LEADERSHIP SCRIPTURES (the bad side)

Exploitation - Proverbs 28:15

Poor judgment - Prov. 28:26

Partiality - Prov. 28:21

Desire for justice - Prov. 29:7

HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE by James Riley Estep, Jr. Christian Standard 4/18/93 p. 14

At present, six distinct interpretations of the phrase "husband of one wife" exist in Christianity. The mot ancient interpretation of the phrase maintained that only those who had been married once could serve as an elder or deacon, i.e. absolute monogamy. Among its ancient promoters were Tertullian, Origen, Clement of Alexandria and many church councils.

Another interpretation which was present in the early church was that of anti-bigamy, differs from the first in that it did permit a man who had remarried after the death of his first wife to serve as a leader, whereas the first made no such exception. It argued that the death of one's spouse was the only justifiable or acceptable reason for remarriage, as stated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 7.

The 3rd interpretation was indeed anti-divorce, meaning that anyone who had been divorced could not be eligible for congregational leadership. Divorce was quite prevalent in the Greco-Roman world of the first century, and hence would have been a basic concern to those assuming positions of church leadership. While the actual word for divorce is not used in either Titus or 1 Timothy, it is undeniably an issue in the early church, as it is in the 20th century church.

Justin Martyr (C. A.D. 150) was the 1st to maintain that to be the "husband of one wife" meant to be married to only one woman at a time, i.e. antipolygamy (followed by Jerome, Chrysostom, and Theodorus). Polygamy was present in the Greco-Roman world of the 1st century, even among Jewish communities outside of Palestine, but was not prominent. In fact, many of the Roman moralists viewed it as being socially unacceptable and undesirable.

The fifth understanding of the phrase focuses not on the marital status of the individual, but the quality of the marriage, i.e. faithfulness. It asks the question, "Does the man exemplify the characteristics of a Christian husband?" In the culture of the 1st century, the phrase not only applied to those who had been married only once literally, as suggested in the first interpretation, but to the quality of the marriage relationship and of the husband's fidelity to his wife. This interpretation focuses on the candidate's ability to serve as an example in life and leadership, rather than simply his marital status.

Perhaps the most basic understanding of the phrase is that it simply requires the candidate to be married. Unquestionably this is the most basic of interpretations, being the common denominator of all the previous understandings of the phrase. However, in being basic, it could in effect be too basic and not adequately address the meaning of the phrase. Its strength of being a basic understanding of the phrase could, in effect, be a weakness."

Observation... It could be that God through Paul, meant to include more than one of these understandings.