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Are Pastoral Disqualifications Permanent?


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In dealing with the fall of a fellow pastor (see Prayer Requests for details), the idea was brought up that some sins permanently disqualify a man from the pastorate while others don't. I think most of us agree that divorce permanently disqualifies a man from the pastorate, but what about theft? If the pastor repays the money he claims to have borrowed (without telling anyone about it), can he remain in the pastorate?

What sins disqualify a pastor permanently, and what sins disqualify a pastor temporarily, allowing him to return to the pulpit eventually?

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In dealing with the fall of a fellow pastor (see Prayer Requests for details), the idea was brought up that some sins permanently disqualify a man from the pastorate while others don't. I think most of us agree that divorce permanently disqualifies a man from the pastorate, but what about theft? If the pastor repays the money he claims to have borrowed (without telling anyone about it), can he remain in the pastorate?

What sins disqualify a pastor permanently, and what sins disqualify a pastor temporarily, allowing him to return to the pulpit eventually?


I've read and reread 1 Timothy and Titus; I'm not so sure divorce permanently disqualifies a man from the pastorate.

If a wife suddenly left of her own free will never to return, i.e. remarried other men several times and it was discovered she committed adultery before she left; then the man divorced her, would this bar the man from the pastorate? Edited by 1Tim115
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1Ti 3:1 ¶ This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
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;
1Ti 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
1Ti 3:4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
1Ti 3:5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
1Ti 3:6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
1Ti 3:7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil..

Tit 1:6 ¶ If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
Tit 1:7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
Tit 1:8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
Tit 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

My personal opinion is that there be many, that have no back bone at all, that will not take a stand against the man that claims to have been called by God to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ that meets not ALL qualifications nor the man that brings shame to that position. Those that do this will ordain men to be pastors that are a complete embarrassment to the Churches of Jesus Christ and brings much shame on His Churches. Theses such people put a stumbling block in front of many, those that allow this are 100 % responsible for the shame that man brings on Jesus and His Churches.

No longer my personal opinion!

The man who is a thief should never be pastor of a church, and if he is found to be a thief he should be stripped of that position. A thief is not blameless.

In fact we all know that the Bible gives the qualifications for that position, at any time they fail to meet those qualifications, before ordination, or after ordination, they should cease to pastor one of Jesus' Churches. And members of one of Jesus' Churches should not put up with the man that does not meet all qualification God gives for that position.

We that are saved thanks to Jesus have no right, power, authority, to change any of the qualification given, we do have the right, power, authority to uphold them.

Sad to say, many pastors that get in trouble will move to a different location and will stay in the ministry, and many churches that have had such a pastor will not speak out against him. Doing that they fail to stand up for God's truths and aid men that should not be in that position stay in that position.

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1Ti 3:1 ¶ This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
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;
1Ti 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
1Ti 3:4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
1Ti 3:5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
1Ti 3:6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
1Ti 3:7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil..

Tit 1:6 ¶ If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
Tit 1:7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
Tit 1:8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
Tit 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

My personal opinion is that there be many, that have no back bone at all, that will not take a stand against the man that claims to have been called by God to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ that meets not ALL qualifications nor the man that brings shame to that position. Those that do this will ordain men to be pastors that are a complete embarrassment to the Churches of Jesus Christ and brings much shame on His Churches. Theses such people put a stumbling block in front of many, those that allow this are 100 % responsible for the shame that man brings on Jesus and His Churches.

No longer my personal opinion!

The man who is a thief should never be pastor of a church, and if he is found to be a thief he should be stripped of that position. A thief is not blameless.

In fact we all know that the Bible gives the qualifications for that position, at any time they fail to meet those qualifications, before ordination, or after ordination, they should cease to pastor one of Jesus' Churches. And members of one of Jesus' Churches should not put up with the man that does not meet all qualification God gives for that position.

We that are saved thanks to Jesus have no right, power, authority, to change any of the qualification given, we do have the right, power, authority to uphold them.

Sad to say, many pastors that get in trouble will move to a different location and will stay in the ministry, and many churches that have had such a pastor will not speak out against him. Doing that they fail to stand up for God's truths and aid men that should not be in that position stay in that position.

Are you saying this man...
If a wife suddenly left of her own free will never to return, i.e. remarried other men several times and it was discovered she committed adultery before she left; then the man divorced her, would this bar the man from the pastorate?

...would not be held blameless?
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I've heard of wife's leaving on their own, yet it was the husbands fault.

And being as the husband is the head of the family, its left in his lap. When your the head you have to accept the responsibility many times when the fault is not directly yours.

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;

When the husband is divorced he is no longer blameless and no longer meets the qualification given in the above verse. And yes, I know the trend of everyone blaming everyone else for their ever little problem. But we are not speaking about the blame game. We have to use the Bible in order to know what is right or wrong.

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Jerry,

Have you ever taken something that wasn't your's? If you have, your a thief and disqualified. Again, Pastoral qualifications are very clear in 1 Tim. 3. and there is no mention of theft.


Chevy,
The issue is not that he stole because that is not mentioned in the qualifications. The issue is, "Is he blameless". The idea of being blameless is that nothing can be pinned to you or held against you. At the point of the theft, he is no longer blameless and must step down. That doesn't mean he could not pastor again. It takes time to overcome sin.

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Pastorj, I just love how people argue against the Bible using human reasoning. Why not take the Bible as it is? I suppose that is a $64,000 Dollar Question.

I'll answer that $64,000 dollar question. For you young ones there use to be a show called the $64,000 Question back in 1955-58, with today's inflation those numbers would be much higher today.

Few there be that will accept the Bible as it is.

The man that married the divorced woman has shown that he is not blameless, therefore he is not qualified to be a pastor. He has freely of his own free will caused to commit adultery.

Mt 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Of course in today's world adultery is so tolerated that most people, including Christians, Christian teachers, and even pastors pays it no mind and does not think of it being of enough importance to pay any mind.

A pastor that has done this has shown that he thinks he knows better than God and cannot be an example to his flock.

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I've heard of wife's leaving on their own, yet it was the husbands fault.

And being as the husband is the head of the family, its left in his lap. When your the head you have to accept the responsibility many times when the fault is not directly yours.

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;

When the husband is divorced he is no longer blameless and no longer meets the qualification given in the above verse. And yes, I know the trend of everyone blaming everyone else for their ever little problem. But we are not speaking about the blame game. We have to use the Bible in order to know what is right or wrong.


So if this were the case...

If a wife suddenly left of her own free will never to return, i.e. remarried other men several times and it was discovered she committed adultery before she left; then the man divorced her, would this bar the man from the pastorate?


...what part do the following scriptures play, if any?

Matthew 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
1 Corinthians 7:15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

Do the above two scriptures say this brother would be held blameless?
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Jerry,

You still refuse to answer the question. Have you ever taken something. If you have, you are a thief. and therefore in your estimation disqualified from the ministry. I am thankful for a God who forgives me and washes the sin away and casts it as far as the east is from the west. A God who remembers my sin no more.

I stole a candy bar and a hot wheels car when I was 10 years old. No one I know considers me to be a thief anymore. I consider myself to be blameless in this area. When I was 10, that wasn't true. I listed to heavy metal music when I was 16, but that is not the case now.

My point is that when I was 16, I wasn't qualified to pastor, but at 42 no one holds those things against me.

The same is true for many sins that people commit that do not directly disqualify someone from the ministry. If the man was divorced, he is disqualified. Time will tell whether someone is qualified as they will prove they are blameless.

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So if this were the case...



...what part do the following scriptures play, if any?

Matthew 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
1 Corinthians 7:15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

Do the above two scriptures say this brother would be held blameless?



The qualifications for a pastor are not qualifications to be saved. The brother there is not a pastor, and we are speaking about the office of pastor. The most important position in a New Testament Church. And God has given the qualification for that position. But many churches will not hold to them, and or add to them.

And yes, the pastor is held to a higher standard which is very clear for anyone taking heed to the qualification for that position, although there be few pastors that will accept that fact.

I did not say, neither does the Bible say, the pastor had to be perfect, if that was the case no human could hold the position.
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The qualifications for a pastor are not qualifications to be saved. The brother there is not a pastor, and we are speaking about the office of pastor. The most important position in a New Testament Church. And God has given the qualification for that position. But many churches will not hold to them, and or add to them.

And yes, the pastor is held to a higher standard which is very clear for anyone taking heed to the qualification for that position, although there be few pastors that will accept that fact.

I did not say, neither does the Bible say, the pastor had to be perfect, if that was the case no human could hold the position.


If Christ and Paul would not hold the man I described accountable then neither would I. The man is free to pursue what ever God may call him to do; be it pastor, evangelist, missionary, or whatever full time ministry position. I suppose I'm just another apostate for taking that position.
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Its not about you nor I holding him accountable, its about sticking to God's Word.


He is only free to if he meets the qualification that God has given, if he does not meet them God is not calling him to be a pastor.

Like one fellow I know of, he moved to two different churches in his home stated, wanting to be a pastor, they would not accept him to be a pastor. Finally he moved to a Baptist Church in Louisiana, attended a school they had. Later going forth to surrender to preach. They would not accept him, for he had been married 2 times and divorced 2 times.

I know this is not exactly the issue we spoke of, the issue previously mentioned was a man marrying a divorced woman. Yet marrying a divorced woman keep a man from being blameless.

Because many churches will not hold to what the Bible says about the qualifications for a pastor many men are behind the pulpits that should not be there.

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It always amazes me how the brethren automatically cast blame on a divorced man and disqualify him from being a pastor or a deacon. Divorce isn't always a sin, only when it's done unscripturally. To be honest, if it's not a sin, then that means God doesn't see anything wrong with it - only the brethren do. And if God doesn't see anything wrong with it, then for a man to say a person is disqualified would seem, well, pharisaical.

So now not only are we unscripturally broad-brushing and being pharisaical by saying a man is disqualified from being a pastor or a deacon for being divorced, we're going a step further and saying that he's permanently disqualified - not because God thinks he's to blame, or because the Scriptures blame him, but because we blame him.

It's not a "wait until you get your life back together and see how the Lord leads..." it's "No, not now and not ever. Not ten, twenty, or thirty years from now - you'll never be good enough to be a deacon, let alone a pastor."

I don't see that anywhere in the Bible.

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Jesus declared that God hates divorce. That's a very strong statement and clearly indicates God does indeed see something wrong with divorce.

Even when commenting upon divorce which was allowed by Moses, Jesus made it clear that such was only allowed because of the hardness of the peoples hearts (not a good thing) and that such was not from the beginning.

Again, Jesus said God hates divorce, and there is no indication that hatred of divorce does not apply to certain divorces.

The main issue with regards to pastoral qualifications in this area seems to come down to the interpretation of what it means that a pastor must be the husband of one wife, since divorce itself isn't specifically mentioned in the list of qualifications. Along with this, as has been brought up in this thread, there seems to also be differences in interpretation as to what is meant by a man/pastor having his house in order and how that does or does not apply to who he marries.

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