Tag: care

1 Timothy 5:8 – How do you read it?

A good friend shared a video from Mark Driscoll on Facebook yesterday.

I saw it a while back and it got me worked up then… and when I saw it again yesterday (I need to work on that).

In it Driscoll and his wife discuss the role of a husband in “providing for” his family. He points to 1 Timothy 5:8 in saying that a man who does not provide for his family has lost the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

But I think we’re missing something when we read the verse in that manner.

I tend to believe there’s a lot more going on than the point Driscoll is trying to make.

1st, I don’t believe 1 Tim. 5:8 has to be read as gender specific as Driscoll wants us to believe. The ESV, KJV, NIV and other translations begin with “anyone” or “if any.” Our modern translations use “his” later in the verse but I don’t think we have to read this text as gender specific, simply because it’s been translated with “his” – which can also be used as gender neutral.

2nd, I don’t believe “provide for” has to mean working a paying job every day. Provide can simply mean “to make preparation to meet a need.” And I think a better explanation of provide in this use would be “care for” which is what several translations have opted for instead. When I read this verse I see a picture of a family working together to be sure all needs are met. If a husband has a journalism degree and doesn’t make much money – and his wife has a doctorate and makes loads of money – it might make a lot more sense for the wife to work while the husband stays home with the child — and vice versa.

Providing for and caring for a family can mean any number of things and I don’t believe we should be limiting ourselves (or others) in what it should look like in one another’s family.

3rd, I also think Driscoll is playing a game of proof-texting here. This verse takes on an entirely new meaning for me when you read it with the verses before and after it. When you read from verse 1, Paul tells Timothy to care for the elderly men in the community as fathers (or as family) and then he instructs Timothy to be sure to care for the widows as well. But… he adds, if there’s a widow in my family — I should be certain I’m caring for her and not expecting the church or anyone else to do that. “But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.”

It’s after he makes these points that Paul says not caring for/providing for your family shows someone has denied the faith.

After all, our faith is the outer expression of God’s love in us. We are to show love to the world — but it’s really hard to show love to the world if we don’t first learn to show love to those at home.

But this is just how I read it… how do you read it?

Creating a culture of adoption in the church

“We need the church.”

“In order for the church to be effective to this ministry and this calling… They’re going to have to be a healing culture. They’re going to have to be a forgiving culture. They’re going to have to a faith that is renewed daily.”
Continue reading Creating a culture of adoption in the church

One step closer

Texas Baptist Home bell

Laurie met with our foster care advocate from the Texas Baptist Home this morning.

She came for a pre-service visit of our house to be sure we have everything inline for our official home study. Laurie called and said everything checked out OK.

All we needed before our official visit from CPS is to purchase a pack-n-play and car seat to be prepared in case we get a call in the middle of the night saying there’s a child or two waiting for us to bring to our house.

So Laurie’s out doing some shopping and we’re crossing our fingers that CPS will come the week directly after Christmas for their visit. If everything works out we could be certified as foster parents by the first of the year.

In addition, Laurie’s just finished stripping, sanding and re-painting a dresser for the nursery. It’s a dresser that she had as a child and her mom did as well. That makes two dressers she’s redone for the room.

Lauries been hard at work

So we’re that much closer! Thanks for all your support and prayers!

Your intrinsic, immutable value

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As part of our foster care certification process, we’ve been asked to read three books and write book reports on them. I know! Book reports?!

It’s not really that bad. They basically want to find out what we’ve learned from said books. As simple as it may be, or as complex as it may be.

In the book I’m trying to finish up now, “Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew,” the author shares some of the special needs adopted children may have.

  • I need to be taught that my life narrative began before I was born and that my life is not a mistake
  • I need to be taught that in this broken, hurting world, loving families are formed through adoption as well as birth
  • I need to be taught that I have intrinsic, immutable value as a human being
  • I need to accept the fact that some of my adoption questions will never be answered in this life

As I read this list, I thought — how true to life this is for everyone else as well.

Imagine if we each understood and realized these needs as our needs as well.

What would that do to your psyche?

How would it change you today if you realized that your life narrative began before you were born and that your life is not a mistake?

What would that do to your spirit and soul to realize that YOU have intrinsic, immutable value as a human being?

I hope it excites you like it excites me!

And then take it one step further….

How would it change your attitude today if you believed that about everyone else around you?