It’s easy to miss an obvious point about a certain issue because we are blinded by the passion and heat of other slightly related issues. For instance, a few years ago when South Carolina citizens were passionately debating whether the Confederate flag should remain on top of the Statehouse, it took George Will to really define the ultimate issue. South Carolinians were so passionate about either celebrating Southern heritage or denouncing the evils of slavery that they missed the obvious point of the whole debate: Flags that fly over government buildings represent geopolitical entities that have authority over the citizens of a particular area. The Confederate States of America are no longer in existence and therefore have no jurisdiction over South Carolina, therefore the flag should be removed.
The North American Mission Board likewise has missed an obvious point in its unwise decision not to endorse female and divorced chaplains. The passion over the issues of whether women and divorcees should be able to serve as pastors of local churches has blinded it to the obvious. Chaplains have functions similar to the biblical office of pastor/elder/bishop, but they are not the same position. Chaplains serve in hospitals, prisons, fire stations, police stations, corporations, and in the military. Last time I checked, a hospital wasn’t a church. Neither is the military or the other places where chaplains serve. Therefore, regardless of what one may believe about women pastors and divorced pastors, it doesn’t apply to chaplains because, while similar in function, they are not the same.
Despite what the North American Mission Board misguidedly thinks, God is calling divorced people and women to serve as chaplains in these places where the hope, love and comfort of Christ needs to be heard. If the Southern Baptist Convention won’t recognize these God-called chaplains, another group will. It’s just sad that the Southern Baptist Convention misses out in affirming God’s calling of these special chaplains. I’ve read 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, and nowhere do those verses prohibit a divorced person or a woman from walking into a hospital room and bringing the comfort of Christ to a family whose loved one just died.
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