(King James Version)
2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
(New Living Translation)
2 So an elder must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife.[a] He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach.
(Young's Literal Translation)
2it behoveth, therefore, the overseer to be blameless, of one wife a husband, vigilant, sober, decent, a friend of strangers, apt to teach,
(Contemporary English Version)
2That's why officials must have a good reputation and be faithful in marriage. [a] They must be self-controlled, sensible, well-behaved, friendly to strangers, and able to teach.
ok, so now we have that out of the way we all agree there are several ways to interpret the verse. I myself attend a church that believes that if a man has been divorced or married a woman who has been divorced that they are no longer qualified, period. I myself do not hold to this belief so you can see why I have chosen to investigate this and put it out there for you do decide for yourself. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Use discernment and prayer to come to YOUR conclusion... not mine.
SO lets look at some of the meanings that have been pulled out of this verse.
1. Polygamy.
At first glance Paul seems to be denouncing polygamy for a pastor. Makes sense, one wife is enough work as it is. How can a man be about God's work when he has responsibilities of that magnitude at home? But there are some problems with this. Polygamy was not a problem for the Jews at Ephesus this time. Besides the Bible denounces polygamy.
Leviticus 18:18
Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
Deuteronomy 17:17
Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
Matthew 19:5
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
2. Divorced = not qualified
This seems to be the most believed interpretation across orthodox Christians. The problem with humans, and yes I am one, is that our upbringing defines who we are. This is not always a negative thing but can ingrain negative or incorrect beliefs into us. Racism is a good example. I myself attend a church who believes divorced = not qualified. I although, do not. My first problem with this is that we are under grace and therefore our sins are forgiven. Washed away.... forgotten by God.
Hebrews 10:17
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
So if our sins are forgotten, forgiven and gone, why are they suddenly remembered again? It would be a contradiction to say that your sin does not exist anymore but then it must be remembered to be reviewed as a requirement for a bishop. Jesus himself ok'd divorce under certain circumstances for believers.
Matthew 19:9
"And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."
Even though per Jesus, divorce under this circumstance is not a sin because Jesus would not give the go ahead for us to sin. So what this doctrine is trying to tell me is that even though I have been forgiven by the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ for my sins, these supposedly forgotten sins can be used against me in the future. That would be a contradiction and I hope all Christians would agree that God does not contradict himself.
Another issue with this belief is the fact that all the requirements 1st Timothy are present tense. This belief also states that the requirements are current states of a person, except past marital problems. See how it doesn't jive with the rest? Now there are some who make a distinction between whether the divorce occurred prior to salvation or not. This makes sense to me. The people who believe divorce = not qualified period have a problem with the following logic. I can be a baby-raper, genocidal murderer, and an all around bad dude. But if i get saved...I can be a preacher. Now I do agree with that, think of Saul/Paul. But I can be a normal guy who made a mistake prior to salvation and married a whore. and that disqualifies me from the pulpit. So take this down the road of logic with me and this says that I can be a baby-raper/murderer but not a divorcee, even if I was not in my control. Do you see the disconnect here?
AS much as I hate to add this point, I must. The first requirement is to be above reproach. And just like the alcohol issue, if marital status causes issues in the church then you are not above reproach. Unfortunately you will be unqualified, but NOT because of marital status, because of the culture in the church and its traditions. And we all know how traditions can suck the spirit right out of anything.
An elder/deacon/pastor is to be a man that the church and community can look up to as an example of Christ-likeness and godly leadership. If his divorce and/or remarriage situation detracts from this purpose, perhaps he should not serve in the position of elder/deacon/pastor. It is important to remember, though, that just because a man is disqualified from serving as an elder/deacon/pastor, he is still a valuable member of the body of Christ. Every Christian possesses spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) and is called to participate in edifying other believers with those gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7). A man who is disqualified from the position of elder/deacon/pastor can still teach, preach, serve, pray, worship, and play an important role in the church. Biblical Eldership by Alexander Strauch.NOTE: No matter what your sin. It can be forgiven. Period. End of story.
In my own church we only have 2 deacons. There are many good Christian men who would do an amazing job but are unqualified to be a deacon. This has potential to hurt a church. God gave us rules to live by. When we add to them it is telling God that His word was not good enough. That is blasphemy. All you have to do is look at what the Pharisees did. There is a reason God said things the way he did. Remember,
Revelation 22:18
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Let me make several things very clear before I close. A Bishop or overseer refers to a pastor. There is a distinction between a pastor and a preacher. Many who believe Divorce = unqualified also add this to preaching. This would prevent someone from preaching the gospel on the streets or to anyone.
preach
–verb (used with object)
1. to proclaim or make known by sermon (the gospel, good tidings, etc.).
2. to deliver (a sermon).
3. to advocate or inculcate (religious or moral truth, right conduct, etc.) in speech or writing.
So technically.... I am preaching right now!!! uh oh!!!
Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Mark 16:15
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Luke 24:47
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Acts 10:42
And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Also I have been told by respectable men of God that they have seen it before that when a man is not qualified due to divorcement, the church he PASTORS fails. I have seen this as well but I have seen the inverse. 2 examples... I have a friend who announced his call to preach. I knew he was either mistaken or God was really working in him. His lifestyle did not reflect what a preachers should. No one else knew that but they did find out that he had been married before prior to salvation. So they did not allow him to proceed. In this case the divorce = unqualified prevented some potentially bad situations, but for the wrong reason. for the record, this man is a very good friend of mine and I love him. That's why I did not include his name. Another example was a visiting preacher came to my church and preached a bang-up message. The spirit was moving and we were having a great time worshiping the Lord. Everyone wanted a cd of the sermon that day and could not stop singing his praises. But once they found out he had been married before, prior to salvation, suddenly his name was mud. So if his marital status was such a big issue for God, then why would he allow the spirit to move that day? I admit God will do what God wants, but blessing sin is not one of them.
3. Single vs Married
Some believe that the husband of one wife requires a man to be married in order be a Pastor/Deacon. This is soo far off I don't know where to start. Paul was single during his journeys. nuff said. There is nowhere in scripture requiring marriage. There are even discussions of the benefits/struggles of both married & single.
4.Faithful
Ok, now i get to defend what I believe husband of one wife means. For starters this says nothing about divorce or death of a spouse. The phrase in the Greek literally means "one-woman man." This qualification is the first because it is the one most likely to be failed. Men are generally more sexually aggressive than women. This is not about marital status but about moral and sexual purity. The marriage vows are between one woman and one man. It cannot be entered into any other way. You can only be married if you are currently not married. Jesus himself gave parameters for an acceptable divorce due to adultery but I think we can all agree this is not the preferred situation.
So... the bottom line is this. You can be divorced (under Jesus' parameters) and preach. The issue of prior/post salvation divorce is a discussion for another time. The belief in divorce=not qualified is a classic example of misinterpretation originating from ignorance and then passed down through tradition. We all have these things that we believe but we have to ask ourselves why we believe them. If your beliefs and world views are just based on what someone said or what your parents believed then you don't truly hold that belief. You are just following traditions. Welcome challenges to your belief system. It should force you to look into it for yourself. Martin Luther did this and found major errors in what he thought he believed.
Go with God
_-TIEK-_
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