Divorce and ministry and deacons

I say that a pastor who has been remarried due to divorce has no true right to tell me how to help my marriage when it falls upon hard times. Even if the divorce is not his fault it still just does not seem right. I believe that a man called of God will always be called of God regardless but a divorced man cannot serve as pastor. Evangelist yes, missionary yes, minister yes, deacon & pastor NO!

 

What about a divorced (but non-remarried, committed to staying single or reconciling) man whose wife left him? If you exclude him, what is your scriptural justification?

Also, would you allow a single man to be a pastor?

 

Stef I stated that even a man whose wife had left him should not pastor. I get this from the example of Christ and his Church. The Church is the bride of Christ and most look to a minister to be a type of example. For this reasons preachers have specific set qualifications. And to answer your second question no I do not believe a single man should serve as a pastor. I know some may say this is just not fair. There are many things in life that are unfair though. Take for example the qualifications for the high priest. In the Torah there are two sets of qualifications. That of the priest and that of the high priest. The priest must live a righteous life and must be in the blood line of the levites. The high priest likewise must not only be a levite but must be a descentant of Aaron. Not only that but he must have not physical defect upon him.

Imagine this, a man fits all the qualifications to be the high priest and is a very sanctified lifestyle individual with a heart for God. Yet, he has a birth defect. He has eleven fingers. Because of this the Bible clearly says he is disqualified no matter how big his heart is. Read the Bible and see for yourself. The same principle applies to the calling of a man to ministry. There are qualifications and Timothy tells us that he must be the husband of one wife. I fully interpert that to mean that there must be only ONE!

On another level Jesus said that while divorce is acceptable in the event of unfaithfulness it is not desired by God. It is God's will that a man and wife make a committment and keep it. This is because marriage is a picture of our relationship to Christ. That picture is distorted when a divorcee is the shepherd.

The same applies to the single man. In addition I believe that he personally lacks experience with marriage and with child rearing.

 

If experience is a requirement before counseling, how could any man counsel any woman?

I think that the "one woman" thing is unscripturally pushed into "no past divorces" by our traditions and this is adding to scripture. I also think that the idea was never to make single men ineligible for the pastorate but to stop men with two wives (bigamists) from being pastors.

I continue to be extremely puzzled by people who claim to follow only what the scripture teaches and then add to to God's word in this way.

 

The offices of the pastor and the deacons are positions of authority and leadership in the Church. Being such they are to be held in high esteem. Those woh operate in these positions are to answer to a higher standard of judgment. Look throughout the Bible, God always judges the leaders faster and holds them to a higher standard. While divorce is allowed it is still abhored by God. It is a violation of the perfect union of marriage, which is a picture of the relationship between Christ and his Church. This is the traditional belief and is so for a reason, it is the intended translation of husband of one wife.