I am divorced and remarried. In many people's eyes, this disqualifies me from pastoring a church because they interpret I Timothy 3: 1-7 in a very "traditional" way. I believe that this interpretation is incorrect and just doesn't make sense.
This is an important question that I had to come to terms with in order to pursue my life's calling after my divorce. I could not fully commit myself to the ministry without believing that God had called me and that the Word allowed for me to serve Him after I was divorced. I am not answering His call by ignoring the Word, I'm not saying "please don't apply I Timothy 3: 1-7 to me, I am a special case". On the contrary, I believe that every person should be examined with this scripture in mind, I simply disagree with many as to how to interpret this passage.
I know what you might be thinking, "sure, you HAVE to interpret this passage in this way so that you can defend your position"! I assure you, and you'll just have to trust me on this, I've believed in the following interpretation of this particular scripture for many, many years, long before divorce was ever a possibility in my first marriage.
There is an old saying "reasonable men can disagree". Maybe we will just have to do that. That is okay, you can disagree with me and I can continue to respect you and love you just the same. I don't have to have your approval for me to answer the call of God on my life. I'm writing this to explain my position and how I arrived at it, not to gain acceptance or approval from others. I believe with my whole heart that if you are absolutely certain that God doesn't allow divorced people to serve Him as Pastor then you should not submit yourself to the leadership of such a person. If however, you are seeking answers to tough questions and are open to an "alternative view" then please read on! If I am disqualified in your mind to be your Pastor then please don't give to my ministry and certainly don't come to my church. There are many, many churches where you can serve God faithfully that are pastored by very good people who have been blessed to not suffer divorce. Serve with them. There are also many, many churches who are pastored by men who I do not believe survive the CORRECT application of I Timothy 3:1-7. There are many Pastors who have never been divorced and who are pastoring a church but who are disqualified by this scripture in many other ways! This issue of "husband of one wife" is not the only qualification for ministry but it seems to be the only one that most people look for!
My first point: I was called to the ministry when I was 13 years old. I felt the call in a Sunday night worship service during the altar call. The word "preach" was everywhere, ringing in my ears, I could see it when I had my eyes closed, it was deafening. I went down and told my Pastor that I believed God was calling me to preach. I learned later that my Pastor and Youth Pastor both felt that they were told by God weeks before this that I was going to be called to the ministry. They didn't talk with each other about it until I surrendered to the call. After studying with my Pastor for an hour each week for over a year, he agreed that I was called and presented me before the church. The church agreed that I was called, I was 14 years old.
Did God know of my divorce that would happen some twenty plus years later when He called me to preach? Of course He did! Why did He call me anyway, if I would be disqualified later? After all, according to Romans 11:29 "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance". So, this could only mean one of two things, either I was not called by God (you would have to ignore the testimony of many, many people to claim this) or I was called by God and to disqualify me from ministry because I am not "the husband of but one wife" is to incorrectly interpret this scripture to include divorce and remarriage. I submit that the latter is the correct answer.
So what of the passage I Timothy 3: 1-7? How do we reconcile this scripture with divorce and remarriage? It is simple, the word never mentions either at all! Again, to disqualify one who has been divorced, you must take the traditional phrase "husband of one wife" to include divorce. However, in the original greek, the literal translation can be viewed as saying that a bishop is to be "a one woman kind of man". In fact, if we see this scripture this way, there are many who pastor that would instantly be disqualified! Just because a man has never been divorced doesn't mean that he has always been faithful to his wife. With such a strict interpretation of scripture, we can come to the conclusion that as long as he stays married to his first wife we can forgive who knows how many "indiscretions". Also, if we are to take this phrase so literally, then reasonably we MUST come to the conclusion that in order to be qualified as an overseer one MUST be a man that is married only once to one woman. So... a single man is disqualified, a widowed and remarried man is disqualified, a divorced man is disqualified and EVERY woman is disqualified. You might say "no, it doesn't include all of those". How do you know that?! The phrase is not "the husband of one LIVING wife"! It is unreasonable to include divorce and remarriage and not include the others! Again, we may disagree on this point.
When studying scripture is is CRUCIAL to keep in mind the phrase "study the word in context. There are many types of context; historical context, the context of surrounding scripture and how does the particular passage relate to scripture as a whole? If we fail to take scripture "in context" we can take a single verse "out of context" and end up in many dangerous places. Don't most reasonable people agree that handling a poisonous snake ON PURPOSE is tempting God? Yet there are those that believe that the scripture teaches them that they SHOULD practice this and that if they are bitten it means that their faith is being tested. Nonsense, isn't it?! But the Word of God says in Mark 16:18 "they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not harm them". Of course, to follow this scripture ONLY means to ignore when Jesus said that we are not to "tempt the Lord your God" (Matthew 4:7). This is taking scripture as a WHOLE.
My second point: when we take the phrase "husband of one wife" into context with the rest of I Timothy 3, I submit that it is a phrase describing the CHARACTER of an individual and has NOTHING whatsoever to do with marital status. All of the other attributes take into account the character and capabilities of the office holder. This person is to be blameless, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, hospitible, a good teacher, not a drunkard, not a brawler, not greedy, patient, not covetous, etc. ALL of the other attributes are attributes of ability and/or character. Doesn't it make sense then, when we consider "the husband of one wife" that we consider the context in which it is written and arrive at the conclusion that this too must be an attribute of character? In my opinion, it doesn't have anything to do with marital status. We don't have to believe what we've always assumed just because we've never thought about it! Think about it now! 
I am not perfect. I have sinned before God and He has forgiven me. I'm more worried about failing God in other ways that are mentioned in I Timothy 3 than I am about not being "the husband of one wife". In fact, I submit that I AM and have always been a "one woman kind of man". I am intensely devoted to my wife. We have a MARVELOUS marriage, one that most people would envy! We have enjoyed almost ten years of incredible happiness, we are truly blessed.
I will continue to serve the Lord my God as long as I live. If you can agree with me that I am not disqualified to Pastor because of my divorce and remarriage then I invite you to join me and my wife in serving Him! If you still cannot agree with me, that is fine, serve Him elsewhere. Each of us should do his best to serve our Lord with everything we have and in the end, we shall see each other in glory!
