The Pauline epistle of First Timothy is usually described as being about establishing a kind of “household order” within the fledgling first century church. Many commentaries suggest that as time went by and the number of faithful increased, yet the expected parousia still did not come, there was a need to establish a definitive set of rules and roles for the new “Christian” churches. Furthermore, there was the need for these faith communities to survive in the midst of the suspicion and hostility their presence evoked from their Roman rulers and from pagan culture in general.

With that in mind, it is easy to read some of First Timothy’s admonitions as a kind of “go along to get along” directive. But this epistle is also concerned with passing along the “glorious gospel” (1:11) and steeri…