Pastor Greg Locke - Divorce - Adultery - Qualifications for Church Overseers
In 2018, a pastor (Greg Locke) in middle Tennessee went through a divorce. His wife was supposedly having mental problems because the pastor was distancing himself from her and was getting closer to his secretary. The pastor’s wife wanted to be more involved in the ministry and thought that he was spending too much time with her best friend (the secretary). Greg Locke believed in inner healing and deliverance but did not get help for his wife. Things got worse and the marriage continued to decline until the two got divorced. Fornication was not reported. Right before the divorce, the pastor sent his wife text messages that discussed her being overweight, and he also called her the “B” word and used the “F” word. Does this sound like someone with the internal character to lead God’s people?
According to testimony from the Greg Locke's ex-wife, he told her things like, “I don’t want to be you anymore. If you died it would be better. Why don’t you file for divorce already? Because if you don't, then I will. Your face looks fat because of the stupid haircut you got. I hope somebody else loves you because it will never be me.” The pastor’s ex-wife also said that the pastor hit her two different times and spit in her face once. Her full testimony can be found here:
Greg Locke’s wife listened to her husband and filed for divorce, thinking that he would change his mind. However the pastor told authorities in the church that his wife filed for divorce and was mentally unstable. It appears Greg Locke manipulated the situation so that his wife was the one who filed for divorce, and the blame could be placed on her. The wife stated that she told her husband multiple times that she still loved him and that she wanted to reconcile with him. The pastor’s secretary was starting to take care of the pastor’s kids and would be at the home for dinner once the pastor’s wife moved out. Greg Locke made his wife leave the house, according to his ex-wife’s testimony.
The divorce was finalized. Greg Locke did not reconcile with his wife, nor did he remain single. Instead he began a romantic relationship with his wife’s best friend and his secretary. Could his emotional feelings for his wife’s best friend have been part of the reason that he did not fight harder for his marriage and seek to be reconciled with his wife? Could lust have been forming in his heart until he was glad that he and his wife were getting divorced so he could have another woman who he deemed more attractive and a better ministry partner? The whole circumstance does not seem to be above reproach!
The Tennessee pastor married his former wife’s former best friend and continued on in ministry like nothing ever happened. Some people may have left the church but most stayed. Many more people started following the pastor and the ministry increased along with his influence. The church allowed this leader to continue. Why wouldn’t Christians who love Jesus, the truth, and the scriptures simply have left the ministry and ceased supporting it? It shows the compromise that has crept into the church and sickened God’s people. Many believers are valuing gifting over God’s truth and holiness.
Leaders who support, endorse, or partner with bishops such as Greg Locke, will be held accountable by the Lord. Bad partnerships can corrupt leaders and damage the faith of believers. Leaders who support corrupted overseers are essentially condoning their sin or looking the other way. Leadership is responsible for the church being in its current condition of sin and compromise.
Overseeing a Church
The scriptures reveal that the Lord has high standards for leaders who govern His church. Most of these standards revolve around good character. The Lord can give gifts, anointing, and power to leaders, but character is developed over time. Character is the proper foundation for gifting and anointing.
An overseer is someone to whom the Lord has given authority over a certain portion of His church (His people). The Bible uses the term “overseer” interchangeably with bishop, superintendent, and elder. Generally a governing leader in the church is an apostle, prophet, or teacher/pastor (1 Corinthians 12:28).
During the time frame of the book of Acts, Paul, Timothy, and Titus would appoint elders or overseers of churches in different cities. They learned from the mistakes they made in appointing overseers who were not ready to be in those places of authority. Some of these elders or bishops did not have the inward character and nature of Christ. Because of this, they did not lead the churches properly, and carnality prevailed in certain churches. The Holy Spirit spoke to Paul and revealed His will for leaders of His church. The Lord’s will is centered around proven and tested character:
“This is a faithful and trustworthy saying: if any man [eagerly] seeks the office of overseer (bishop, superintendent), he desires an excellent task. Now an overseer must be blameless and beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine, not a bully nor quick-tempered and hot-headed, but gentle and considerate, free from the love of money [not greedy for wealth and its inherent power—financially ethical]. He must manage his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity [keeping them respectful and well-behaved] (for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?).” (1 Timothy 3:1-5 AMP)
Note: Also see Titus Chapter 1
Many believers and leaders have argued that the above scriptures are not referring to divorce and remarriage. They say that during the time period in which these verses were penned, some men had multiple wives and therefore a bishop must be a man who only has one wife. This is a true and correct statement. However, the scripture says, “husband of one wife.” So this can mean a man cannot have multiple wives and be an overseer, and it can also mean that a man cannot be married to multiple women at different times (having more than one wife) and be an overseeing leader of the church.
If we examine verse five we see that the Lord requires His church leaders to manage their households well. Would divorcing your wife and marrying another, all while devastating your children, be considered “managing the household well?” I can’t see how any reasonable person would judge this to be the case. Our actions determine our character and our character determines our readiness to oversee the church of the living God (not only calling or gifting). If someone’s home life is in turmoil and distress then it is a good indication that they are not qualified to be a bishop or overseer. If a leader can’t take care of his bride then how can he take care of Christ’s bride?
The scriptures say that an overseer must be blameless and above reproach. If a leader neglects his wife and has at least a partial fault in the dissolution of a marriage, how is that overseer above reproach? The overseer would definitely not be “blameless” if he could not lead, manage, and oversee his own family. Leaders are responsible for the health of their family or their ministry. The Lord tests a man’s character in the home before he is ready to be a bishop. But if a man falls short as a leader in the home, how can he be approved to lead God’s people corporately? He most certainly is not approved to be a church leader if he does not measure up to the standards set by the Holy Spirit.
A man who can’t have a successful marriage is not a bad person and I’m not condemning anyone. I am saying that the scripture says that this kind of man is not fit to oversee the church of God. Why would any man want to be an overseer if they couldn’t properly oversee their family? That man would have to be full of self-life and simply want to be in control of the church for selfish reasons. Any honorable disciple of Jesus would realize that he is not ready to lead God’s people since he couldn’t lead his own family. A humble man would do the right thing. Prideful men will follow their own will and reject the word of God. They will keep leading God’s people even when they shouldn’t be.
A man should be taking care of his wife so that the marriage is healthy. No marriage is perfect, but marriages should be progressing in the Lord. This is a process that can take years. If a leader's marriage is falling apart, it is a likely indication that the leader is not nurturing his wife. Then, for example, the leader gets divorced but still wants to maintain the leadership position of the church while getting remarried. The leader has just proven that he can’t properly manage his own household. The church should not allow this leader to continue as overseer as the leader is disregarding scripture and becoming a law unto himself. If the leader continues as overseer, he is opposing the Lord’s revealed will through scripture and opening up the congregation to divorce and sin.
Ordained as Apostles
In May of 2024, Greg Locke and his new wife Tai were ordained as apostles. True apostolic ministry is based on the character and nature of Jesus Christ in His apostles combined with calling. If someone is called as an apostle but does not have the necessary inward character, they will not be approved and commissioned by Jesus Christ as an apostle. People are not apostles because other men think that they are and lay hands on them. One is only an apostle when Jesus Himself tests that person's character with His word, approves of that person's inward life, and then commissions that person. Greg Locke and Tai have not passed the tests of inward character in order to be found worthy to function as true apostles. Failure to judge true apostolic ministry will cause many believers to fall into deception.
Greg and Tai committed adultery as defined in the scriptures by Jesus. By doing this, they willingly rebelled against Christ and His word. Jesus does not commission people as apostles who rebel against Him and despise His word. Those believers who cannot see this are already clouded in great delusion. Greg could have chosen to repent by remaining single or reconciling with his first wife. Instead, he chose to rebel against the commands of the Lord and not to repent.
“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.” (Matthew 5:31-32 NKJV)
The Lord Through Paul
“Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.” (I Corinthians 7:10-11 NKJV)
The Lord taught the same truth through His apostles in the first century church. Believers who are married are told not to divide, separate, depart, leave, or divorce. (Note: this article will not address a woman separating from her husband in cases of physical or psychological abuse for her safety.) Believers are then told not to remarry someone else if they do separate from their spouse. We are told to remain unmarried or get back with our spouse. This is made very clear in the scriptures, and the enemy is seeking to cloud the pure word of God with tricky false doctrine.
Paul, by the Spirit, describes the law by revealing the truth about marriage:
“Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.” (Romans 7:1-3 NKJV)
According to the Lord through Paul, death (along with fornication) is the only legal ground for the dissolution of a marriage in which God made two people into one. Man does not have the legal authority to separate what the Lord has joined together as one (except when the sin of fornication or adultery is committed by one party). So because man does not have authority to separate by divorce what God has made one, if a divorce takes place, it is illegitimate. If a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she is an adulteress and committing adultery since she didn’t have the right to divorce her first husband. I am not saying this. Paul is stating this in the above passage and he is building off the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 19:3-9 which is the foundation.
I understand that the Lord’s standards are high for His church. Apparently the Lord thinks we should be able to overcome the world since He has made us a new creation and He is actually living in us.
Judgment
"But if thou shouldest hate thy wife and put her away, saith the Lord God of Israel, then ungodliness shall cover thy thoughts, saith the Lord Almighty: therefore take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake them not," (Malachi 2:16 Brenton LXX)
Judgment will come upon those who divorce their wives or upon those who divorce their husbands. The Lord will allow ungodliness or wickedness to afflict the minds of those who put away their spouse. This afflicting darkness will hinder one from progressing spiritually and drawing closer to the Lord.
Judgment can also come upon believers who support leaders who did not repent and chose to continue in sin. If a leader divorces his wife, does not come back together with her, and then chooses to marry her best friend whom he has intimate feelings for; it is obvious this leader is not qualified as per the scriptures. Then the believers who "look the other way" or make excuses for the sin while continuing to follow the fallen leaders' ministry and supporting it with their finances, have shown that they do not care about the holy word of God and His will. These believers enter into disobedience and sin by empowering a leader who God has said is not qualified to lead His church. These believers could partake of various forms of the Lord's judgment for disregarding the scriptures and partnering with that which the Lord is not pleased with.
“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:16-23 NKJV)
We must judge those who claim to be apsotles by the fruit (their character). Overseers who are committing adultery after many years of ministry and marrying their secretaries do not have the character (the good fruit) to be an apostle. They do not even qualify to be a church overseer. These ministries may be prophesying, preaching, and casting out demons, but they are proving to the body of Christ that inwardly they are not walking by the Spirit. The bad fruit these ministries are producing proves who they really are. Foolish believers only judge by outward fruit such as souls being saved, miracles occurring, or demons being cast out as a sign that the minister is anointed by God. The above scriptures show that there are people who do works of power yet live in sin and rebellion against God and therefore will not inherit eternal life.
“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;” (Revelation 2:2 NKJV)
Jesus commended the church for using sound judgment to determine if those claiming to be aposltes were real or false ones. The church in our day must judge the same as the church in the first century. We simply follow the wisdom that our Master Jesus revealed to us in Matthew chapter seven. We look at the tree (person) to see if they have the nature, righteousness, and life of Christ coming forth from them and manifesting good fruit. If sin, contentions, bad behavior, foul language, manipulation, self-life, divorce, betrayal, and adultery are coming forth from a leader; then that person is surely not an apostle and is not fit to oversee a church. You will know them by their fruit.
Grace in Divorce
There are many believers who were divorced before they were born again. There are also many believers who experienced divorce before they were in ministry. It can take a believer a number of years after they are saved to get their lives together. The Lord does not expect us to be perfect right after we are born again. Many believers struggled with sin and were divorced because their lives were still a mess after they came to Christ. Sometimes it takes years of walking with Christ to be set free from demons, to be cleansed of unrighteous, and to develop godly character. The Lord is very understanding and His mercy allows believers time to progress and get their lives together.
The Lord is a righteous Judge and judges us all differently depending on our individual circumstances. People who were divorced as unbelievers or who were divorced early on in their Christian walk (before they were set free from demons and sin) are judged much differently than the pastor from Tennessee mentioned above. These believers who were divorced can find grace in the Lord and become overseers one day, if that is the Lord’s will for them.
The pastor from Tennessee who was divorced and married his secretary is held to a much higher standard by the Lord. This leader had been a pastor for many years prior to the divorce. He was married for around 21 years and was expected to be demonstrating the godly character as defined in 1 Timothy Chapter 3. The breakdown of his family revealed that he was not managing his own household well, thus disqualifying him from overseeing the household of God. This is a clear case of a leader disregarding the scriptures and the majority of the congregation ignoring the scriptures as well. When God’s truth is willfully ignored, it is an indicator that a church is at risk of embracing deception and the doctrines of demons.
Conclusion
Beware of clever and crafty new ways of interpreting scripture. False teaching is being released in the church that justifies divorce and other wicked sins. Sexual sins and perversions are being embraced by many in the church. The falling away from the faith has begun. We must know the Lord and be swimming in His word to stay free from the bondage of error. I pray for the grace of the Lord Jesus to come upon you so that you will recognize the destructive heresies being introduced in these last days.
(October 2023)
-Article complied by Generation Chosen Overseer (a Corporation Sole)
Photo of Greg Locke performing the wedding of Tai and her husband. Tai and her first husband later divorced. Greg and his wife also divorced. Tai and Greg were then married.
