Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A Pastor Is...

According to I Timothy, a Pastor is to be the husband of one wife, but according to the latest statistics from Barna, many Protestant denominations must not really use those guidelines for pastoral eligibility requirements. Barna reports that the number of "female pastors" has increased greatly from a decade ago which is a concern to me. I'm not sure how you can get around the "husband of one wife" ordeal (and we're not going to argue divorce issues this time please) unless you just totally disregard that section of Scripture. And no, Paul was not a sexist that wanted to keep women down. He just followed God's plan for men and women. Men have certain responsibilities and women have certain responsibilities. What is so wrong with that? Why do we feel the need to make everyone the same. We're not the same! Men and women are different! Individuals are different! Sometimes, I'm different! Anyway, I wonder what will be the result of such a massive move toward women pastors?

3 comments:

Pulpit said...

Pastor Matt,
I had a member of the church I was pastoring leave because she thought she was causing problems for me. She called me later and told me that she really liked her new church but she had some concerns. She said, "The pastor is great I really love her." I listened to what she said and then told her that she missed the point of her unease. The pastor is a woman. I do not have any problem with women speaking, teaching or whatever God wants them to do. As a matter of fact I have gotten into trouble before when I said that I would rather have an educated woman teach men than an uneducated man in that same position. God did however give us different roles.

Jess said...

I think God calls women to teach and preach and counsel and many other things. But, when it comes down to it, I don't believe a woman has any business leading a group of grown men (or just one for that matter). I don't see how anything good can come of that relationship, and I don't think it's the relationship God intended.

God has gifted me with great leadership skills and called me to his service. But, this issue is incredibly black and white for me.

JamesCharles said...

I think one problem is disregard for literal word-for-word Word of God. Most false perversions are moving towards gender neutral. Some may not even state "husband of one wife" any more. Just a thought.