Why Should I Care?
From cover to cover, the Bible is all about relationships. Relationships with God, with others in this new family of Jesus, and with the people and world around us. And the church – the community of faith – is also ALL about relationships. It’s not about sermons, songs, or how good the service was.
The Bible makes it clear that these relationships can’t be separated, they’re intertwined. For example, Jesus was asked by religious leaders what the greatest commandment was. They were attempting to trap Him by forcing Him to make a choice. Instead, he responds in the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 22
37Jesus replied “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The phrase “is like it” is used frequently in the Bible, particularly in relation to Jesus’ parables. It’s when Jesus is telling a story to illustrate a principle. So, here, He’s saying, “the second one illustrated, clarifies, makes real, the first one.” We can believe many other things, but if we don’t get this one right, we miss it.
Your relationships with other people show them what God is like.
However, there’s a problem we encounter. We begin to believe that we can separate these relationships and live them differently. We think we can have a relationship with God that’s separate from our relationship with a local church, which in turn is separate from our relationship with the world around us.
EMBRACING the Way of Jesus & the Word of God
LIVING it out in ourselves and our families
TRANSFORMING the world Beyond our Walls
If we’re going to take the Word of God and the Way of Jesus seriously, live it out here, and then beyond our walls, we can’t separate these things. And it all starts with how we can, and why.
The passage in 1 Timothy 5 can be challenging for us to understand because it addresses a specific set of situations within a particular early church. Still, there’s a principle behind it that applies to us.
“Methods are many, principles are few, methods always change, principles never do.”
The people and world around us may constantly change (the methods), but the way we interact with them never should. When we get it right, it clearly paints the right picture of our relationship with God and God’s relationship with people in a way people understand (the principle).
The Why and How of Caring
Most people have a sense of care for others, but a gap often emerges between the feelings we have about caring and the reality of our actions. Some of that is due to our sinful nature – self-centeredness – but a lot actually is because we have feelings without a plan.
Truly caring for others is not accidental, it’s intentional. Care is putting in the effort.
Caring about other people is more than having feelings, it’s having a plan.
You are intentionally creating margin, figuring out the why, and you are doing it preemptively before you actually need it.
So, how do we put this into practice?
1. Caring for others is taking responsibility for yourself and those you have responsibility for first. Responsibility is neither created nor destroyed, it’s simply passed around.
1 Timothy 5
3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7 Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
2. Caring is for the good of the person, even when they can’t always see it yet. Sometimes care is grace, but sometimes it’s truth to keep them from sin. Loving, not enabling.
1 Timothy 5
9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds. 11 As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to. 14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
3. Caring shows honor to others, regardless of their status or your feelings about it. Be clear-headed, careful, but intentional.
1 Timothy 5
1 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
4. Caring keeps people connected to the new family of Jesus. It does not create stumbling blocks that disconnect them.
1 Timothy 5
23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
Now, some people love the sound of this verse, but the challenge here is what we see with the results of overindulgence, of going beyond God’s boundaries. Our world is a chaotic mess of consumption and excess.
The Where and When of Consumption
We live in a society that celebrates consumption. We ought not to be like that, but the way we avoid being like that is not to retreat from the good things and blessings that God has given us, but to receive them, recognize their source, and be thankful with them. This needs to be done with humility and limits, not allowing those things to become our rulers.
If what you’re doing damages your witness to those around you and to the watching world, stop.
You’re not showing care, you’re making it hard for people to see Jesus. That’s a big part of this letter to Timothy. A lot of times, when people say, “is it a sin if…?” What they’re really asking is, “How close can I get to the edge?” We shouldn’t live our lives asking how close we can get to the edge.
Maybe because of what you’ve been through or the current company you keep, you’ve chosen that abstaining from certain things is a better choice. And that should be celebrated because you’re submitting to a greater purpose. You are caring.
You’re honoring the other person and, in doing so, honoring God. You are not being ruled. However, this is about caring well and not about scoring brownie points with God.
On the other side, if you need it so bad, whatever “it” is – alcohol, food, pleasure, leisure, even a relationship, then it’s ruling you. And only God should do that. So, how do we assess?
24 The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.
Either way, there’s consequence, positively or negatively. We think we can separate our relationships, but we can’t. Why wouldn’t we want a legacy worth leaving?
Your relationships with other people show them what God is like, so show them a clear picture that’s unmistakable and unmissable, because you care.
Pastor Michael Hoddy delves deeper into why you should care.
The Bible makes it clear that these relationships can’t be separated, they’re intertwined. For example, Jesus was asked by religious leaders what the greatest commandment was. They were attempting to trap Him by forcing Him to make a choice. Instead, he responds in the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 22
37Jesus replied “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The phrase “is like it” is used frequently in the Bible, particularly in relation to Jesus’ parables. It’s when Jesus is telling a story to illustrate a principle. So, here, He’s saying, “the second one illustrated, clarifies, makes real, the first one.” We can believe many other things, but if we don’t get this one right, we miss it.
Your relationships with other people show them what God is like.
However, there’s a problem we encounter. We begin to believe that we can separate these relationships and live them differently. We think we can have a relationship with God that’s separate from our relationship with a local church, which in turn is separate from our relationship with the world around us.
EMBRACING the Way of Jesus & the Word of God
LIVING it out in ourselves and our families
TRANSFORMING the world Beyond our Walls
If we’re going to take the Word of God and the Way of Jesus seriously, live it out here, and then beyond our walls, we can’t separate these things. And it all starts with how we can, and why.
The passage in 1 Timothy 5 can be challenging for us to understand because it addresses a specific set of situations within a particular early church. Still, there’s a principle behind it that applies to us.
“Methods are many, principles are few, methods always change, principles never do.”
The people and world around us may constantly change (the methods), but the way we interact with them never should. When we get it right, it clearly paints the right picture of our relationship with God and God’s relationship with people in a way people understand (the principle).
The Why and How of Caring
Most people have a sense of care for others, but a gap often emerges between the feelings we have about caring and the reality of our actions. Some of that is due to our sinful nature – self-centeredness – but a lot actually is because we have feelings without a plan.
Truly caring for others is not accidental, it’s intentional. Care is putting in the effort.
Caring about other people is more than having feelings, it’s having a plan.
You are intentionally creating margin, figuring out the why, and you are doing it preemptively before you actually need it.
So, how do we put this into practice?
1. Caring for others is taking responsibility for yourself and those you have responsibility for first. Responsibility is neither created nor destroyed, it’s simply passed around.
1 Timothy 5
3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7 Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
2. Caring is for the good of the person, even when they can’t always see it yet. Sometimes care is grace, but sometimes it’s truth to keep them from sin. Loving, not enabling.
1 Timothy 5
9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds. 11 As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to. 14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
3. Caring shows honor to others, regardless of their status or your feelings about it. Be clear-headed, careful, but intentional.
1 Timothy 5
1 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
4. Caring keeps people connected to the new family of Jesus. It does not create stumbling blocks that disconnect them.
1 Timothy 5
23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
Now, some people love the sound of this verse, but the challenge here is what we see with the results of overindulgence, of going beyond God’s boundaries. Our world is a chaotic mess of consumption and excess.
The Where and When of Consumption
We live in a society that celebrates consumption. We ought not to be like that, but the way we avoid being like that is not to retreat from the good things and blessings that God has given us, but to receive them, recognize their source, and be thankful with them. This needs to be done with humility and limits, not allowing those things to become our rulers.
If what you’re doing damages your witness to those around you and to the watching world, stop.
You’re not showing care, you’re making it hard for people to see Jesus. That’s a big part of this letter to Timothy. A lot of times, when people say, “is it a sin if…?” What they’re really asking is, “How close can I get to the edge?” We shouldn’t live our lives asking how close we can get to the edge.
Maybe because of what you’ve been through or the current company you keep, you’ve chosen that abstaining from certain things is a better choice. And that should be celebrated because you’re submitting to a greater purpose. You are caring.
You’re honoring the other person and, in doing so, honoring God. You are not being ruled. However, this is about caring well and not about scoring brownie points with God.
On the other side, if you need it so bad, whatever “it” is – alcohol, food, pleasure, leisure, even a relationship, then it’s ruling you. And only God should do that. So, how do we assess?
- Put a price tag on your well-intentioned feelings. Don’t just feel something, do something.
- Focus your care on the people and places where you can actually make a meaningful difference.
- Reflect.
24 The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.
Either way, there’s consequence, positively or negatively. We think we can separate our relationships, but we can’t. Why wouldn’t we want a legacy worth leaving?
Your relationships with other people show them what God is like, so show them a clear picture that’s unmistakable and unmissable, because you care.
Pastor Michael Hoddy delves deeper into why you should care.
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