1 Timothy 5:8

It's old news that Mark Driscoll doesn't like stay at home dads.



But here is another take on what the Bible, including 1 Timothy 5:8, has to say about family roles.

"Some today understand Paul’s admonition that “if a man does not provide for his own, he is worse than an unbeliever” as a proof-text for the man-alone-as-breadwinner model (1 Timothy 5:8). The verse even has six male pronouns in many English translations. Yet Paul used the gender-neutral “someone” and “one’s own,” not “he/his.” And in the context he was speaking of widow-care. Ironically, the passage is more focused on women caring for mothers and mothers-in-law than on men providing (see 1 Tim 5:16). Imagine a culture with no nurses. Who bathes the patient? Paul’s talking about the family vs. the church caring for the elderly and infirm.

Questions about women’s economic contributions tell us something about our culture: We are rich. We may think we’re poor compared to Bill Gates, but more than two billion people live on less than two dollars a day. And I doubt if a single one of them wonders if it’s biblical for a woman to earn any income."

Theology