Does Paul Say That Men Without Kids Can’t Be Pastors?

Did Paul say that men without kids can't be pastors? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We pray that you had a wonderful weekend. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. And we would love to hear from you. So you can call us with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites. You can watch Adriel live in the studio right now on our YouTube channel, and you can send us a message that way. And of course, you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

First up today, let's go to Dee calling in from Bakersfield, California. Dee, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? You know, Pastor, there's that verse in the Bible, And with all the people throughout the world being hurt by those in power, as in our government, I don't think God likes seeing his children suffer the way that we are and the hurting that's going on. And my question is, is it okay to pray to God to punish those in power who are causing all the harm and the pain that we're experiencing right now?

Dee, thank you for your question. And you know, throughout the Bible, in particular in the Psalms, often you'll find the psalmist at various points crying out for God's judgment on the enemies of his covenant people, on those who had mistreated the covenant people of God, harming them. They're referred to as imprecatory psalms, psalms of imprecation, and it just refers to curses. You know, the psalm is calling down curses upon the enemies of God. Now, of course, in the Gospels, at one point, the disciples want to call down curses on a group of people, and Jesus rebuked them. We are, as the followers of Jesus Christ, called to pray for our enemies. And the text that you're referring to is in Romans chapter 12, beginning in verse 18.

Let me read it. It says, If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Now, that's the call for each of us when we're experiencing persecution for the name of Christ, to overcome evil with good. But specifically to your question, can we pray for God's justice and even judgment? I do think that we have examples of that in scripture, and really that looks like saying, God, how long?

How long are you going to permit your church to suffer in this way? A clear example is in the book of Revelation, in Revelation chapter 6, where John has a vision of the martyrs. In chapter 6 verse 9, we read, When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?

And they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. And so I do think, yes, sometimes the people of God, when the church is experiencing persecution and she's being attacked by those who hate the gospel, by those who hate Jesus, we bear under it patiently. We don't respond in kind, you know, evil for evil.

No, we respond with love, with prayers for our enemies. But we can say, God, act. God, act either by converting these people or by bringing judgment, Lord. Have mercy upon your church.

And so I do think that at times, yeah, it can be appropriate. And sometimes, I mean, that's the cry of the persecuted believers, the martyrs there in Revelation chapter six. And so I would say, look, first and foremost, pray for the conversion of those who are persecuting the people of God. When I think of my brothers and sisters in places throughout the world who are suffering for the name of Jesus, the first thing I pray is that through their witness, as they're testifying to the truth of the gospel, that those who are persecuting them would see the reality of the truth of Christ, of his resurrection from the dead, so that they might turn and be saved. It's what happened with Saul of Tarsus as Stephen was being stoned, and he's praying, God, have mercy on them. Saul is converted. Jesus changed his heart, and the Lord does that still today. And so first, I would say pray for that. Pray that God would work in the hearts of those who are standing against the church in whatever way that they're standing against the church, that the Spirit of God would work in them, softening their hearts and bringing them to repentance, just like the Lord did with Saul of Tarsus. And may the Lord be with you, Dee, and comfort you.

And I appreciate your question, sister. God bless. You know, Stephen, is such a great example for every one of us, especially when we're feeling persecuted or backed into a corner. Chances are we're not going to have to die for our faith.

Let's just pray that doesn't happen. But what a great example for us in the life and the death of Stephen the martyr. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

And by the way, we have a great new free resource that we want to tell you about today. Yeah, it's a downloadable resource that's called Five Themes to Help You Understand the Bible. When you think about literature and movies, oftentimes, you know, there are themes that occur again and again in the stories that we're reading or in the movies that we're watching.

And learning about those themes not only makes it easier to understand what's going on in the story, but it makes it easier to enjoy the story as well. That's what this resource does by explaining the themes in the Bible, such as the covenants, the law, the gospel, the kingdom of God, things that you see over and over again throughout the pages of Scripture. It's really equipped to unravel and explain some of the more complex parts of the Bible. And so we trust that this resource will enrich your personal study of Scripture and help you to better grasp the Bible's overarching story and ultimately how it all points us to Jesus. It's a great resource and it's free.

You can actually go to our website and download it. CoreChristianity.com forward slash offers that's CoreChristianity.com forward slash offers and look for five themes to help you understand the Bible. Well, our phone lines are open. If you have a question for us about the Bible, the Christian life doctrine, theology, you name it, we'd love to hear from you.

Of course, we're always open to people that maybe have doubts or struggling with some of the tenets of the Christian faith or consider themselves to be maybe an atheist or an agnostic. We'd love to hear from you as well. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also send us an email.

Here's our email address. It's questions at CoreChristianity.com. And here's one from David. He says, Do 1 Timothy 3-4 and Titus 1-6 prohibit men without children from serving as elders?

Yeah, so this is an excellent question, one that we've received before. And how important is it for us to think about the qualifications for these offices in the church, in particular the elder, the pastor? And so you find them in 1 Timothy 3. And one of the things that Paul says there in 1 Timothy chapter 3 is that the pastor has to care for his family well. I'm just going to start in verse 1 because it's so important for us to understand these things when we think about the pastoral ministry.

The saying is trustworthy, Paul said. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. If someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?

And then, of course, in Titus chapter 1, you see this same idea as you have the qualifications listed there in Titus 1-6. If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife and his children are believers, that word can also be translated faithful, not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. So look, I don't think what Paul is saying here is that you can't be a pastor unless you have a wife and kids. I think what he's saying is for those pastors who are called and have a family, one of the ways you can gauge their qualification for the ministry is how they care for their family. I mean, this is so important, and Paul makes the point very clear in 1 Timothy 3. If this individual is not caring for their family well, if they're not shepherding their family well, well, then how are they going to be able to shepherd the flock of God?

How can you entrust them with the church if they haven't taken care of their family first and foremost? And so I think that's what the apostle Paul is getting at specifically there. And we know actually that Paul himself as an overseer, as a shepherd, as a pastor, if you will, was not married. He says that in 1 Corinthians 7. As he's talking to the Corinthians about marriage, about relationships, husbands and wives, he encourages actually there on a couple of occasions singleness.

He says, I think it might be better for you to be as I am, single, considering the present distress. And so I don't think that there should be any rule that says if you're going to be a pastor, you either can't have any children, the sort of priesthood idea, family and children, or you have to have a family and kids. No, it's getting into the qualifications in particular for ministry. And so the takeaway for us is as we're thinking about those who we call into the ministry, the church calls people into the ministry pastors to serve the church, we want to think about is this an individual with integrity? How have they cared for and stewarded the gifts that God has already given to them? If they have a family, are they watching over them? Are they shepherding them well? And if not, well, then they're not qualified to shepherd the flock of God. Well, you are highly qualified with five kids, and I figure if you have five more, you'll be super highly qualified. No, I don't think so actually. That's the funny thing is just having a lot of kids doesn't make you qualified actually.

It could be deceptive. It's loving our families well and caring for them and doing everything you can to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And so I appreciate you. Well, you do that really well.

I've seen you interact with your kids and they love you and you love them. I do. Yeah. Amen.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open. We'll be taking your calls for the next 10 minutes or so. So now's the time to jump on the phone and call us at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Adriel's open to any and all questions. Let's go to Russell calling in from Memphis, Tennessee. Russell, what's your question for Adriel? Good afternoon. First of all, I'd like to thank you for your ministry and your biblical discernment.

Thank you, Russell. My question is when the children of Ismael had to fudge the desert for 40 years because they disobeyed God, did the Levites fall also? Because they did not disobey God.

They weren't commanded to go in and take the land. Their inheritance was the Lord. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, thank you for that question. My sense is that the answer to that question in terms of, you know, the sin of the people there wandering through the wilderness is that, yeah, there wasn't one tribe that was spared from, I mean, essentially what was happening there. The Levites, you know, they're in this special position in Deuteronomy 18, verse 1. It says, the Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the Lord's food offerings as their inheritance.

They shall have no inheritance among their brothers. The Lord is their inheritance as he promised them. One, so what you have there is with regard to the Levitical priests, they don't get an allotment of land in the land of Canaan. Instead, their inheritance is the Lord himself through the worship there in the temple. And they were ordained essentially as the priests through their zeal for the true worship of God. So even though I think that there were instances where they sinned there in the wilderness, there was also this firm stance that they took against idolatry. And as a result, the Levites became essentially the guardians of the worship of God there under the Old Covenant. And at the core of the priesthood, that's what it was all about. When God called Adam and Eve in the garden to tend and to keep the garden, it was this picture of priestly service protecting the garden from the serpent, from evil. And that's precisely what the Levitical priests were supposed to do in the tabernacle and then in the temple as well. But we know throughout their history, you see this in the prophets specifically, prophets like Ezekiel, that the priesthood also often went astray, also oftentimes did fall into idolatry.

And when they did, God would bring judgment against them. Russell, thank you for your question. God bless.

Interesting question. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. You can email us your question if you've got one at questions at corechristianity.com.

Here's one from Darcy. She says, Is it a sin for a committed Christian to date a non-believer if the person was baptized as a child, but now doesn't attend church and only believes in a, quote, higher power? This person is great in every other way and supportive of the Christian's belief in church attendance. Can the Christian continue in the relationship, praying that God will work in the life of the non-believer through their example and hopefully hearing the word?

Yeah, thank you for this question. Super practical, and I know it's one that comes up a lot, feeling like, hey, I'm single, I want to be with somebody, but I haven't found someone in the church yet. And I did find this person outside of the church who seems to be respectful to my beliefs. They're not trying to pull me away from God, and every other box they're able to check off that I'm attracted to them. They have a great personality, a great job, great family even, but they don't go to church, and maybe they believe in a higher power.

Maybe they were baptized at some point, which is what you said, but they don't profess faith in Jesus Christ now. I would say don't involve yourself in a romantic relationship with that person if you're a Christian. It's so important for us that we're with someone who shares our love for the Lord and for His word. Throughout the Old Testament, how often did God tell His people not to intermarry with the people of the land?

Why? Because He was concerned that their hearts would be drawn away from the true worship of Yahweh. Well, under the New Covenant, we're called to pursue relationships and marry with those who are in the Lord. That is not just somebody who, you know, I was baptized, or I said a prayer many years ago, and now I don't go to church and, you know, believe in a higher power. No, this is someone who has a vital relationship with Jesus Christ who, yes, is baptized, but is also a member of a local church who prioritizes the worship of God and the people of God.

I think that's what you want more than anything else, and so don't settle for less than that, I would say. You want this to be the priority in your life, too. And, you know, in terms of passages of Scripture where this point is made, I mean, Paul in 1 Corinthians 7, he says, A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes only in the Lord. And then in the very next chapter, in chapter 9, there in verse 4, he says, Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? It's always, you know, anytime he talks about marriage for the Christian, it's always in the Lord, a believing spouse.

And again, in 2 Corinthians, he talks about not being unequally yoked with unbelievers. And so I would say, look, have a friendship. Cultivate the friendship. Pray that the Lord does do a work in this individual's heart, but don't progress the relationship too quickly, and don't progress it into something serious, a romantic relationship beyond just a normal friendship if this person doesn't share your same convictions with regard to faith in Jesus Christ.

I think that's the important piece there. And so may God give you wisdom, and may the Lord do a work in this individual as well, bringing them to faith through your godly friendship and example. Great advice. Thank you for that, Adriel, and I'm sure it's an issue that as a pastor you deal with rather frequently with some of the individuals in your church.

Thanks for that good counsel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to John in St. Louis, Missouri. John, what's your question for Adriel? Yes, Pastor Adriel, my question deals with Calvinism and the doctrine of election. Yeah.

I've read and studied some of John Calvin's perspective, especially as it relates to Romans 9, and I wondered if you might be able to comment on what your position is and get a better sense as to what Paul's talking about in the 9th chapter of Romans. Okay. Yeah. Well, thank you for that question. Romans 9, it's a text, I think, that is central to this discussion. And let me just preface everything I say with, we need to derive what we believe about God from Scripture, first and foremost. It's not about an individual, right? Not about following a person. Think about what Paul told the Corinthians, you know, I follow Cephas, I follow Apollos, I follow Christ.

It's not about a person. It's about following Christ through His Word, what the Word of God says. And so we want to listen to the Scriptures where they challenge us, where they convict us. And I think Romans 9 is a challenge to many of us.

I mean, we think about God here. Now, the context is Paul is concerned because his kinsmen, according to the faith, the Jews, many of them did not come to Christ. And so there's this question of, well, did God's Word fail? He says, I'm speaking the truth in Christ.

I'm not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises. To them belong the patriarchs and from their race according to the flesh is the Christ who is God overall blessed forever, amen. But it is not as though the Word of God has failed.

That's the question that he's trying to respond to. It seems like God's Word must have failed. Jesus came and yet so many of the Hebrew people, my kinsmen, Paul says, according to the flesh rejected him. And so did the Word of God fail?

That's the issue. Why aren't these people believing? And he says, no, God's Word didn't fail for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. And not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.

But through Isaac shall your offspring be named. And from that point he launches into a discussion about God's sovereign choice throughout the remainder of this chapter really. And he knows that when he talks about God choosing people sovereignly that our response is going to be, well, how can God find fault with anyone?

Is there injustice on God's part and Paul's response is by no means, verse 15, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion but on God who has mercy. Look, I've wrestled with this passage of scripture for many years and early on my views changed on this issue really as a result of studying this text and other passages. And let me just say, as I often say, this isn't one of those issues that we say, look, there's only one way to believe, if you will.

And if you don't believe like me, then you're not a Christian, that kind of a thing. I know that there are many believers who have sincere disagreements about this text. And so again, we have to approach the word of God with humility and say, Lord, speak to me by your spirit. And my belief is that when you look at this here, what Paul is highlighting is the absolute sovereignty of God and mercy of God. And at the end of the day, when we focus on that, you know who gets all the credit, all the praise, all the glory for our salvation? It's Jesus, because we realize that apart from His grace, apart from His mercy, apart from His love, I would have been lost, we would have been lost. Yet He drew us to Himself by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This should lead us to rejoicing, to worship, to praise the Lord. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar. Or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833, the CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program. Be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.