牧者的責任
提摩太前書五章1至8節
1不可嚴責老年人，只要勸他如同父親；勸少年人如同弟兄；
2勸老年婦女如同母親；勸少年婦女如同姐妹；總要清清潔潔的。
3要尊敬那真為寡婦的。
4若寡婦有兒女，或有孫子、孫女，便叫他們先在自己家中學著行孝，報答親恩，因為這在神面前是可悅納的。
5那獨居無靠真為寡婦的，是仰賴神，晝夜不住地祈求禱告。
6但那好宴樂的寡婦，正活著的時候也是死的。
7這些事你要囑咐她們，叫她們無可指責。
8人若不看顧親屬，就是背了真道，比不信的人還不好。不看顧自己家裡的人更是如此。
信息分享
這整章經文充滿對待不同類別會友的建議。頭兩節經文是教導牧者怎樣對待四個類別的信徒：年長的、年輕的、年長和年輕的婦女。保羅教導提摩太的原則，同樣適用於我們今天。
請特別留意第5節的規勸。保羅形容寡婦是「獨居無靠」，實在是非常的貼切。你想象過她們的境況嗎？今天的教會有不少寡婦。女性的壽命可能比男性長十年甚至更多，而這十多年會非常孤獨。
我們的教會可以在哪些方面服侍她們呢？我們可以怎樣關顧她們的需要呢？她們去教會需不需要接送？他們是否還和家人住在一起？她們屋前的草需不需要修剪？她們有沒有做不了的雜事，而教會弟兄卻能幫助完成？她們如何購物？他們的家人是否住得太遠，無法提供幫助？我們能不能在某些方面滿足她們的需要？
留意保羅怎樣描述這些寡婦，他說她們「仰賴神，晝夜不住地祈求禱告」。探訪這樣的寡婦，一定叫我們同蒙祝福，我們願意嘗試嗎？
今天最后一節經文直截了當地提醒我們。注意保羅在第8節說：「人若不看顧自己家裡的人，就是背了真道，比不信的人還不好。」因此，看顧家裡的人，不單是我們的責任，更是活在世人面前的一個見證。願神幫助我們活出一個真正基督徒的樣式。
THE MANY RESPONSIBILITIES OF A PASTOR
1 Timothy 5: 1-8
1 Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers,
2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.
3 Honor widows who are really widows.
4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and[a] acceptable before God.
5 Now she who is really a widow, and left alone, trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.
6 But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.
7 And these things command, that they may be blameless.
8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Message
This whole chapter is filled with instructions regarding the various groups. The first two verses cover the pastor’s attitude to four different groups, men who are older than the pastor, young men of the same age, older women and younger women. While it is addressed to Pastor Timothy, the principles involved can be applied to us today.
Notice particularly the tenderness of verse 5. “A widow who is really in need and left all alone” is a vivid picture. Can you picture her for yourself? There are dozens of these ladies in our churches today.
Life expectancy for women is greater than that for men by possibly ten years or more but those ten years can be extremely lonely.
Can your church, my church be doing more for these believing ladies? In what way can we be more thoughtful of their needs? Do they need a ride to the services? Are they still living in the family home? Does the grass need cutting? Are there odd jobs they can’t do but some of the men in our church could do? What about shopping? Is their family living too far away to help? Can we respond to their need in some way?
Notice the description Paul gives of these believing women – “the window puts her trust in God and continues night and day to pray and ask God for help.” It would be a blessing to visit a widow like that. It would be a challenge to us.
The last verse of today’s reading speaks very plainly to us all. Notice again what Paul said in verse 8, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the truth (of the Gospel) and is worse than an unbeliever.” It all comes back to our personal responsibilities and our example before the world. May God help us to be true in our profession of being a follower of Christ!