God's Social Security Plan pt3 The Chruch

In part 2 of Gods Social Security plan we talked about the institution of the family and how it was god’s mandate to care for family to care for family first and foremost, not the government.  But, what if you get into your old age and you have no family to take care of you? 

I Tim 5:1 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;

² The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

³ Honour widows that are widows indeed.


We see here in I Timothy That when it comes to church members, they are family.  We treat fellow believers as we would our own family. 


Romans 8: ¹⁶ The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: ¹⁷ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

This section of Romans 8 shows that we are all become children of God, and therefore we become family in Jesus.  As we saw in part 2, family is to take care of family.  So, if an elderly person does not have any blood family to take care of them, then the spiritual family is responsible for the care of the elderly in lieu of the blood family.  It becomes the responsibility of the church to care for those elderly members who have no direct family to take care of them. 

There are stipulations though on this care.  Here it is:


I Tim 5: ⁹ Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man.
¹⁰ Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

Now there are reasons for this.  A person under 60 could still be productive and needs not be a ward.  The good works are a witness that one is truly a member of the body of Christ.  A tree is known by its fruit, Jesus has told us.  It is not the responsibility of the church to take care of anyone, but only those people who by their actions have shown themselves to be a member of the spiritual family of believers.

In this day and age and under our modern culture, I would also include widowers in this.  It is not precisely stated in scripture, but our culture has men retiring from their work, rather than continuing on in their work and as heads of the family clan.

These situations where an elderly person becomes a ward of the church were meant to be rare.  It is not many people that do not have at least SOME family that are to take up the mantle of responsibility for an elders social security.  If the church were to take on every case where the family abjected their responsibility, the church would soon be overwhelmed and unable to help those who are truly in need.  This is reiterated in verse 16 of timothy 5, “¹⁶ If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.”

God’s ultimate plan for social security is the family unit.  The family was designed to stay together and be a support one for another.  The family was given responsibility for taking care of its members and caring for its elders.  A secondary and rare case of true widows (ers) would fall to the responsibility of the church family. 

It does not say in scripture that the care for the elderly was to be left to government.  In fact, not taking up your responsibility to do so and letting government take that role is considered sinful and against the faith as we saw in part 2.  I Timothy 5:8 “⁸ But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”