by Robert Robertson

Created on: January 10, 2009

Homosexuality is a sin. Scripture is very clear on that. Both the old and new testaments agree on the issue. (See Genesis 18:16-33, Genesis 19:1-29, Ezekiel 16:48-50, Judges 19, Jude 6-7 and Romans 1:20-32.)

This debate is not about whether or not homosexuality is a sin. It's whether or not they can be ordained as a pastor. Is there a Biblical proscription to someone who is homosexual form being ordained? Does someone who is homosexual meet the qualifications to be a pastor?

"Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach," 1 Timothy 3:2 ESV

I realize that there are other verses that include other qualifications, but I'll focus on this verse. Since the author of the epistle was never married and thus not "the husband of one wife" that cannot be used, in most cases, to disqualify someone who is homosexual. If a person wants to be a pastor he/she must be able to teach, respectable, sober-minded, and hospitable. I agree that someone who is homosexual can meet these qualifications just as someone who is not homosexual can meet them.

Can a person meet the qualifications of being above reproach, and self-controlled? Can someone who is homosexual meet these qualifications? Yes, just as a non-homosexual pastor can meet these qualifications.

It is possible for a sinner to meet the qualifications of pastor. Scripture tells us that all men are sinners (Romans 5:12), both the unregenerate and the regenerate. Paul referred to himself as the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15) and I do not know of anyone who would say that Paul did not meet the qualifications of pastor. Nor do I know anyone who would say that Paul was not a pastor. We now have a scriptural basis for sinners being able to meet the qualifications of pastor.

Earlier I demonstrated that there is Scriptural basis to consider homosexuality a sin. If homosexuality is a sin and Paul was a sinner (I am not saying that Paul was homosexual. I don't believe he was and there is no evidence to indicate that he was.) then that means that someone who is homosexual meets the qualifications of being a pastor.

However, if a person who has homosexual tendencies is in an active homosexual lifestyle and is actively sinning and not repenting of the sin and removing himself from the lifestyle, he has disqualified himself from the office. The homosexual pastor in an active homosexual lifestyle would be treated the same way as a married pastor in an adulterous relationship. They are both disqualified themselves from the office as pastor as a result of their sin.

If someone who has homosexual tendencies and is not in an active lifestyle and has not been in an active homosexual lifestyle after he became a Christian, he is qualified to be a pastor.

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