Church

It goes against modern Western sensibilities to say that there are some people the church must refuse to help. People often view the church as an aid organization that anyone and everyone should be able to turn to when they are down on their luck. Nevertheless, the New Testament says otherwise. There are some people the church has no biblical authority to help.

11 But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12 and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. (1 Tim. 5:11–12 ESV)

In the passage where Paul gave instructions to the Ephesian church to care for widows who had no one to help them, he also said the church must refuse to help other widows! This certainly goes against the grain of modern thinking. Even many Christians tend to think of the church as a glorified Red Cross. Regardless, it is not scriptural to help those who have the means to help themselves.

For Paul to have devoted so much of the letter of 1 Timothy to the topic of widows, there must have been a serious problem related to their care in the Ephesian church. It would seem Christians in Ephesus were not taking care of the widows in their family. This meant that the burden for their care fell to the church. We can also infer that the church was caring for widows who were behaving in such a way as to bring shame upon the church. Some were even leaving the faith. What is the church’s responsibility to the poor?

Paul made it clear in 1 Timothy 5 that the church does have a responsibility to the poor (specifically widows). Regardless, he also made it clear that the church is not some kind of glorified Red Cross. The church is not responsible for feeding the entire world.