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1 Timothy 5:1a… Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father,
There is no easy way to deal with sin in the church, but there is a right way and many wrong ways to do so. This was (and is) no easy task, especially for Timothy, who was a young man, dealing with older men who needed to be rebuked. For the sake of the church’s purity, however, it had to be done. The current pathetic state of the Church worldwide attests to the fact that not enough men have stepped up and dealt with sin in the Church through the ages.
Paul deals with four different groups of people Timothy was to “appeal” to in order to bring about repentance. First, as to the “older” men (Gr. presbuteros), Timothy was, instead of sharply rebuking them, to “appeal” (“exhort; urge”) to each man in error as if he were Timothy’s father. The Greek term for “older men” is presbuteros, and it is the same term used for the office of “overseers/elders” in the Church. Now since Paul explicitly takes up the issue of overseers/elders in v. 17, it seems evident that in 5:1 he is simply talking about older men in the church. Either way, no sharp rebuke was to be leveled at either the overseers or old men. Timothy was to approach these men as if they were his father, making sure his tone was respectful. After all, one can achieve great success in stressful situations with a calm tone instead of a sharp rebuke. Older men can be confronted, but they deserve the respect due them from younger men.
Old men in the Bible were always to be treated with the utmost respect:
“You shall rise up before the gray-headed, and honor the aged” (Lev. 19:32);
“A gray head is a crown of glory” (Prov. 16:31; cf. 20:29; Job 32:4, 6).
Failing to show respect for the aged had consequences:
“The eye that mocks a father, and scorns a mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young eagles will eat it” (Prov. 30:17).
In fact, to disobey one’s “old man,” namely his father, meant death (Exod. 21:17)!
Hence, Paul tells Timothy that when he spoke to the old men in his church he was to speak to them as if that man were his father—with the utmost respect.
Note two illustrations from godly men in the Bible. First, see how the young Daniel approached the mighty King Nebuchadnezzar in his sin by respectfully challenging him, saying,
“King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper” (Dan. 4:27, NLT).
Second, in the NT, note how the Apostle Paul rebuked the Apostle Peter for his hypocrisy in Galatians 2:11-14, saying,
“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, ‘If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?’” Galatians 2:11-14
This was no doubt humbling for Peter, but out of Paul’s respect for him, and his love for Peter and Christ’s church, Paul had to confront in order to bring Peter’s repentance. Note how Paul did not attack Peter, however, but gently asked him why he did what he did.
Food for Thought
An older man is usually expected to be more mature and more godly than younger men. Sadly, this is not always the case. Old age can make a man arrogant and pompous, unable to receive rebuke from anyone, least of all a young man. If you’re getting up there in age, you know you’re not yet perfect. So how might you respond to a younger man rebuking you? How might any of us respond to a rebuke? If we know we’re not yet perfect, it ought to be with humility.
