Have you ever felt like you don’t know what to do in life? You feel like you need a book of instructions to take with you everywhere you go? Well, there may not be any instruction manuals available, but the Bible as our guide is. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, Paul lists these sets of rules that we should live by, either through worship, or living through daily life.
In 1 Timothy 2, it states: “8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. 9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”
Paul says that God wants us to live peaceably with all people, making prayer and petitions, and thanksgiving amongst everyone, as it pleases Him. He also mentions that God doesn’t want people to be flashy in their worship to Him. In verse 9 he states that he wants women to dress modestly and adorn themselves with good deeds rather than gold or pearls. When we dress for worship, we should dress with good intentions and be pleasing in God’s sight. Also in worship, we should pray for each other. Our family, our friends, church friends, even the people you dislike the most. The point is, even if you feel that you think you’re not going to have an easy life, just remember that you have an incredible book of life to guide you through the tough times, and that these simple rules are things that we should live by. Praying for people and dressing modestly may seem difficult at times, but with God, anything is possible.
-Hannah Bormes
Reflection Questions
What rules for life do you find in 1 Timothy 2 that you want to live by better and better?
Can you think of a time of anger and disputing when it would have been better to lift up holy hands in prayer? How can you use this method next time?
Why do you think Paul addressed modesty? Do you think it should be addressed today – if so, how?
I love dressing sharp, and looking nice. Lots of people do, I even get stressed out about what I wear, and what others will think of me about what I am wearing. Seems a little conceited right? Well I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, we all have done this at one point in our lives. Whether it be clothes or shoes, perhaps new cars or something else, we like having nice things and showing them off. It feels good when someone complements us or the stuff we have. But I am here to tell you and myself, that these things are not what matters. See Paul in 1 Timothy 2:9-10, has to explain this to some of the women in the local community, but it applies to everyone! “Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.” We are known not by what we look like or by what we have. Rather by what we act like. Jesus doesn’t really care what fancy clothes we wear. Some may disagree but all I am saying is he wore a robe and sandals. When’s the last time you saw someone in church wear a robe with sandals? Yeah, I can’t remember either. Therefore, recognize the value of our actions over the way we look. I personally struggle with this concept probably more than anyone I know. But with God all things are possible.
-Jesse Allen
Application Questions
Who do you admire for true beauty? What makes them so?
How concerned are you with your outward appearance? Do you pay more attention to doing good rather than looking good on the outside?
What does Paul write to Timothy regarding prayer in 1 Timothy chapter 2. How well are you following the directions in verse 1? In verse 2? In verse 8?
I graduated from Atlanta Bible College in 2003. I worked with a couple small churches after that, but found my “calling” in helping people through grief. Next month, my wife, Hannah, and I will celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary. Our marriage is almost old enough to vote. We have four children ranging in age from 12 to 3. In November 2021, we bought a purebred english mastiff puppy. We call her “Zippers” for her propensity to chew on jacket closures. This is the lens through which I see things, my source for some great sermon illustrations and the perspective from which I write today.
I am my parent’s oldest child. I was the first grandchild on both sides of the family. I had three whole years of life experience before my sister was born. I felt like I was practically an adult at age 13 when my youngest brother was born. When I went through grade school in DeKalb, Illinois, each student attended kindergarten through 4th grade at the elementary school closest to his or her home. Then “the whole city” converged on Clinton Rosette Middle School for 5th and 6th grade. Then, everyone transferred to Huntley Middle School for 7th and 8th grade. Finally, everyone went on to the last building of the journey, DeKalb High School. That means when I was a big 7th grader, my 4th grade little sister was still “two whole buildings behind me” in “baby school”, at Carl Littlejohn Elementary. I didn’t let her forget it. I mean it had “Little”, right there in the name. My sister and I would fight like cats and dogs growing up but if anyone else tried to mess with her, they’d better look out. Being “the big brother” or “the oldest” was a big part of my identity growing up. As adults, the three year chasm between my sister and I, does not seem so important. She’s about to finish her master’s degree and will probably make more money than me. My brother can definitely grow better facial hair than me. When we are together people have mistakenly thought he was my older brother. I’ll admit I don’t love having my sense of identity challenged. I think some of the early Christians in Corinth might have felt the same.
In 1998, I “officially” started dating the preacher’s kid, a “PK”, as they say. I quickly learned that people (including myself) make certain assumptions about how a pastor’s family members ought to behave. Sometimes there are unrealistic expectations. When you date a preacher’s daughter, people have some expectations for you too. Some are unspoken. Most of them should be. A lot of them aren’t. Churches are funny that way. People feel safe saying things they shouldn’t, or wouldn’t say elsewhere. If someone perceives you as too perfect, or not perfect enough, they might feel the need to take you down a notch, or give themselves a little ego boost by comparison. It’s kind of like social media.
Sometimes the point of what people are trying to say is correct, but it is lost because of the way they say it. If we aren’t careful, even discussing certain topics can ignite a public opinion forest fire. Polarizing material is pumped into our televisions and handheld devices every day. Maybe that’s why they call them devices; because they are so divisive. Lifelong friendships have been destroyed over which “side of the aisle” a person stands on certain topics. Gender equality is one of these “hot button topics”. At first glance it might look like 1 Corinthians 11 is “too hot for TV”. I suggest that it is not, but reader discretion is advised.
What is Paul talking about with all this head covering business in the first part of this chapter? Is he suggesting that women are somehow less important than men? Not at all.
As I understand it, the tradition of the time was for women to cover her head (and in some cases, her face too) while in public as a symbol of faithfulness to her husband. She was saving her beauty “for his eyes only”. An online Bible commentary on the subject explained that it was not completely unlike the message that would be conveyed by a woman wearing a big diamond engagement ring in today’s American culture. It said she is taken. It said, don’t event try to flirt with her. Prostitutes on the other hand, would not have covered their head in public. They wanted to draw attention to themselves. To do that in church, when the focus was supposed to be on worship, would have been quite provocative. Can you imagine if a woman came into church wearing “barely there beach attire” nowadays? It would be distracting for both men and women alike as was the case in the time Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth.
In case there was any question as to where Paul stood in regards to the value of women. He clears it up in 1 Corinthians 11:12 when he says: “For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.” So in the first part of 1 Corinthians chapter 11 Paul tries to build unity in the church by asking people to be modest.
The second half of 1 Corinthians chapter 11 is less controversial. Paul admonishes the Corinthians for abusing the opportunity for unity through communion. People in that time were eating without waiting for each other and totally missing the point of the exercise. It reminds me of obedient mastiffs and “Boy’s night waffles”.
My wife, Hannah, is a nurse. When my oldest son, Carter was little, Hannah would usually work the evening shift at the hospital. So when she worked, Carter and I had “‘Boy’s night!” Sometimes, I would make waffles and sausage for supper and we would load them all up with all the toppings we both liked: Chocolate chips, blueberries, strawberries, whipped cream, etc. Hannah would never buy all that stuff. So we called them “Boy’s Night Waffles”. As we had more kids, Carter still wanted Boy’s Night Waffles. But it became increasingly difficult with four children. It was like conducting an uncooperative orchestra to have all the waffles warm and the toppings cold and help the kids cut their food into reasonable bites so we could all eat at the same time. Now on the rare occasion that we have Boy’s Night Waffles, I just have the kids start eating as their food is handed to them. We don’t even try to eat at the same time on waffle night.
English mastiffs like our dog, are sometimes called gentle giants. They are known for their size. They are one of the largest breeds there is. A female, like ours, can easily be around 150 pounds. They can be intimidating looking, but they are generally very calm and don’t need a ton of vigorous exercise. These qualities match our family pretty well. I hope to use our dog Zippers as a therapy dog, so I have been going to obedience classes with her one or two times per week ever since she was small. A large part of what we do in class is walk in circles reminding her to watch me and not ahead of me or behind me. When we get to a doorway we practice having her wait and not allowing her to just run right in or out. When we put food in front of her she has to leave it until we say a release word. Zippers is pretty good at the waiting part. She’s not so good at the release word part. We have tried “OK” and “Free” and “Eat”. A lot of times she will not start eating unless one of us sits beside her. Paul would probably like this dog.
As I see it, 1 Corinthians Chapter 11 is meant to remind the reader, (originally, Christians at the church of Corinth in about 55 AD), about the importance of unity. Paul says he is glad that the Corinthians are following his teaching and traditions but, he wants to remind them that it is more important to follow Christ than following himself. He encourages the church to be modest and build unity over division.
-Brian Froehlich
Application Questions:
What traditions in your church have become a part of its identity?
What are some behavioral differences you notice when you visit another congregation?
What are two or three attitude adjustments your church should consider for the sake of unity?
How does the Corinthian Communion service compare to those you have participated in?
One of my all time favorite movies from childhood is Finding Nemo. One of my favorite scenes is when Marlin and Dory meet the group of three sharks who vow not to eat fish anymore. The line that is continually repeated by the sharks is “Fish are friends not food”. The three sharks are attempting to help Marlin and Dory on their quest to find Nemo. Marlin and Dory have a moment where they are arguing over the diving mask that has the address to where Nemo could be. They are pulling the mask to and fro and it snaps against Dory’s nose and she bleeds. The largest of the three sharks, Bruce the Great White, catches a whiff of her blood and he forgets the new motto that he’s trying to live by. A wild chase ensues with one of the most intense scenes from the movie, while the shark who vowed to help lost his way with his desire to eat them.
There are times in our lives where we forget who we have become in Jesus. There are moments where we forget the new life that comes from having a relationship with God and we are tempted to sink back to our old ways. After getting a faint scent of blood Bruce was ready to turn back to his natural shark ways.
In Romans 14 the term that Paul uses is “stumbling block” to refer to areas of temptation in a believer’s life that might not be a hindrance to our siblings in Christ. In fact Paul says to “not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother…so then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” (Romans 14:13-19). The blood that came from Dory’s nose was not a temptation that everyone fell for in that scene. Bruce was the weak one who was struggling the most with his new life. The blood was a hindrance and stumbling block that sent him in a frenzy in which he fell into his natural temptation.
If there’s an area that really tempts a brother or sister in Christ, but does not tempt us, we must go out of our way to help our siblings not fall into temptation. Our job is to be our brother’s keeper and to come alongside one another so as to not allow ourselves to fall into sin. Paul implores us and shows the seriousness of bringing temptation to our siblings in Christ by making the statement: “Do not…destroy the one for whom Christ died.” (Romans 14:15). The context of this passage is concerning food and drink that might be a hindrance in the lives of ancient Christians, but the wider application encompasses all temptation that we might face for all time. The greater rule here is that temptation, no matter how insignificant it seems for us, is a big deal to someone who struggles in that area. We must be sensitive to the areas of temptation for our brothers and sisters and make diligent efforts to pursue peace for the mutual upbuilding of the body of Christ.
One of the most practical ways we can limit temptation for those around us is to practice modesty. Modesty is not some old out of date stuffy ideology. Modesty is the pursuit of holiness in Christ through our dress, speech and conduct. Choosing modest clothes, words and actions is something that is so foreign to our world today. God desires us to be set apart and one way we can do that is to make sure that we are honoring God and one another through our appearance, our choice of language and the way we live our lives. This is a way to bring peace to those around us and to make sure that we are not being a stumbling block and a hindrance to those who see us, hear us and live their lives in proximity to us.
Sin and temptation are both extremely serious. They are also both difficult to deal with. But with the help of God and the help of one another we can remove the stumbling blocks from each other’s paths. We can also make sure that we are not hindering one another’s walk with God, but rather enhancing our walks with God by building up one another in Christ.
-Nathan Massie
Application:
Have intentional conversations with your friends about what temptations they struggle with and how you can help them.
Identify your own weaknesses and struggles and ask for help from a trusted and mature Christian friend and/or mentor if you keep falling into the same temptations.
Ask God for guidance on what steps you should take to help your friends with their walks with God.
Build up one another in Christ through accountability. It is nearly impossible to deal with temptation and sin without the help and accountability from mature Christian friends and/or mentors.
Seek Grow Love 