In Acts 6, we see the church’s program of feeding widows causing fighting, and people were disgruntled. Their programs continued to make problems. Here we see Paul setting boundaries to their giving. Since the church was taking care of the widows, people were letting the church take care of them.

Paul tells them to take care of their own families and not burden the church with them. Caring for these widows was something Paul was calling a burden. It seems the church could find a better way, like Jesus finding a home for His mother.

Paul gets a reputation for chapters like this. He’s making big blanket statements about women. He’s reducing young widows to gossips and says they abandon their faith for passion. Paul practically instructs them to marry. That’s not really his place. He does say, “I would have [them] marry.” These are Paul’s thoughts, not God’s command. We don’t have to take things like that as command. This is Paul’s wisdom. He had the Spirit of God in him, but it’s also his wisdom for the church then and the situation there. Church leaders aren’t to take such things as command, just as an example.

It then switches from talking about caring for widows to talking about elders. The leaders of a church should be shown honor. It seems to relate that to paying them. It also warns to be careful in receiving a charge against them.

At the same time, an unrepentant church teacher in sin should be rebuked openly. Paul warns to not quickly appoint elders. You don’t want to be part of allowing sin in the church. Purity is the goal, for the individual and the corporate church.

We have this “random” personal note to Timothy in the middle of the letter about drinking wine for his stomach problems. Paul tells him to keep himself pure and that sparks the comment.

I wonder if Timothy was drinking only water because of what others thought (like Paul saying he wouldn’t eat meat if that made others stumble). But Paul, while urging purity, releases Timothy to do what would be helpful to himself.