Mike continues to preach from the epistles to Timothy in support of our Wednesday Night Summer Series.
In teaching Timothy how he should treat others (older men, for example), he implies that a single man in a leadership position has to be wary of temptation (“with absolute purity,” he warns Timothy to treat younger women).
This is part of the larger message to Timothy: Keep the church free from controversy!
Leadership is critically important in the Kingdom, and being an elder or deacon or minister in the Body is a huge responsibility. Paul is doing everything he can to prepare Timothy to lead, and to help him create more leaders.
“Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.”
1 Timothy 5:1 (NIV)