but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
In view of the context, Paul evidently was thinking of the local church when he spoke of it as a household and as a pedestal. [Note: See Robert A. Carlson, "An Evaluation of 1 Timothy 3:15 as a Pauline Description of the Nature and Task of the Local Church" (Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 2002).] The first (domestic) figure is common in Paul’s writings (2 Timothy 1:16; Titus 1:11; cf. Titus 1:5; cf. Titus 1:12). The local church is a family of believers (cf. 1 Timothy 5:1-2). It should, therefore, conduct its corporate life as a family rather than as a business, a country club, an entertainment center, a military group, or some other organization.