RIGHT OR WRONG? Ordaining divorced deacons

Posted: 7/07/06

RIGHT OR WRONG?
Ordaining divorced deacons

“I've heard about churches that are ordaining divorced and remarried men as deacons. What does the Bible say about the qualifications of deacons and marriage?”

The qualifications for deacons are found in Acts 6:1-6 and 1 Timothy 3:8-13. The Acts passage reports the launch of deacon ministry. It describes how the early church commissioned seven men to attend to the daily needs of the congregation while the apostles devoted their time to teaching the gospel. The 1 Timothy passage lists lifestyle and character traits given to Timothy as he tried to organize the church at Ephesus.

Taken literally, the 1 Timothy passage renders most everyone ineligible to serve as a deacon. Just as the Apostle Paul describes character traits for the pastorate that render all of us unqualified to stand in the pulpit

(1 Timothy 3:1-7), deacons read 1 Timothy 3:8-13 and lament, “I am not worthy.” Grace takes priority over standards.

Honest servants recognize that on one level or many, they are not blameless. Families are not perfect. Everyone has a past. And the list could go on. To evaluate these obvious inadequacies, each church also looks to the proven personal Christian character of the nominee. Except in the case of divorce. For some reason, this past failure carries a lasting visible stain. Oddly, we have been able to accept the claim of a young drunkard or drug addict, “The Lord saved me and called me to the ministry.” Yet the person whose marriage fell apart when he was 23 years old still struggles to find redemption at 55.

The tension lies in the admonition in 1 Timothy 3:12, “Let deacons be married only once” (NRSV) or “Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife” (KJV). Is Paul speaking to divorce, a common occurrence in Corinth? Or is Paul speaking to polygamy, another common occurrence in Corinth? Each is an acceptable interpretation, and each has an acceptable application.

The burden in selecting deacons lies in Paul’s admonition in 1 Timothy 3:10: “… let them first be tested.” The qualities an autonomous Baptist church would seek in a deacon are discerned over a long period. Be wary of the church that ordains the newcomer or the troublemaker. If a person was married and divorced many years ago and yet that person has since proven to be exemplary in Christian character, their family is in good order, and they are respected within the local church, why not give them equal consideration to those who have not faced divorce?

I have served two Texas Baptist churches. The first ordained as a deacon a fine man who had experienced the pain of divorce in his youth and had since put his life together with a wonderful woman. This act of grace took place years before I arrived in Matador. E.A. Day is one of the most influential people in my life. The divorce of his youth gave him wisdom and humility for service. I cherish his memory and the church that trusted him.

In my second and current church, the members of our congregation rose up during the nomination process and said, “We trust these two men!” The deacons and the church reconsidered the issue and chose overwhelmingly to ordain these men who had faced divorce in the distant past. Both churches are better for it. Grace and proven character should speak louder than previous mistakes.

It has the ring of gospel in my ears. What about yours?

Stacy Conner, pastor

First Baptist Church

Muleshoe

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.