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"If an elder's wife passes from this life
must he resign from the eldership?" Harrell Davidson |
We have before us a series of questions on the subject of the eldership. In fact, there are 12 questions altogether. We are happy to deal with them, but it will take several issues of The Gospel Preceptor to answer them all. We are confident, that due to the subject matter, there may indeed be those who disagree with us, as most of the questions are judgment questions. This, then, will probably precipitate other questions. We are not going to list the qualifications of elders here. Our readers should find such qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. 1 Peter 5:1-4 ought also be taken into consideration. Question three is: "If an elder's wife passes from this life must he resign from the eldership?" Answer: This question is one that has precipitated much discussion over the years. There are some who will disagree with the writer while there are others that will agree. We think that we have seen most of the major arguments that have been presented by our brethren over several decades. In our judgment there is not a "yes" or "no" answer to the question at hand because of circumstances that accompanies this situation. Many wish to look at the word "must" and dismiss all other things almost entirely. Let us change the question for the moment and reflect upon this from another perspective over which there has been very little disagreement as far as we are able to tell. If an elder's child or children dies does this disqualify him? This presupposes that his child/children were faithful to him, and thus unto the Lord, in order that they helped him qualify to be an elder. Titus 1:6 indicates the following, "...having faithful children..." 1 Timothy 3 adds another dimension to this equation and gives us the reason why an elder should have believing children. Notice the reason for this qualification in verses 4 and 5. "One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) If an elder has ruled well his own house with his children in subjection with all gravity to the head (father/elder), having accomplished this, in clear demonstration before the entire congregation, if that child dies, has he failed to rule his house well? We think almost everyone will answer that he is not forced by the Scripture to resign from the eldership. Consider the matter, that an elder must not be a novice, thus one of some age, and his children may have already departed from the home scene altogether. People would then look at how he reared his children. All other things being equal, the congregation would recall how he reared those children. With the passages above in mind, and if we were to take the position that to be an elder one "must" have faithful children in the house, then many good men would never be appointed to the eldership to begin with. It is our studied judgment that if his wife departs this life, it does not in and of itself disqualify him any more than the death of a faithful child would disqualify him. Remember that we mentioned "circumstances" that accompanies this question. If such an elder believes that he is no longer qualified due to his mate's death then by all means he should resign. If the congregation reasons that he resign then he should do so. Let us remember that the "husband of one wife" was written during the time of polygamy. What Paul is stating is that an elder must be a one wife man, that is, he could not have two wives at the same time and be an elder. Thanks for the question. |