Rethinking 1 Timothy 5:17

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
1 Timothy 5:17

In my conversations with brothers over the years, the passage that has been presented to me as most foundational to support the tradition of paying pastors is 1 Timothy 5:17.  For a couple of years now, I've had my doubts that 1 Timothy 5:17 means what we've traditionally come to believe it means.  And over the last couple weeks I've become more convinced than ever that the traditional reading of this passage has misunderstood what Paul is trying to communicate. The following article comprehensively deals with the passage in relation to the topic but below I will focus on point two only, which was to me most insightful: http://tithing-russkelly.com/id35.html

The context of "double honor" in 5:17 is that of rebuking wrongdoers in the church, and not "salary."  Verses 1-16 and 19-20 are clearly discussions of discipline. Immediate context must be the primary determining factor.

5:1 Do not rebuke an elder [older man] [remember their honor].

5:3-16 Honor widows [honor is greater than rebuke].

5:17-18 Give double honor to elders who labor in the word.

5:19-20 Rebuke [ministering] elders openly that sin.

5:21 Do not be impartial [honor first; rebuke last resort].

5:22 Do not be hasty in discipline [remember their honor].

5:24 God will judge sins.

The disciplinary honor sequence begins with "Do not rebuke an elder" (v. 1) and ends with "rebuke an elder who sins before all" (v. 20). The "elder" of verse one is probably an older church member who is due honor because of his age and experience. After discussing the cautious approach to rebuking fellow church members (vv. 1- 2) and special rules for honoring widows (vv. 3-16), the writer next takes up the unpleasant, but necessary, rebuke of the church’s spiritual leaders (vv. 19-20). First, however, he reminds all of the double-honorable position of the person he is about to discuss (vv. 17-18). While an ordinary elder (older person) is due single "honor," an elder who leads in the Word of God is worthy of "double honor"--the first honor because of his age and the second, or double honor, because of his ministry in the Word.

To restate the previous conclusion, since all church members are "honorable" (1 Cor. 12:23-24), they are all worthy of honorable and cautious rebuke. Older persons are to be rebuked with an honor which respects their age and experience. However, ruling and teaching elders are worthy of double "honor," that is, of a "double-cautious rebuke." Such is the context, not salary! Because elders are worthy of double honor, those wishing to rebuke them must be "twice" as careful and should not rebuke them on a one-to-one basis, but in front of two or three witnesses (v. 19). Those elders who continue in their sin are to be rebuked before the whole church (v. 20). In rebuking church leaders, it appears that the one-to-one first stage is omitted. Compare and contrast these principles with those of Matthew 18:15-17.

This is gold. Traditionally, we get to 1 Timothy 5:17 and we think Paul is starting a new topic in addressing "elders/pastors" after he's just gotten done talking about widows and "older men". But, if we understand Paul this way (as I had for years), we haven't read him correctly. This is hard to see in just about every English translation but notice the similarity between 1 Timothy 5:1 and verse 1 Timothy 5:17.

verse 1 - Do not rebuke an older man (Πρεσβυτέρῳ - presbutero - singular) but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers

verse 17 - Let the elders (πρεσβύτεροι - presbuteroi - plural) who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

Presbutero in 1 Timothy 5:1 is the singular form of presbuteroi in 1 Timothy 5:17. This is where we get the words "presbyter" (singular) and "presbyters" (plural) and "Presbyterian."

Which is all to say, Paul begins 1 Timothy 5 telling us not to rebuke a presbyter (elder man in the congregation). And he ends 1 Timothy 5 telling us when the time comes that a presbyter (elder man in the congregation) must be rebuked. In other words, 1 Timothy 5:17 is not a break from what Paul has been talking about in 1 Timothy 5. It's continuing the same theme he began with in verse 1 regarding how to honor the elder men in the congregation. By the time he gets to verse 17, he specifically highlights those elder men who labor in preaching and teaching. But the point he's making—about how to honor them by not allowing testimony against them except on the basis of two or more witnesses—is a point that should be applied to all elder men in the congregation who are living as good examples to the flock. In light of the context of the entire chapter, it doesn't appear to have anything to do with money.  No one is quick to literally apply the first Old Testament reference in 1 Timothy 5:18 (of an ox eating grain) to elders.  So why are we so quick to literally apply the second Old Testament reference in 1 Timothy 5:18 (of a laborer being paid a wage) to elders?  In this context, one simple way to understand Paul's use of these Old Testament references is to see them both functioning as metaphors for communicating that an elder is worthy of honor, not grain (as an ox is worthy of) or wages (as a laborer is worthy of) literally.

Additionally, I think one reason we typically have a disconnect between 1 Timothy 5:1 and 1 Timothy 5:17 isn't just because most of our Bible translations translate "presbutero" and "presbuteroi" as though they are referring to two different groups of people, but because in our modern church context the older men in the congregation aren't necessarily (in many cases) the elders/pastors. But in the church in the early centuries the older men in the congregation were generally the elders/pastors (1 Peter 5:5). So the original hearers probably wouldn't have heard such a disconnect between 1 Timothy 5:1 and 1 Timothy 5:17 as we are conditioned to.