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NASB | 1 Timothy 3:2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Timothy 3:2 Now an overseer must be blameless and beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, |
Subject: Elder must be 'the husband of one wife'? |
Bible Note: Dear Ed, I'm afraid you read into my account of the divorced pastor more than I said. I reported what I know. I did not say, implicitly or explicitly, that "I know someone that has done it, so therefore it must be okay. It has absolutely nothing to do with logic. And I, by relating the story, was not attempting in any manner to sanction divorce or to promote it as the treatment of choice to resolve the conflicts between a man and his wife. The norm may well be that both parties in a marital crisis have serious problems; I don't argue that. But there are other instances, fewer in number perhaps, in which the problem is basically unilateral. I know a man who was unbelievably, psychotically jealous of his wife, all without cause. His aberrant behavior grew worse and worse, his wife suffered a nervous breakdown, and a divorce followed. Alcoholism, drug addiction, marital infidelity -- all these and more can be one-sided and may not indeed be caused by or aggravated by the spouse. In my 66 years I have seen the ugliness of divorce. but having been married to a fine Christian woman for 42 years, have never experienced it and pray that I never shall. But it is not my burden to adjudicate in divorce cases, nor point a finger, nor cast a self-righteous glare. And even less to impugn the wisdom and grace of God. --Hank |