Marsha's Musings: Pastoral Qualifications

My Quiet Time:

This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. (I Timothy 3:1-7 NKJV)

This pretty well sums up the requirements of the pastor/elder.

There are a couple things people tend to have differing opinions on.

1. The husband of one wife.

Does he mean having never been divorced, or not involved in polygamy or a person who is devoted to the wife he has presently?

Can he have been divorced prior to salvation?  Is there grace in this area?

Can he have been divorced because his wife chose to leave on her own accord or she committed adultery?

Does the passage simply mean a "one woman man"....he is devoted to his wife and does not have wandering eyes?

2.  one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?)

So what happens when a pastor/elder's children go off the deep end and run with the wrong crowd?  Does this disqualify him from the position?  Does this mean his source of livelihood is cut off?

If you look at this passage, it's addressing those who desire to be pastor/elders.  The key word here is desire.  This is a person who aspires to this position, and who is being considered for this position in the church.  The congregation is to take these things into consideration prior to accepting him into that leadership position.

If it is a young man, how can they know if his children are in submission if they are babies or toddlers?  They can't know that.  But if the man has older children in the home, then the congregation needs to take a look at how his children behave and how they treat him and his wife and other adults.

But what about the situation where the kids go off the deep end later after he has become pastor and before they have left the home?  What do we make of that?  This is a hard question.  Does God mean that he must lose his job and be put out on the streets to look for other work?   Is he then disqualified from the pulpit?  Perhaps he should be encouraged to think about taking some time away from church responsibilities and concentrate on his family for a period of time. If things can not be put right, then perhaps he should step down.  I am not sure the best approach.

What about the pastor/elder whose adult children have gone off the deep end? I do not think this should have a bearing on their overall qualifications to be a pastor/elder. Adult children are responsible for their own actions and we no longer have control over what they do.  We can give advice but we have no control over them.  If they are living at home and have gone off the deep end, then they need to be given a choice.  Either abide by the rules of the household or leave and make their own home somewhere else.

These are issues that sometimes tend to make for dissension in the church over the choice of a pastor/elder.  Many have differing opinions on these things. How are we to come to some form of agreement?  These have the potential to be church splitters. I wish I had the answers.  Perhaps I'll have to do a bit more study on this.