Married to the Church

A firestorm erupted toward the end of Friday's show. Marty asked and insisted on my opinion of married clergy. I have said it before here, but never on the air and never directly to Marty. I do not believe that any true Pastor should be married or have children. I base this on 1 Cor. 7:32-34. If you are married you have divided heart. You must place you wife and family first. Therefore, those you pastor are not your top priority (unless you neglect your duties to your family) and when we are talking about saving souls, second or third place is unacceptable.

I have a ton of email about this. One wrote and said in 1 Tim. 3:2-3 it says "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach. "
Then he says, "Clergy are allowed and even expected to be married".

A Bishop is "married" to the church. The word "husband" means "master of the house" therefore, the Bishop is to be master of the house of God. You should not divide devotion between your wife, children and the people you pastor. That is what the husband of one wife means. We are told is better to remain unmarried, so clergy would never be expected to marry.

Mark 10:8 says when a man and women marry they are no longer two, but one. Now, if it is unbiblical to have women in church leadership roles, then how can one justify married clergy? The two are one and the man leads a church. That means the women also leads the church. Maybe not offically or directly but she will have infulence. This is where one must pick and choose what scripture to accept and reject in order to defend a married pastor.

I would agree it is not commanded in scripture, however it's matter of choosing Church leaders who are adequate or the best. We are told it is best to stay unmarried. We allowed to marry if we can not control ourselves, "for it is better to marry than to burn with passion". (1 Cor.7:9) If one can not "control himself" is he to lead the church? I'm not faulting marriage here, but I maintain a man is called to either marry or to the ministry. Even with the best of intentions, when one attempts to do both they carry a divided heart