Questions and Answers

 How should the church deal with disgraced pastors?

This is a very important question which needs a sufficient answer. To begin with we need to know and understand what it means for a Christian Pastor to be  "disgraced."  Because it is a term which gets kicked around and attached to any pastor whom some one may have a simple disagreement with a pastor such as how the church should function.  This in and of itself is not something that can be filed under this kind of statement.   Now what does it mean to be disgraced? In simple terms, we are dealing with someone in a position which requires integrity and trust. And said person has been caught in a very damaging situation which can put his role into jeopardy 

What ways can this be done?  two main directions:  first is directly; and the second is indirectly through disobedient children (1 Timothy 3: 4-5) . in the first case, we dealing with thing which the Pastor himself does which violates scriptural standards. Both in terms of teaching and practice. In 1 Timothy we are told the following:

"Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money." (1 Tim. 3:2-3)   

In this passage we have four words dealing with the man outlook on life:  "sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable,"  that is to say, he must be able to conduct himself in a God-honouring manner.   Then there is one word dealing with His calling: "able to teach" he is meant to have a sufficient grasp of what the scriptures teach in order to pass on to others. Finally, we have four words which dealing with his temperament: "not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money."  These things are to reflect the way in which he acts in life.  Now one of the most common ways that scripture seems to be violated-- and this calls for an instant dismissal which is for life is when the Pastor commits adultery-- the passage before us begins with these words:

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, (vs. 2a)

Now the way this is written is important because the term "above reproach" refers to the man have no blemishes-- he is not to be tainted, defiled, or one could say no imperfections or even lapses of judgement in many areas. He is not to be at fault or at blame for any improprieties. And look at the first point mention in this list:  he is to be the "husband of one wife" or to put that another way:  a one-women- man." He is to have singular devotion to only one woman-- his wife from day one of marriage to the his death.  (same with the wife).

That is the biblical requirement for Pastor-- and it must be adhered too.  



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