Craig

Just thought I would see if anyone had any thoughts about another question I have. It’s regarding the view that “husband of one wife” is primarily a reference to polygamy so I thought this old thread may be a reasonable spot to put it.
In your post Cheryl, you said
“Paul gives the final word by allowing polygamists into the church who come into faith after their multiple marriages had already occurred. The only prohibition was that polygamists were disallowed from serving the congregation as an elder or deacon.”
Wouldn’t this then put the christian with multiple wives in a somewhat similar predicament to women in a comp world today? What if he matured as a christian and God gave him leadership gifts? Would he be allowed to teach women and children but not serve as an elder or a deacon? Where should he draw the line about when he is “leading” and therefore setting a bad example to others? What other things do you know of besides polygamy that would be correct for him to continue in as a christian, but it meant there were certain roles in the church he could not serve in? Would Paul really have meant this man to feel equal in value before God but denied certain roles of service? Something seems inconsistent somewhere. Any thoughts?