Single

When we talk about leadership, it is a point of confusion as to whether the leader (especially an elder or deacon) must be married or not. Sometimes people will read the passages we read yesterday and interpret "faithful to his wife" to mean that the leader must have a wife. If the man is single, he cannot lead.

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18 NIV)

Passages like this one seem to support the position.  After all, God said it is not good for man to be alone.  Single people, the logic says, can't lead.  Of course, this doesn't fit with the rest of Scripture.  Jesus was single and perhaps the most influential church leader of all time.  He was certainly the most holy.  The apostle Paul was single, too.  He wished everyone was able to be single like he was.

I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. (1 Corinthians 7:7-9 NIV)

Paul even believed that single people made better leaders in the church than those who were married.  Being single meant being free from any distractions from Christ's mission to go and make disciples of all nations.  Paul was focused on this mission and, since he had no wife or children, did not have anyone pulling him away from this focus.

I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world--how he can please his wife-- and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world--how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. (1 Corinthians 7:32-35 NIV)

This is the reason that some churches only allow people to lead if they are single.  That way their undivided devotion is to the Lord and His Mission.  Of course, that extreme doesn't match Scripture either.  The apostle Peter was married.  Leadership, then, is not tied to our marital status.  It's tied to how we walk with God in that status.

So how about you?  Are you single?  Are you married?  Do you walk with God in your current marital status?  Do you empower others to walk together with God?