Please, I need more light about those who marry more than one wife. Should they be given the chance to lead in the church?
Thank you my dear friend for seeking “light” from God’s Word. I will assume in your question, that you are wanting to know about the situation where such a “leader” has been divorced and remarried? I do believe that offices of leadership in the assembly are filled by those whom the Lord has gifted with the gift of pastoring (see Ephesians 4:11), and generally in the N.T. these are commonly referred to as “elders” or “bishops.” The Apostle Paul directed Titus to appoint elders (bishops) in Crete due to the need for spiritual leadership in sound doctrine there, and his instructions for this are provided to us in Titus 1:5-9 (see also 1 Timothy 3:1, 2 for Paul’s instructions to Timothy regarding those who aspire to such an office). Now, we read in Titus 1: “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 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; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 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.” So, as I believe you allude to in your question, the elder must be “a husband of one wife”, and herein, I believe, is your question. What does the Scripture mean that one must be a husband of one wife? Obviously, such an one must not be a polygamist, but again, I believe you are more thinking of one who is divorced and remarried, as God’s Word clearly indicates that divorce and remarriage is generally not God’s will for any of His children, and to be an elder, a man must be above reproach in his conduct. For a very comprehensive treatment of Titus 1:5, I’ll quote the MacDonald Bible Commentary on this verse: “It probably does not mean that he must not be divorced under any circumstances, because the Savior taught that divorce is permissible in at least one instance (Matt. 5:32; 19:9). Neither can it be taken as an absolute prohibition of remarriage after divorce in all cases. For example, a believer who is entirely innocent might be divorced by an unbelieving wife who then remarries. In such a case, the Christian was not responsible. Since the first marriage was broken by the divorce and remarriage of his unbelieving partner, he is free to remarry.”
My dear friend, my thoughts on this verse, and the similar verse in 1 Timothy, would be that a man gifted by the Lord Jesus as a pastor and/or teacher should be able to fulfill his role, whether married or not, so long as he is not living in sin. The Scripture is very clear about divorce and remarriage; however, each situation would need to be considered before arriving at a hard and fast judgment of such a brother. There could be a good reason (such as fornication or adultery) why a divorce might have occurred in one’s past, and as well why such an one might have remarried. But such “good reasons” must follow the Scriptural guidance that we have been given as above.
Now, I want to take this a step farther and discuss for a minute how I believe that leaders in the local assembly are selected in the churches today. As we can plainly see in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1 above, elders (overseers or bishops) were appointed by the apostles, or those whom the apostles directed). But the apostles are not here today to make such appointments, so how would leaders be identified according to Scripture? In 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13 we read: “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.” In Chapter 9 of Paul Canner’s book The Church Today, we read: “Even though overseers apparently had not been appointed, there were faithful brothers who were carrying out the work of oversight. The rest of the assembly was responsible to recognize their labors and to heed the advice, counsel, exhortations, and warnings given by these men. A similar thought is expressed in Heb. 13:17: “Obey those who have the rule over you and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls.’”. In many churches today, elders and deacons appear to be elected, or perhaps appointed by a local pastor or board of elders, but I do not see a scriptural basis for this. As brother Canner points out, I believe we recognize the gifts of such brothers, gifts given by Christ, and observe their lifestyle, that they are living and walking in the Word, and that they are above reproach, thus setting a good example for the saints in the assembly. This was not directly your question, so I won’t expand here further on this subject, but I felt it was good to bring out the truth from Scripture as to how elders/leaders properly come to be such in the local church today. (SF) (548.3)