And so Paul is acknowledging that, hey, Timothy, you've probably stopped drinking wine to love your church. Well, but I need you to drink a little wine. Okay? But at no point is he giving him license to be drunk in any way. All right, that's all of First Timothy. We got context clues. We got a bunch of dirty nuggets today, and we definitely got a good timeless truth that I have held near and dear. Tomorrow we get into our last letter from Paul. We get into Second Timothy. All right, I love you guys. I'll see you right here tomorrow. I'm super pumped. Can't wait to see you tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram at. At the Bible Department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.