1 Timothy 5:22

Plain English Version

If ever you need to pick somebody to be a church leader, pick somebody that has been a Christian for a long time, not somebody that is a new Christian. It is like this. If the person you pick starts to go wrong, everyone will blame you as well as blaming that person. So pick somebody that you know is really good, so that you don’t get yourself mixed up with something that is wrong.

Cross References

Acts 13:3

So those men kept on praying and not eating any food for a bit longer. Then they put their hands on Barnabas and Saul, and they prayed for them and told them, “You can go now and do God’s work.”

Acts 18:6

But those Jewish people wouldn’t listen to Paul, and they said bad things about him. So Paul shook the dirt from his clothes, to show them that they were wrong, and he said to them, “I told you God’s good news, but you didn’t listen. So you can’t blame me for anything that happens to you now. You can only blame yourselves. From now on, I will go and tell God’s word to the people that are not Jews.”

Acts 20:26

So I want you all to understand that if any of you don’t end up in God’s family, you can’t blame me.

Acts 6:6

They brought those 7 men to Jesus’s 12 special workers, and those 12 men prayed for God to help those 7 men, and they put their hands on their heads to show that they were giving those 7 men that job.

Ephesians 5:11

People that belong to the darkness do wrong things. Don’t ever join in with them. Don’t do those things that are wrong and useless, but instead, tell everybody that those things are wrong.

1 Timothy 3:10

You need to try them out before you make them church helpers, so first give them some little jobs to do, and if they do them properly, and if nobody complains about them, then you can make them helpers in the church. –

1 Timothy 3:2

A church leader has to be this sort of man, – He has to be a really good man, so that nobody can ever say that he does bad things. – He can only have one wife, and he can’t sleep with any other woman, like a husband sleeps with his wife. – He has to have good sense and do things properly. – He can’t be the sort of man that lets himself go and then does wild things. – He has to be friendly to other people, even if he doesn’t know them. – He has to be good at teaching people. –

1 Timothy 3:6

He has to be a man that has been a Christian for a long time, not a new Christian. A new Christian might start to think he is smart, and God might have to throw him out, like he threw the devil out after the devil thought he was smart. That devil is now the boss over the bad spirits. –

1 Timothy 4:12

If some people think you are too young to be their leader, don’t worry. You live the right way yourself, and that will show them that you are a good leader. Then they will see the way a Christian has to live. So talk in the right way, and talk about the right things. And do everything the right way. And love people. And believe strongly in Jesus. And always do what is right. Then everyone will see that you live right, and they will not think you are too young.

1 Timothy 4:14

Always remember that God gave you special power at the time when the church leaders laid their hands on you and prayed for you. The Holy Spirit gave them a special word about you at that time. So keep on using the power that God gave you.

2 Timothy 1:6

Remember the time that I laid my hands on you and prayed for you. God’s spirit gave you special power at that time. Well, now I want you to remember that, and you have to keep on using that power in your work for God. If you have not used it for a while, you need to start using it again.

2 Timothy 2:2

You heard me tell those true things about Jesus to lots of people, so you have to teach those things to more people. Pick good people that everyone respects, then teach them those things, so that they can go to other people and teach them those same things.