How to live in harmony

In chapter 5 of his letter to Timothy, Paul writes an extended section on how members of the church family should relate to one another. He says that older men should be treated as fathers and older women as mothers. Younger men are to be treated as brothers and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. Additional space is given to widows who are really in need. Those who have children or grandchildren should care for their own family thus repaying their parents or grandparents. If I were writing a commentary, I would go into detail, but for now my comments will deal with the general ideas that run throughout the section.
         Paul quotes the fourth commandment, “Respect your father and mother, and you will live a long and successful life in the land I am giving you” (CEV). He applies the truth expressed in this commandment to the relationship that lies at the heart of the family, but also, by extension, to the entire nation. Respect for one’s parents insures stability for the home and also for civilization at large. Every social group needs an operative principle that enables them to work together as God indicated. Elderly parents aren’t a necessary drag on the family, but a vital unit in every society. In the long run it is respect for parents that serves to maintain social order in every group of people – family, community, and nation. Rather than “rebuke” older men, Paul advises the younger men to “encourage” them. Since ”rebuking” is the opposite of “encouraging,” one could understand it as “discouraging” or “making one feel to be of no importance.” Life has a way of causing the one who has achieved to be easily discouraged or to feel marginalized by an unintended remark that pushes them aside. Keep that in mind, younger men, and watch the light stay on in the older man’s eyes. Remember it is only a few years and that’s where you will be. 
         The admonitions that follow are to treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters. Family relationships serve as a model for community relationships. Since the immediate group to which Paul was referring was the church, we can picture a community of believers existing together as an extended family. When different opinions arise they will be discussed openly with the welfare of every person in mind. This will be no place for gossip, for bitterness or revenge, or lack of genuine concern for the other. I am not sure I know any church quite like that, but I am reminded that biblical ethics provide the ideal toward which every serious church is moving.
         It is interesting, is it not, that should nations adopt this family model, wars up every sort would become a thing of the past. Once again, the family lies at the root of all group relational affairs. Settle the matter at home and watch the effect ripple through society. Of course, peace in the family depends upon peace in the heart of each member. All issues of importance begin in the heart of the individual; they are not handed down by a community.