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Pastoral Qualifications


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Hello all. I am new to this forum. I read through the majority of this thread, but not every post, so if I repeat something that has already been mentioned, please forgive me.

I grew up hearing that divorced men could not be pastors. My pastor would not even allow a divorced man to teach Sunday school. While searching for a church home after we relocated, I refused to go to church where the pastor was divorced.

However, I know of two current pastors who have been divorced and remarried and have thriving ministries. People are being saved and their congregations are growing. Salvation is the principle facet to our belief, correct? This has caused me to reexamine what I was taught and see what the Bible actually says.

There are several qualifications for pastor given in I Timothy and Titus. The one common feature is that all are in the present tense. This indicates that God is concerned with how a man is living his life in the here and now. By no means do I condone divorce, please do not think I do. However, if a man that has been divorced in the past is disqualified from being a pastor, then the same principle should apply if they used to drink. If this standard is to be held, then a man who has ever gotten into a fight cannot pastor. To identify one sin from the past without recognizing all sins is a double standard and hypocritical in my opinion. I believe it is an error to single out one sin from a man’s past and ignore the rest.

I read several posts where someone said that even though the sin is forgiven there are consequences for their sin. The only consequence for sin I read in the Bible is death. Sure there are civil consequences for wrong doing (murder, theft, etc…) However, God says the wages of sin is death. Since Jesus died and paid the penalty for that sin, how can man still hold someone guilty? Acts 13:39 states that we are justified from all sins. Justified means declared “Not Guilty”. Therefore, when a divorced and remarried man comes to God in repentance and seeks forgiveness, God removes that sin and remembers it no more. Why does man continue to bring it up?

Thanks for bearing with me.
Excellent post!

The key words in 1 Timothy 3 are, as you mentioned, in the present tenst... MUST BE.

To say a man cannot pastor because he remarries is hypocritical... especially in light of the fact that all have sinned one sin or another.
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The Bible never says a divorced man can't be a pastor. The problem many fundamental Baptists have is they make an assumption that Bible doesn't say. The Bible clearly states that a pastor and deacon must be the husband of one wife.

That can mean two things:

1. One wife ever.

This is what most IFBers subscribe to. To remain consistent you must also teach that:

a. If a man was divorced before being saved it makes no difference - he is not the husband of one wife ever and cannot serve as a pastor or a deacon.
b. Though a man may be divorced biblically according to Matthew 5 it makes no difference - he is not the husband of one wife ever and may not serve as a pastor or a deacon.
c. If newly saved men has had his lost wife leave and divorce him two months into his new life in Christ, he is forever banned from serving as a pastor or deacon, regardless of what fruit the Lord may have worked in his life twenty years later.
d. If a man’s wife dies and he remarries, he is no longer the husband of one wife ever.

They will scratch and claw to deny some of these, but the fact remains that to be consistent this is what you must teach. All four of these points have huge problems when it comes to remaining consistent with the rest of Scripture and in my opinion the nature of who God is and His forgiving, merciful, and gracious nature. If in fact this is an unscriptural standard and burden placed upon people, then it is Phariseeism plain and simple. To demand a standard of a man that God does not demand of him is the primary qualification of a Pharisee.

I am the husband of one wife ever and so is my pastor.


2. One wife now.

The teaching here is that you can't be a polygamist and be a pastor or deacon. This teaching does not eternally punish a child of God for a pre-conversion divorce or a biblical divorce in which God assigns no blame to the man.

This doesn't guarantee a divorced man a position as a pastor or a deacon. He must meet all qualifications. Many pastors today couldn't teach their way out of a paper bag, and though they may have been married to the same woman for thirty years, they have no business being in the ministry.

Obviously there's much more to the discussion. I'd encourage you to study the Bible for yourself and pray about it. Ask yourself which one of these two interpretations is consistent with Scripture. Also go back to the first post and re-read the entire thread.

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However, I know of two current pastors who have been divorced and remarried and have thriving ministries. People are being saved and their congregations are growing. Salvation is the principle facet to our belief, correct? This has caused me to reexamine what I was taught and see what the Bible actually says.


The simple fact that people are being saved through a particular ministry does not mean that that ministry is operating in complete obedience to God. Billy Graham, for example, operates ecumenically - he sends hundreds of converts/seekers back to the Church of Rome and the false gospel it teaches - yet I do not doubt that many people have been truly saved under his ministry. But the fact that people have been saved does not make his actions correct.
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That would not be an example of God "blessing", but rather God working some good even through such means.

Those who have been saved through the ministry of a divorced pastor would consider their salvation a blessing from God and would disagree with you. So you would admit that God does save even though it be through a divorced pastor?
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Those who have been saved through the ministry of a divorced pastor would consider their salvation a blessing from God and would disagree with you. So you would admit that God does save even though it be through a divorced pastor?

God can save through a wicked person presenting the Gospel in an attempt to be mocking, but that doesn't mean God is blessing the messenger or even what he's doing, but rather that God can and does use those not walking right to accomplish His will.
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There is a huge difference between a wicked person mocking God and a divorced pastor doing his best to present the Gospel, lead people to the Lord and shepherd a flock. Do you lump both together in the same group?

I guess the point I'm trying to make is I have seen how God has blessed the ministries of those two divorced pastors. After reviewing the qualifications for pastors, in light of other scripture, I fail to see where divorce and remarriage prohibits a man from pastoring. I once held a firm view against this, mainly because that was what I was taught by man. I understand why many still hold this position.

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The fact remains that divorce is not God's will for anyones marriage. I hold to the more fundamental side to this issue however God's grace forgives a load more than any of us are willing to do, He is all powerful and if he chooses to bless then so be it.

I think when you start looking for loop holes to accept a sin in someone's life you are on shaky ground. God wants his best for us and we should want God's best too.

I would never be rude, judge, or look down upon a divorced person. But when you look at a pastor's role in a church, ( this includes marriage counselling ) how can you take advice from someone who could not keep a marriage working and stable. And yes I know we all sin and are imperfect but you don't go to a gambler for financial advice nor would you go to a divorced person for marriage advice. There is also the issue of being a stumbling block. If you are counselling a married couple that divorce is not the way, and they find out you are divorced you advice becomes questionable and some would use it for justification. ( which I'm sure we all agree would be wrong)

I have no doubt that many ultra conservative stands I take will be way more on the legal side than on God's grace side, however when I stand before God I want it to be with having done the best I can, I want to be the best example that I can be. If I was a divorced person I would not stand up in front of church as a Pastor (if I was male) and I wouldn't put my hand up to teach my Sunday School class, I would want better for my flock and for my SS kids.

It concerns me all of the comments about IFBers etc. If I have not shown grace I apologise but I have to stand where my Lord leads me and I hope you do the same.

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The fact remains that divorce is not God's will for anyones marriage. I hold to the more fundamental side to this issue however God's grace forgives a load more than any of us are willing to do, He is all powerful and if he chooses to bless then so be it.

There are many things in our lives that are not God's will and yet He chooses to use us. David was a murderer and adulterer, and so was Moses, yet God placed them in positions of authority arguably far greater than that of a pastor of small local church. You can be "fundamental" all you want, but what does the Bible say?

I think when you start looking for loop holes to accept a sin in someone's life you are on shaky ground. God wants his best for us and we should want God's best too.

Amen, I don't think anyone here is in favor of finding loop holes to accept sin. Everyone should want God's best, but sometimes it doesn't happen. I'm very blessed to have God's best when it comes to my family; I have a wonderful wife and four beautiful children. But what about a situation where someone's wife left them because they recently trusted Christ? That's not a weird or odd situation, it's very common. God gave an allowance for divorce in Matthew 5, and God never makes an allowance for sin. Therefore divorce isn't always sin. What Scriptural basis would you have for holding something against a Christian that God does not?

I would never be rude, judge, or look down upon a divorced person.

Be honest - you already have looked down upon all divorced people, regardless of whether the divorce was biblical or pre-salvation. You didn't stop at disqualifying all divorced people from serving as a pastor or a deacon, you went so far in this post of yours to say they can't even teach a little kids Sunday School class. There is no Scriptural basis for what you are saying.

But when you look at a pastor's role in a church, ( this includes marriage counselling ) how can you take advice from someone who could not keep a marriage working and stable. And yes I know we all sin and are imperfect but you don't go to a gambler for financial advice nor would you go to a divorced person for marriage advice. There is also the issue of being a stumbling block. If you are counselling a married couple that divorce is not the way, and they find out you are divorced you advice becomes questionable and some would use it for justification. ( which I'm sure we all agree would be wrong)

People looking to do wrong will always look for any justification they can, just like anyone trying to do right will look for any way to overcome the problem. It's ridiculously common for pastor's houses to be unruly - and that's a disqualification. If the pastor steps down, gets right and ten years later pastors again no one says anything. Yet if he's been divorced at any point in his life he's forever unworthy of being a Sunday School teacher?

I have no doubt that many ultra conservative stands I take will be way more on the legal side than on God's grace side,

Ask yourself a couple questions:

1. It is "ultraconservative" or unbiblical?
2. Would YOU rather be on God's legal side or His grace side?

however when I stand before God I want it to be with having done the best I can, I want to be the best example that I can be. If I was a divorced person I would not stand up in front of church as a Pastor (if I was male) and I wouldn't put my hand up to teach my Sunday School class, I would want better for my flock and for my SS kids.

Because you look down on all divorced people as second class.

It concerns me all of the comments about IFBers etc. If I have not shown grace I apologise but I have to stand where my Lord leads me and I hope you do the same.

Nothing you've said has offended me. But then again, I'm not divorced.
Edited by Rick Schworer
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I see nothing they said as calling divorced people "second class". The fact that some things in a persons life might mean they can't serve in certain positions or areas doesn't make them "second class".

A person can be careful about the "legal" aspects while doing so with grace. They are not mutually exclusive and I don't see an absence of grace here.

Blossom said "they" wouldn't consider being a Sunday school teacher if they were divorced, not that there is a biblical command against such. There is actually nothing in Scripture about Sunday school, it's a rather modern concept.

If you look at what Christ said about the "exception" for divorce, He declared God hates it, it's a sin and the only reason God allowed even that "exception" was because of the hardness of the peoples hearts. Jesus never declared divorce not to be sin.

Scripture also tells us that if a person is saved and their spouse can't stand that and they divorce them, that saved person isn't guilty of sin. However, that only applies to that situation. In other situations a person is to do all they can to maintain their marriage or to reconcile it if it falls apart or they become divorced.

Remember, Scripture teaches that those who would consider leadership positions should really think about such because they come with high expectations, very high, and the Lord expects those who take on leadership roles to hold to those standards that are much higher for them than for others.
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I see nothing they said as calling divorced people "second class". The fact that some things in a persons life might mean they can't serve in certain positions or areas doesn't make them "second class".


Why don't you ask a biblically divorced person who has had to deal with this treatment all his life and see if he feels like he's being treated like a second-class Christian? Call it what you want, I'm just being real here.

A person can be careful about the "legal" aspects while doing so with grace. They are not mutually exclusive and I don't see an absence of grace here.

Blossom said "they" wouldn't consider being a Sunday school teacher if they were divorced, not that there is a biblical command against such. There is actually nothing in Scripture about Sunday school, it's a rather modern concept.


By saying what she said Blossom strongly implied that she doesn't think anyone who's ever been divorced can teach a Sunday School class. This is very common, and I'm wondering how many more privaliges of service will be stripped from them for something that God forgave them of (or didn't need to because they did nothing wrong) decades ago.

If you look at what Christ said about the "exception" for divorce, He declared God hates it, it's a sin and the only reason God allowed even that "exception" was because of the hardness of the peoples hearts. Jesus never declared divorce not to be sin.


If divorce is always a sin, that means that Jesus said it's okay to sin sometimes. If divorce isn't always a sin, then you're holding something against someone that God doesn't.

Scripture also tells us that if a person is saved and their spouse can't stand that and they divorce them, that saved person isn't guilty of sin. However, that only applies to that situation. In other situations a person is to do all they can to maintain their marriage or to reconcile it if it falls apart or they become divorced.


So now divorce isn't always a sin. Make up your mind, brother.

Remember, Scripture teaches that those who would consider leadership positions should really think about such because they come with high expectations, very high, and the Lord expects those who take on leadership roles to hold to those standards that are much higher for them than for others.


I agree, and no one should put a higher standard on something or someone than God does. That's what cults do when they tell certain people they can't marry, eat meat, or drink coffee. Edited by Rick Schworer
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You seem to more interested in picking things apart in order to find an argument when none is being presented.

For now, I'll only take the time to point out that just because someone "feels" they are being treated second class, that doesn't mean that's the case. Many people take offense far too easily and that's on them.

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Everyone, well not everyone, wants to argue with God on this matter. When all they can do is trust & obey the verses. The qualifications for a pastor have been stated, its right there in the Bible. You either accept it, or reject it.

I'm not mad, but I refuse to argue about it answering questions over & over & on & on about the same subject when its clear as a bell for those who accept God's Word as the final truth.

1Ti 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

Tit 1:6 ¶ If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

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