Featured Divorce, Remarriage and Preaching

But are you going to answer my questions?
1) Can a single man be a pastor?
2) Should a man step down as pastor when his wife dies - as he is no longer the husband of one wife


and let me add one more - do you agree with those churches who state that a pastor must not only be married but must also have children IAW I Tim 3:4

 

But you seem not to understand my point - I Tim says "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife", therefore if he is no longer married (via death) then how can he be qualified to be a pastor?

Now lets take this a step further - if Paul meant that a divorced man could not be pastor - then why did he not use the word divorce?

 

Not a senior pastor. He lacks the marital and family experience necessary to allow him to counsel on marital and family issues.

No. He has the marital and family experience necessary to allow him to counsel on marital and family issues.

 

Yes.

 

A former drug user can be an effecive pastor as he has firsthand knowledge as he cousels on additiction. And likewise, a divorced pastor has the experience necessary to allow him to counsel on divorce

 

What caused his divorce and has he remarried?

He should be a married man, but he cannot be a polygamist; and must have only one wife, i.e. one at a time. It does not mean that, if he has been married, and his wife dies, he should never marry another.

Remember the hermeneutical law of shareability. What understanding would two guys, looking over Paul's shoulders, share regarding the meaning of what Paul was writing, remembering the two men are first century AD Jews living in the culture of that time and place?

The problem was polygamy. A Bishop must have one wife but he could not have more than one.

What is interesting is that Paul does not apply that same limitation to the general membership of the church!

 

I have never met a former alcoholic who still does not have that struggle in their life.

So we are saying that a divorced person is committing the unforgiveable sin?

Not necessarily - especially if he is not the divorcer but the divorcee. Let's say his wife left him for another man. The divorce was not his doing (although I'm not saying he had no part in the divorce). He sees what divorce does to his family and how it affected them. I actually appreciate the advice of those who have failed just as much as someone who has succeeded. Some of the best counsel on parenting I got was from people whose children did not grow up well.

 

I am not inventing my own facts but instead reading the clear scriptures. Why would Jesus address the past husbands of the woman if they had all died? Didn't the woman say "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” What did she "ever did" if all of her marriages ended in the death of her husbands? I don't see how the interaction could be from anything other than at least one divorce. How do you say that I am adding another exception clause? I'm not doing any such thing. Again - clear reading of scripture says a lot.

 

I've never said any divorced person at all is qualified or unqualified for the office of bishop. Instead, I say that we see that there is before and after Christ. There is wisdom. There is such a thing as "but such were some of you." When we are saved, our sins are forgiven and we become a new creation. Not every man who has never been divorced is qualified to be a pastor nor is every man who has been divorced disqualified to be a pastor - it is based on his calling and his walk with the Lord and the circumstances of his divorce. A man who was divorced over 20 years ago before he was saved and since he was saved, he has led a life worthy of the calling of Christ is not disqualified for the ministry any more than a man who fathered an illegitimate child before he was saved would be.