Impartial and Kindly Supervision
A man of years was always to be honored, and if he were called to rule in the church, he was to be treated with double honor; but none should be appointed to that sacred office hastily or with partiality. Purity, gravity, and abstinence from alcohol were prime requisites in a Christian minister then, as they are now. It is clear from 1 Timothy 5:23 that the Apostles and their helpers practiced total abstinence, or there had been no need for that special injunction to Timothy.
It is clear also from 1 Timothy 5:17-18 that the early Church was encouraged to support its ministers. The Apostle quotes the words of our Lord, to maintain this contention, Matthew 10:10; Luke 10:7. The character of a minister might not be lightly aspersed. If anything had to be said, the informant must lodge his complaint in the presence of witnesses, who could be witnesses against him, if the charge were found to be baseless and frivolous. But public wrongs must be met by public rebuke that any suspicion of favoritism might be disarmed. No man, however, should be called to the sacred and responsible position of presbyter, unless he had been tested and approved. In forming judgments of the fitness of men for office, we must not judge wholly by appearance-good or bad, 1 Timothy 5:24-25.