In this chapter we will continue to consider the matter of how to conduct oneself in the house of God. The two Epistles to Timothy were written when the church was in degradation, and it was because of the degradation that these two Epistles were written. What Paul ministered to Timothy was entirely concerning how to conduct himself in the church in a time of degradation. In the previous chapter we covered mainly two points concerning how to conduct ourselves in the house of God. First, we saw that we must respect the headship of Christ. Whatever we are, do, and say should be in a spirit that respects the headship of Christ. Respecting the headship of Christ safeguards us from many kinds of mistakes in the church life. The headship of Christ is crucial to our church life. The main problem with Christianity today is that it disregards the headship of Christ. In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, the first thing that we need to take care of is to regard the headship of Christ. The second matter we saw in the previous chapter is that the entire church is the pillar and base of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). Not the leading ones only but every member in the church should practice to know the truth so that we can be a pillar to bear God’s truth in this dark age. Respecting the headship of Christ and bearing the truth are two governing principles we must follow in order to know how to conduct ourselves in the church life.
In this chapter we will see a few more items that should govern our conduct in the church life. In 1 Timothy 1:3-4 Paul wrote, “Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God’s economy, which is in faith.” We should not teach anything that is different from God’s economy. The word economy is an anglicized Greek word, denoting a dispensation, a stewardship, or an administration to dispense something. According to the revelation of the New Testament, God has an economy to dispense Himself in Christ into His chosen people to produce the church, the Body of Christ. The New Testament charges us not to teach anything other than God’s economy. In the church life we should not teach anything that produces questionings rather than God’s economy, regardless of how scriptural our teaching may be.
In the preceding chapter we saw that even the youngest believer needs to be bold to discern different speakings according to the truth. However, this does not mean that when a person speaks something that is not heretical or damaging to God’s economy, we need to boldly stand up to say something against it. This will only cause trouble. Suppose a brother says, “I do not like to see all the sisters with long hair. I prefer that the sisters have short hair.” When we hear something like this, we should simply ignore it. The length of the sisters’ hair does not mean much. Therefore, we can allow a brother to voice his opinion. We should not argue or fight over such insignificant matters. However, suppose someone says, “Christ is only a man. He does not have the divine nature.” Every brother and sister should immediately stand up to say no, for this is a blasphemy against Christ. Furthermore, such speaking damages God’s economy because God’s economy is to dispense the Christ who is both God and man. Because the church is the pillar and base of the truth, every member has the responsibility to protest against this kind of heretical speaking. We must bear the truth concerning Christ’s person. We all need to see God’s charge in the New Testament not to teach things different from God’s economy. The proper length of a sister’s hair, however, is not worthy of disputation. It is better to stay away from any disputation concerning such minor things.