The apostle Paul wrote several letters. Some of them are addressed to churches, such as the Epistle to the Romans or the Epistles to the Corinthians. Others are personal letters, such as the letters to Timothy.

Tips for Timothy

Timothy was a co-worker of Paul. He was asked by Paul to work in Ephesus (1Tim 1,3). Timothy presided over the church there. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul mentions the “mystery of faith.” The expression is in a specific context.

Paul offers Timothy help with his tasks. The apostle speaks from his experience. The third chapter is about the office of overseer in the church:

“Credible is the word: If anyone desires an overseer’s office, he desires an ideal job.”
1Tim 3,1

The Greek word for overseer is “episkopos” (epi-skopos = on-see). An overseer watches over the church as a supervisor (cf. Acts 20:28).

Paul then describes characteristics of an overseer so that he is well equipped for his task.

• He must be unassailable:
• Man of a single woman
• sober
• showing common sense
• neat
• hospitable
• teachable
• not a drunkard, not a bully, but mildly
• not quarrelsome
• not greedy for money
• understanding how to take care for his house (family)
• who urges his children to be submissive (in order), with all respectability (but if someone does not know how to preside over his own house, how will he take care of the called-out church of God?)
• not a novice, lest he become conceited and fall into the judgment of the adversary.
• But he must also have an excellent testimony from those outside (outside the church) so that he does not fall into a reproach or a trap of the resister.

This series with requirements seem to spring only from the first remark: The supervisor must be unassailable. Everything else is merely experience, which the apostle lists. These are situations where a supervisor could be attacked. It shouldn’t be about having to fulfill everything, but rather about recognizing what’s already there. Let us think of practical values, of an attitude to life. A supervisor should be someone who is already living this out. The criterion is not a list to be checked off, but to have these things (and more) already have a place in your life. It has nothing at all to do with whether this or that commission selects someone for the task, whether someone has social status or a lot of money, or has completed an education, for example.

Paul continues and next writes about servants:

“In the same way be servants

• honorable
• not duplicitous
• not many wine devoted
• non-disgraceful
• Holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience.

But let them also prove themselves first, and after that let them serve, if they are blameless. In the same way be their wives also.”
1Tim 3:8-11

The Greek word for servant is “diakonos”. From this they have derived today’s deacons in the Church. Overseer and servant are two roles in the church. These individuals serve the community and Paul describes characteristics that must be present in order for these people in special positions to be “unassailable.” Therefore, they should “prove themselves first” before serving. The goal here is obvious: they should be able to perform their task undisturbed. The reason is also clear: Whoever becomes visible with a task, thereby becomes a target for other people. In order for this not to become a problem, either for these people or for the community, overseers and servants should be “unassailable.”

Paul is not concerned with the overseers or servants. They are not central here. He is all about the community. Paul describes what kind of person the church needs. We are looking for people who, like Paul, live from a living faith and do not have themselves in mind, but rather the church.

It is in this context that the “mystery of faith” is spoken of.

The mystery of faith

Let’s review what Paul has just explained. Overseers and servants should be sober and already have a lifestyle and attitude of faith that is nourished by faith and characterized by peace and order. This can be seen from the listing and description. Paul recognizes what these people are doing with all these qualities:

“Holding the mystery of faith in a pure conscience.”
1Tim 3:9

One does not think here of “things”, not directly of the “mystery of faith”, as if that were the point. Rather, one may come here from the verb. What distinguishes these people? They “hold” something. What do they hold? The Mystery of Faith. How do they hold it? In clear conscience.

Paul describes how these people deal with their faith in everyday life and how their actions are shaped by faith. It’s not super pious because that’s mostly just a cover. It is not about camouflage, about hypocrisy, but about real life of faith. In it, it’s not about things you “firmly believe,” not about knowledge you “possess,” but about “holding” the mystery of faith.

This is a humble attitude, wherein not everything is known, not everything is clarified, but wherein the value of faith is recognized.

A secret is fragile. It is not understood by everyone. In context, Paul also refers to those outside the church. They may not understand much about faith, and they don’t have to. Those within the community, however, recognize themselves as believers. They hold the mystery of faith in pure conscience. It is an attitude of faith.

They hold the mystery of faith in pure conscience. It is an attitude of faith.

This passage stands out in particular. On the one hand, it does so because Paul emphasizes several times in his letters that he reveals secrets (mysteries). Then he announces hitherto hidden things. Here, however, the secret is not made known, but merely “held”. The secret remains. This is not mystical or super-spiritual, but merely the recognition that not everything is known (see Phil 3:12-15).

In other words, one could say that faith can only be lived out, but not always explained. There is a content of faith, but it is not comprehensible or even explainable for everyone. I don’t think we can do without mystery in this life.

Who wants to describe facts only, misses out on a part of his human existence. Faith is a recognition that something is greater than myself. What and how one believes will probably change over the years. We change, and faith changes with us. Faith in this sense would be a human experience. We can give room to this experience and we can let it shape us.

Faith is not magic. It’s not about magical thinking, as if it’s about “making things or God move”. Still less is it a matter of faith, having only the function of giving a name to inexplicable things. In this case, faith would be an embarrassing solution, so to speak, which would soon be overtaken by facts. Those who remain caught in these juxtapositions miss the mystery of faith.

Paul recognizes from this mystery of faith that it is held “in a pure conscience.” This has nothing to do with unreasonableness, religious stubbornness or fake news. Everyone has a conscience because that is part of being human. It can be scabbed as with a branding iron (1Tim 4:2), so that it is no longer useful for anything. Some people avoid listening to it. Likewise, one can be misguided and shape one’s conscience in a wrong direction.

But one can also have a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Timothy 1:19), a clear conscience (1 Timothy 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3). One should not be judged by another person’s conscience (1 Cor. 10:29). With one’s attitude of faith, one commends oneself to the conscience of others (2 Cor. 5:11), and one’s conscience has a witness to one’s faith (Rom. 9:1).

These and other testimonies shed light on how it is with this mystery of faith that is held “in pure conscience.” This has nothing to do with perfection, nor with other people’s opinions. On the contrary, a person who wants to be an overseer or servant has realized that he can hold the secret of faith only in a pure conscience. It is the conscious and trustful handling of faith. This remains perfectly imperfect, but is no less real because of it. It is real, even if not all of it can be explained.

Those who live this way can do good in the community, can encourage others, are not easily misled or intimidated. Such a person is grounded in faith and in his humanity. Both belong together, as we could read in this chapter from the first letter of Timothy.