What About Divorced Preachers?

What does the word of God say about being in the ministry if you have been divorced? Is it all right to be a pastor, evangelist, or missionary if you have been divorced? Do the callings of God change with divorce? What if you were divorced before you were saved . . .? How is a church affected when the pastor, evangelist, or missionary, who preaches the Word of God, remains in the ministry. This is an issue that it will be hard to pump the well dry on, although it is a simple issue muddied by our personal relationships and preconceived ideas. In the hour of decay we are Living in it is very important that we face this important issue.

First, are preachers of the Word of God given qualifications that they must meet in order to remain in the ministry? We know that they are . . . those are given in, I Tim, 3:2-7:
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3 not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; 4 one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6 not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

These qualifications are given again in Titus 1:7-9, added to the qualifications in Titus are: "not self-willed, not soon angry, a lover of good men, 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." Let's conclude this first: the office of bishop is important, and the man that holds it must be qualified. Our Constitution gives qualifications for a man to hold the office of president, and the Old Testament gave qualifications for a man to hold the office of priest. Detailed study will reveal the qualifications of a priest were in many ways more stringent than that of a bishop in the New Testament. Please note Leviticus 23: 17-21: 17Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, 19 or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, 20 or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; 21 no man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. Obviously God is concerned about this most important office and He has always set up qualifications in the Word of God for those who would hold office in his work.

Second, when the qualifications given state, "a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife . . ." does that mean one wife at a time? If you say it does mean this as A.T. Roberson said, in Word Pictures in The N.T. , then what God is saying is that a bishop cannot be a polygamist. Was polygamy an issue at that time? Detailed study will reveal that it was not. But for the sake of argument let us say it was and this is what is meant. Would this be the only qualification that would disqualify a bishop? I do not think so, note: "blameless . . . one that ruleth well his own house . . . having a good report of them which are without." Is a divorced preacher blameless, did he rule his home well, has his marriage situation caused him to lose a good report of them that are without? The honest answer is yes, and these short-comings will inhibit his ability to preach the full counsel of the Word of God.

Third, Rom. 11:29 says, "for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." If God's call is not going to change, would a man be disobedient to not answer that call on the basis of divorce? No he would not be disobedient at all, in fact he would be honoring the Word of God by obeying it in its entirety. The statement made is, no matter who you are and how big your ministry is, you are going to obey the Word of God.

Fourth, if you were divorced before you were saved, should that be held against you when considering qualifications to preach? Let me answer that by first saying that we believe God forgives all sins when a person truly repents and asks forgiveness. However, God makes a distinction about marriage, God set marriage up and recognized it as a holy institution whether a couple is saved or lost. If a person says "My divorce did not count because I was not saved at the time," then he must also say "My children conceived previous to salvation were illegitimate and my whole marriage did not exist in the eyes of God." You cannot say your marriage was God-sanctioned and yet did not count in the eyes of God. "What God hath joined together let no man put asunder."

Finally, many say there should be a difference of qualification to be a pastor, a missionary, or an evangelist. Some would never agree to a divorced pastor, but would agree to a divorced missionary or a divorced evangelist. Is this consistent with the Word of God? First let's remember that their are two offices in the church, bishop and deacon. Both of these are given qualifications. The Bible requires that a deacon, according to I Tim. 3:10-12 must be, "10 first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. 11 Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. 12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well." How can we conclude that a deacon office-holder, who according to Acts 6:2-3 was created only for the purpose of meeting the daily ministration needs of the church, must be qualified, but an evangelist or a missionary does not have to meet a set of Bible qualifications? The only way is say these are not part of the Bible office of bishop. Some take this position and say evangelists do not oversee in the house of God. We will find though, that Judas in Acts 1:20, fell from his Bishoprick (the same word used in I Tim 3:10), and he never pastored a single church. He was an Apostle, though, and the Word of God says in Ephesians 4:11, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." I would conclude these are the office gifts that comprise "bishop," if this be the case then an evangelist and missionary, and a Pastor must all be qualified.

In conclusion, the effects of using double-married preachers will be to lessen the sanctity of marriage, weaken and dilute the office of bishop, and to less-than-honor the Word of God. Will this be just another precept of the Word of God we practice "humanism" with? I hope not.