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Author Topic: Disqualifications for elder or deacon  (Read 1874 times)
Beth
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~Charity never fails~
« on: December 10, 2008, 04:39:24 PM »
 first in light of recent discussion I thought this might be an appropriate question. Second it is not aimed at anyone in particular just something that naturally came up in discussing this.
    why would having two wives disqualify a man from being an elder or deacon? In the list of disqualifications they all seem to be  self explanatory. Given to much wine shows a man lacking in self control at the very least. Given to filthy lucre shows a man who is greedy. A striker shows an anger problem. A man who cannot rule his household well doesn't seem fit for a position of leadership. But what character flaw, if any, would a man have if he had more than one wife? From the context it would seem to be saying he is lacking something in his ability to be a leader. But maybe I'm wrong... that's happened before!
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~Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.~
                                            1 Corinthians 13
stallent
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Posts: 50
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2008, 05:02:44 PM »
How much time does a man with multiple wives have if he is sacrificially loving them as Christ loved the church and amply providing for all the needs of his family, physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual?  Just a thought.
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Pennie
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« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2008, 05:45:39 AM »
I would say your assessment of lack of self control applies to all of it in some form.  I am sure there are other reasons too but if a man/woman has lack of self control in one area it is going to overflow to others also.  Guess I should say IMO..........
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RunAmokFarm
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« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2008, 10:11:00 AM »
In my humble opinion, since, we personally (at least thus far) have not found scripture showing polygamy to be a "sin", per se... then I also wonder that the stipulation was in place simply due to priorities/time constraints, as mentioned by stallent.

A man of more than one wife would have more children than the average home, more mouths to feed, more clothes to provide for, larger home to build/repair.  He would have more "emotions" to attend to, more teaching/training, etc.  If he was meeting his duties on the homefront, how could he possibly have time to donate elsewhere?

As with anything, there would, inevivitably be those that Pennie's statement would cover: a lusty few, who just had no self-control... but in a culture where not providing for his "wives" would be greatly frowned upon, I don't know that many men back then would have been too gung-ho to marry up, then not provide for them... so, back to time constraints were, in my opinion, the most likely "reason".
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AndysDad
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« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2008, 10:18:39 AM »
This is actually a serious problem in West Africa, where the men most qualified to lead are most likely to have multiple wives.  Either you ignore the scripture, or you end up putting youth in charge of their elders, which is not going to go over at all in that society.

Andy'sDad
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Beth
Master

Posts: 941


~Charity never fails~
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2009, 09:18:57 AM »
   Just thought I should bump this up. It seems to go along with recent discussion.
  I would like to clarify the question a bit. Some have said it would have to do with the time it takes a man to have two wives...but there are many things that take a mans time...a job...a wife with health problems...having many children...emergency situations (sudden death in family)...change of circumstances(loss of employment, etc.)...I'm sure there are more. These are just a few of that I personally have heard men say they couldn't be an elder because of.
    So...the question would be why doesn't the bible use anyof the these reasons as disqualifying a man from becoming an elder??  Why is it listed among reasons such as, given to filthy lucre, given to much wine, not controlling his own family? I guess you can see where I would go with this, if it were my place to do so...which its not... and I am sooo grateful its not!!! Wink
   
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~Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.~
                                            1 Corinthians 13
AndysDad
Scholar
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Posts: 713


My 5th cousin.
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2009, 06:01:02 AM »
Quote from: Beth on January 09, 2009, 09:18:57 AM
  Why is it listed among reasons such as, given to filthy lucre, given to much wine, not controlling his own family?

There is one clear distinction between the requirements for deacon and elder.

1 Tim 3:3
Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous

1 Tim 3:8
Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre

Andy'sDad
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"The thing that separates the praying Christian from every other person on earth is the fact that he would rather live on his knees than die on his feet"  --Andy'sDad (with apologies to G. Washington)
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