Earlier in his letter, Paul described the men
who should be teaching and the men and women who should be serving
(1 Tim. 3:1-13). The reason these qualifications exist, is that the
church is the household of God and the foundation of truth in the
world as the word is preached (1 Tim. 3:15). The truth of God is
displayed in the world by His people of truth. Paul warned that
some teachers who once proclaimed the truth will leave (Gr.
aphistēmi, ‘to withdraw, remove oneself’) the faith (Gr. pistis,
‘conviction of the truth’). This means they weren’t unsaved pastors
or teachers but believed the truth and got sidetracked by Satan to
lead people astray (2 Tim. 4:3, 4; 2 Pet. 2:1-3). Sometimes a
church will take on the values of its pastor or culture, rather
than its God. Most pastors or churches don’t die fiery deaths; they
die slow fades as they leave their mission!