1 Tim 5:22
Warning: Heavy blog item
1 Tim 5:22 – Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
I cannot remember when I was directed to this particular verse. I remember being taught that I should be careful with the laying on of hands (praying for another), cause the sins of the receiver would be upon me. Similarly, the transferal principal would apply to my sins being upon the receiver. I think it was a sermon built toward ‘there is a need to constantly reflect on self’… something like that la.
As I’m studying the book of 1 Tim, I realized that I’ve gotten it wrong. Paul wrote the letter to Timothy who is leading the church in Ephesus. In the context of the entire book, zooming into 1 Tim 15:19 onwards, verse 22 was actually referring to the “appointment of elders” rather than just a general idea of “laying of hands”. The crux of the verse is that we should be careful when appointing leaders, else the fruits of character / sins of the leader will be upon the church.
Read through the whole chapter and be set free if you’ve been taught differently.
It’s because of such instances that I kick into “on-guard mode” when a preacher / teacher presents his materials through topical teaching method. Topical teaching is when material is prepared as per a certain topic (for example, topic: faith) and verses are simply plucked out from all over the bible. But then again, I do not refute the effectiveness of this teaching method, should the need arise. I guess in the end, it’s our responsibility to know the background of the book, to whom it’s directed to, and to read the entire book so that standalone verses are not understood out of context.
1 Tim 5:22 – Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
I cannot remember when I was directed to this particular verse. I remember being taught that I should be careful with the laying on of hands (praying for another), cause the sins of the receiver would be upon me. Similarly, the transferal principal would apply to my sins being upon the receiver. I think it was a sermon built toward ‘there is a need to constantly reflect on self’… something like that la.
As I’m studying the book of 1 Tim, I realized that I’ve gotten it wrong. Paul wrote the letter to Timothy who is leading the church in Ephesus. In the context of the entire book, zooming into 1 Tim 15:19 onwards, verse 22 was actually referring to the “appointment of elders” rather than just a general idea of “laying of hands”. The crux of the verse is that we should be careful when appointing leaders, else the fruits of character / sins of the leader will be upon the church.
Read through the whole chapter and be set free if you’ve been taught differently.
It’s because of such instances that I kick into “on-guard mode” when a preacher / teacher presents his materials through topical teaching method. Topical teaching is when material is prepared as per a certain topic (for example, topic: faith) and verses are simply plucked out from all over the bible. But then again, I do not refute the effectiveness of this teaching method, should the need arise. I guess in the end, it’s our responsibility to know the background of the book, to whom it’s directed to, and to read the entire book so that standalone verses are not understood out of context.
posted by Juan @ 5:22 PM
2 Comments:
At May 17, 2005 6:18 PM,
Ju-Lian said…
Good post, Juan. I didin't really understand that. I always thought "laying of hand" in Tim was talking about the perils of spiritual transference in the context of deliverance.
Thanks :)
At May 18, 2005 8:58 AM,
Juan said…
Thanks for the encouragement. Ju. I never saw that the verse could be from a "deliverance" perspective. 'Tis another example of missing the mark >:-)
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