• Love God, and love one another!

    Share your heart for Christ and others in Godly Love

    https://christianforums.net/forums/god_love/

  • Wake up and smell the coffee!

    Join us for a little humor in Joy of the Lord

    https://christianforums.net/forums/humor_and_jokes/

  • Want to discuss private matters, or make a few friends?

    Ask for membership to the Men's or Lady's Locker Rooms

    For access, please contact a member of staff and they can add you in!

  • Need prayer and encouragement?

    Come share your heart's concerns in the Prayer Forum

    https://christianforums.net/forums/prayer/

  • Desire to be a vessel of honor unto the Lord Jesus Christ?

    Join Hidden in Him and For His Glory for discussions on how

    https://christianforums.net/threads/become-a-vessel-of-honor-part-2.112306/

  • Have questions about the Christian faith?

    Come ask us what's on your mind in Questions and Answers

    https://christianforums.net/forums/questions-and-answers/

  • CFN has a new look and a new theme

    "I bore you on eagle's wings, and brought you to Myself" (Exodus 19:4)

    More new themes coming in the future!

  • Read the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ?

    Read through this brief blog, and receive eternal salvation as the free gift of God

    /blog/the-gospel

  • Focus on the Family

    Strengthening families through biblical principles.

    Focus on the Family addresses the use of biblical principles in parenting and marriage to strengthen the family.

    Read daily articles from Focus on the Family in the Marriage and Parenting Resources forum.

Preaching

Blake

Blake

Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2014
Messages
1,000
Reaction score
611
Say there is a man with a calling for preaching, it has been revealed to him.

Say this man is married to a woman who is a non-practicing Christian at best, or a non-believer at worst.

Will the mans ministry be justified in the eyes of God? Will it be justified in the eyes of man?

What would you do if you were in that situation?
 
It should not matter. Indeed we should all share the message of God. So to some extent we are all called to preach through our lives.

What is important is the truth of what you preach. Not what the status of your wife is. Now if people judge you to be a false preacher just because your wife is not a believer then woe to them if you are preaching the truth of God.
 
By "preaching" do you mean, get in front of some people in a church building? Cause if this man is on the internet and spreading the gospel, this man is already preaching. And, we are all supposed to do that as believers.
 
I mean taking on a pastoral preaching role in a congregation. :)

I'm under the impression that people hold certain standards in place for the preacher. If you went to a church and that pastors wife wasn't a model of the Christian faith, would you be a part of that congregation?
 
God calls in whom He chooses for the purpose of His continued ministry. If this man, no matter what, puts his family above that of God first then he is not worthy of the calling put upon him. He needs to be trusting God for his family that they too will come to the Lord if they haven't already. If the Light is not shone in the house then the house remains in darkness

Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Mat 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
 
Okay. I understand now. I'll have to bow out of this conversation because I don't believe in a physical building church concept. But the only scripture that maybe pertains to this subject might be: 1 Timothy 3:11 In the same way, their wives are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
 
Blake said:
I mean taking on a pastoral preaching role in a congregation. :)

I'm under the impression that people hold certain standards in place for the preacher. If you went to a church and that pastors wife wasn't a model of the Christian faith, would you be a part of that congregation?
Click to expand...
I assume this person was not a believer when he got married.
Then he got saved, and now God is telling him to be a pastor of a church.

I never heard of such a thing.
 
Blake said:
Say there is a man with a calling for preaching, it has been revealed to him.

Say this man is married to a woman who is a non-practicing Christian at best, or a non-believer at worst.

Will the mans ministry be justified in the eyes of God? Will it be justified in the eyes of man?

What would you do if you were in that situation?
Click to expand...
IMHO, it's a sign that person is not being called to be a pastor. He can walk in his gift of evangelism (which is what preaching is), but he can not a pastor.

And I firmly believe an unbelieving wife would be a tremendous problem for a pastor anyway. Spare yourself. Don't go there. You'll be forced to placate her through compromising the things of God, and if you don't do that you'll end up having her divorce you or living with her in continual strife. Neither of which from God's point of view and man's can be good for an effective ministry.
 
I'll stop being vague and come clear that I am this person.

I have a zeal and a talent for evangelism. But I know that any ministry couldn't be super effective on account of such things as,

"How can he be a preacher and can't keep his own household under control?"

"Doesn't the Bible say (...) 1 Timothy 3:11?"

"Why is his wife out with her friends drinking?" And so on...

I suppose it may have been prideful of me to think I was meant for that. Or perhaps I am misguided and believe this gift upon me is meant only to preach in a church setting. I don't know. I do know through validation in the Spirit and the manifold validations of men in such a short time that I have a gift revealed to me, but what I don't understand is why I have it if I can't use it. Perhaps I am misguided as to think that I should be in a church setting and instead I should go out into the world and use this gift. And I don't understand why I am subjected to a wife who doesn't really share in my beliefs. It's rough on me very often, she doesn't care to watch her language around me, is completely an infant in the Bible, has never been saved, and I pray and I get upset wondering why she never feels the Spirit tug at her towards repenting and accepting Jesus, I ask why God doesn't pull her home just like He did for me...

I digress. Obviously. This is the biggest dilemma in my life right now.

Anyways... I am doing my part in the community with God's help, bringing people to the Lord (He is, through me), changing their minds glory to God, the Lord gives me wonderful words which stoke the flames in peoples spirits and encourages and strengthens them to persevere...

Maybe that's all that I'm supposed to do.

Pray for my wife and I. She has a heart of gold, her works are full, but her faith is lacking and I am trying to lead in patience, understanding and love.
 
Last edited:
Hi Blake. I thought you may be talking about yourself, but didn't want to assume.

I have the same situation, but with a husband. It is the hardest when it is a spouse that isn't on the same level in faith. There is SO much to say about Jesus and it is like they don't want to hear it. When you say "patience", that is what God is drawing out in me with my situation.

The whole rest of the world is craving Christ. This is "my" opinion. Don't confine your ministry to just a little congregation. There are so many ways to reach people now.
 
Blake, I wish I could speak to you in person.
I have so much to say.
But briefly, it is common for new Christians, and especially for Americans to have a "now" attitude.
God is speaking to me now, therefore I have to do something now.

You will do something as he leads you.
Otherwise, you are doing it in your own strength.
It took Moses 40 years, feel it to be an honor if God spends 40 years preparing you.
 
Rollo, that exhortation is some of the most solid advice I have probably ever received.

Be still. That is what I will do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top