Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 8/9/2010

Question
Can a divorced Christian man serve as a pastor of a church?
Is there scripture in the Bible that says he can?
In 1 tim. 3:2 Paul says a man who seeks to be a elder or pastor can only be married once am I reading this correctly?

Thank you so very much if you can help me get a handle on this.

Regards,
Bill

Answer
Blessings and thank you for your question.

1.  Divorce: Divorce is a sin.  When God created marriage, he intended for 2 people to be together until death.  Divorce came into the picture when sin entered the marriage.  God gave permission for people to divorce when their partner was unfaithful.  By the time of Jesus, divorce was a big problem.  Many Jewish men would marry prostitutes for a night and divorce them the next morning.  This enabled them to get what they wanted without breaking the law.  

Jesus saw the hardening of their hearts and pointed out that marriage was a sacred vow.  Divorce should only happen in the severest of cases.  

Divorce is not a sin only if your partner was unfaithful or if your partner is not a Christian and wishes to divorce.  Now I don't think God would want someone to stay in a marriage where they are being abused.  So each case of divorce should be looked at individually.

While divorce is a sin, it is not an unforgivable sin.  I believe that if a person is in relationship with Christ, repents and asks the Father for forgiveness, then the Father forgives that person.  

The point is that we must treat the marriage covenant so sacredly that it's almost never broken except if the conditions are so extreme they make it impossible to stay married.  

When a man and woman enter into a marriage they commit themselves to each other as one indivisible unit and that is what God's sees.  God calls us to stay firmly committed in actions, words, thoughts, emotions, and priorities.  What God wants married couples to experience is the fullness of a relationship designed for spouses.

Unfortunately we live in a time when a vow for life no longer means anything.  So many people go into a marriage thinking they will divorce if it doesn’t work out.  

Scripture on Divorce:  
Matthew 1:19, 5:31-32, 19:3-9 24:37-38; Mark 10:2-12; Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; 2 Timothy 3:3

2.  In 1 Tim. 3:2 Paul tells Timothy that an overseer (pastor, elder# should be the husband of one wife.  Some translate that to be divorce while others point out that Paul uses the phrase for divorce in 1 Cor. 7 but does not use it here.  If Paul intended for divorce to be an exclusion for ministry, then he would have used the term.  Remember in Paul's day, it was not uncommon for men to have as many wives as they could afford.  So Paul was saying a pastor/overseer should not have more than 1 wife.

3.  Integrity:  Divorce should not exclude men from ministry on its own.  You must ask a series of questions.
Did the divorce take place before they became a Christian?  If so, you cannot hold anyone's sin against them before they became a Christian.  
If the divorce took place after they became a Christian, what were the circumstances of the divorce?  For instance, was there a Biblical reason for the divorce: adultery (by whom?) or an unbelieving spouse?  Who left whom or how did it end?
How does the person treat his ex-spouse?  Is their an attitude of hatred, bitterness or is there forgiveness?  
Were there children in the previous marriage? If so, does the man take an active role in his children's lives, does he support them, is he a good Christian father?  If not, then he shouldn't be in ministry.  
Is there or was there genuine repentance over the divorce?  
Are they remarried now?  If so, what is their current marriage like?  Is is great - or are their major problems?

After answering these questions, you will have a better understanding as to whether this person should be in ministry or not.