Ordination for Every Tom, Dick, and Harry

2009-10-03

Totally unplanned, I came across two articles today involving the ordination of two people that leaves me scratching my head. The first was involving a woman who became a man at a church in Oregon, and the other was a sex offender, though considered rehabilitated, was being ordained as a worship leader.

I considered the passages 1 Timothy 3; James 3:1; and 1 Thessalonians 5:22; and am left wondering... why?

The pastoral epistles, in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, put down some extremely stringent requirements for one to become an elder. Husband of one wife (no polygamists or divorcees), having a good reputation from outside the church, self-controlled, not a novice... Yet today we are ordaining every Tom, Dick, and Harry. For schoolteachers and other places of employment, people must have certain requirements in order to be hired. There is wisdom in this... God has given very specific requirements for us and we treat leadership of the local church with less discernment than we do the other things in our lives. Hello!?

One thing that is important to remember is that forgiveness does not equal candidacy for leadership. In other words, though all are forgiven in Christ, it does not mean they necessarily should be shepherding the people of the local church. The first case is of a person who believes that they could not deal with who God created them to be, while the second is a child molester, an evil that is something that does not easily go away.

People of God, we need to be careful in what we’re doing. Watch out, for our churches are under attack... not by people, but by principalities and powers that seek our demise.