Question

A couple of weeks ago, you were teaching in I Timothy, and you were teaching about widows.  In chapter 5, verses 9 and 10 it gives the qualifications for the "widows indeed"...or the requirements for who may be on that list.  It says in verse 10, "...if she has brought up children...", that particular requirement...and I think you said something to the effect that this meant bearing and rearing children.  It's really a little confusing because, suppose that there is a lady that gets married and cannot have children, so they decide to adopt a child and later on she becomes a widow.  She raised the child, but she couldn't have the child, would she be qualified to be on this list?

Answer

Well, let me answer the question this way, by saying, what it says here, as I remember, "If she has raised children or brought them up."  The emphasis here of course, is for a very unique role in the church's ministry.  O.K., now you have to understand something very important, a "widow indeed," or a truly bereft woman is to be cared for by the church, whatever might be her situation relative to children.  In other words, when you have a woman who has lost her husband, the word "widow" in the Greek language has nothing to do with death, remember that?  It has only to do with being bereft.  It literally can be translated, "having been left alone".  So, a woman may lose her husband in many ways.  Death, desertion, divorce, separation, whatever.  That woman, then needs to be cared for because God has not designed women to care for themselves, but women to be under the care of a man.  So, we said then that women of any kind, who have no human resources, no husband, no brother, no man in the family who would care for them, the church would care for them as well.  

Now additionally, when it comes to verses 9 and 10, he is discussing what some have chosen to call a semi-official function in the church, and that is, women over 60, who having lived their life to the glory of God, and having exemplary testimonies, are called on to form a group of women for the purpose of instruction, example and ministry to others in the church.  Now, in no way does that official group limit anyone elses service.  It's just a unique group.  

Now, I would go so far as to say, also, and I need to go back and check my notes to be specific, but when it says in verse 10, she is to have a reputation for good works and to have raised children, the idea here is, of course, if she is going to go out, like in Titus II and instruct younger women to love their husbands, love their children, be keepers at home, etc, etc, chaste and all that, she is going to have to come from that vantage point and that experience to have the credibility that it takes to get into that kind of ministry.  

So, I would say this, that if a woman, and I don't think the text forbids this, if a woman has raised adopted children and she has proven herself to be a godly woman, I don't think she would be disqualified.  If a woman had never had children, or never raised children, then you can debate and argue about whether they would qualify or not.  The simple fact here says she is to have brought up children.  So I would say a woman who didn't bring up children, wouldn't qualify to be in this group, as I tried point out in Titus II, because I think one of their primary roles was in helping younger women to know how to handle children and the situation in the home.  But that in no way eliminates or limits anybody's ministry.  I tried to say this when we were studying about elders.  An elder is not better than, an elder is not superior to, and elder simply has a unique function in the church.  And I will be very honest with you and say that there are many laymen across this nation, who are more affective at winning people to Jesus Christ than many elders and pastors.  There are some laymen who are more affective and more gifted teachers of the Word of God than many pastors are, so we don't want to put some kind of premium on an office in the church and make it a symbol of spiritual status or make it a sort of an elite group.  If a woman qualified to be in this kind of group to do this kind of ministry, so be it.  If she didn't, then let her minister in any other way where she was gifted, where she was experienced and where she could be used by God.  So let's not get this boxed in where we think people might be second class if they don't fit that certain pattern.  

Let me add a footnote to that.  You know what it says in I Corinthians chapter 7, it talks about singleness being to the glory of God.  A person who is single has not the cares of this world and doesn't have to worry about spouse and family and all of that, and is free to serve the Lord.  So, we could just as well say that a woman who never got married and never had children, never had a lot of the baggage that some of the rest of us have had, that in many ways can limit the service that you can give to the Lord.  So, we don't want to under cut the fact that any person in any state, totally abandoned to the power of the spirit of God and walking in obedience to God's holy will is going to be able to use to the maximum capacity of their God given ability.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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