At first blush of this verse, it appears that we are not to sneak up on someone to grab them. To take this verse away from the chapter where it is located seems to make sense for what I just said. But on second thought, why would Paul be talking about grabbing someone or holding someone against his will? Surely, this verse means something different.
Here is where we must fall back on the Greek words used. The original text of laying hands on someone is only founded two other places that Paul wrote. Under those circumstances he was referring to the ordination of an elder. But how does that fit into the overall picture?
It helps if we refer to verse 21. Paul was concerned about choosing elders as leaders of the church on the basis of partiality, not spiritual worthiness. Perhaps he was talking about someone that had a charming personality or someone that was financially well-to-do or someone that everybody wanted to be a leader. The point Paul was making is that we should investigate and pray about whatever person is going to be the spiritual leader in the church before we ever begin any ordination process.
How confusing and embarrassing it would be to ordain someone but later find out that person had a second life in secret. It would be against God’s will to ordain someone that was living in sin. This would do a lot of damage to the members of the congregation and the reputation of the church in the community.
While I was going to seminary, a small country church in Mississippi invited me to be their pastor. This did fit right into my plans so that I could have a ministry. The problem was that I inherited leaders in the church that should never have been selected to their positions. This was already done before I ever was invited to be their pastor. I found out later that the man who was the church treasurer stole money from the church to pay off gambling debts.
There was something inherently wrong spiritually in that congregation. I was there for a short period of time until I graduated from school. We made some progress. The numbers of the congregation grew. Still, something was wrong. It took the man who followed me to address other issues so the church could grow truthfully.
This verse under our consideration is sound advice. Anyone in the church who has a position of responsibility or authority must be vetted before ever nominated to the church at large. Laying on of hands is part of the ordination process. Paul told Timothy for him to stand his ground and not allow people to be ordained unless they were first examined privately. God places on the current leadership of the church a real burden that they may show allegiance to the ministry of Christ instead of cleaning up the mess afterwards.
Christian Writer 