What does it mean to be credible?

Scripture Read: 1 Timothy 3:1-7 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. ² An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ³ not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. ⁴ He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity ⁵ (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), ⁶ and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. ⁷ And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Application: Previously we reasoned through some of the qualifications of an elder. As we continue our consideration of “The husband of one wife”, or better put “a one-woman man”, the issue of divorce must be dealt with and is highly debated one, and has been for 2000 years. What is not debatable is that divorce was never an option that God desired (Matt. 19:8)  Scripture states that God hates divorce and Jesus made it clear in his discussion on divorce that it was permitted because of their hard hearts. It was never intended for a husband and wife to separate in such a way. The digression of obedience to the scripture vs rabbinical writing by the time Jesus Christ came as our Sacrifice was rampant. There were 2 main schools of thought for the acceptable divorce.

1) The School of Shammai; where divorce was only allowed if you found that your spouse and been sexually unfaithful.

2) The School of Hillel; where a man could divorce his wife for burnt toast! Neither of the schools follow the Scriptures to the letter.

The issue of divorce in Deuteronomy, although using the man as example, did not limit the action to males only. The issue was that if your spouse was sexually unfaithful you had the option of divorcing them, and that bill of divorcement would free you to marry another without the danger of being stoned for being an adulterer. Although, when Jesus spoke on this issue he made it clear that God was not in favor of divorce, but due to sin and the hardness of our hearts, if we refuse to be faithful to our vow, our spouse could choose to end the marriage. In the 2000 years of church history the majority view was that if a man was divorced he was not qualified to be an elder. This is neither the time nor the place to try and settle the debate that most likely will never be settled until we get to heaven. Instead, I would like to consider the real issue of disqualification; the issue is of credibility, essential in an elder's life. If he cannot keep the vow that he made to his wife, how can we believe his word in other matters? If an elder commits sexual immorality, he is no longer a one-woman man, and his credibility is lost. He can and should be forgiven, restored to both his wife and God, and I believe still have a great ministry in the body of Christ but not as an elder. In all the other qualifications an elder can repent and regain that discipline in his life, not so when it comes to being a one-woman man. It is like Moses striking the rock; once he did it, it was done. God forgave him, restored him back to fellowship and I am sure had great communion with Moses, however, God told him that he still would not be allowed to go into the land. As an elder myself I see my vow to my wife as something nonnegotiable when it comes to my credibility as a leader in the church. I have one chance to be faithful to one woman my entire life; therefore I should guard myself knowing the great privilege God has given me to be called an elder. I'm still a sinner and fail in many ways, but God has not asked me to be perfect as an elder, but the issue of credibility, God has elevated and made it very important to be a visible example by keeping my vow with my spouse and my Word to my God.

Meditation Questions: Can we lose our credibility, but restore our fellowship with God? What does that look like? When it comes to leadership, how important is it that they are credible to you? Why? How can any of us be credible when we still sin? What is the balance? Is there a higher expectation for leaders? Is that correct? Why? Why not? Is there higher visibility? Is that correct? Why? Why not? Is leadership forced or voluntary? What does that say?