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When the Holy Spirit moved upon Paul to give the qualifications of a deacon in I Timothy 3, he included in those qualifications that his wife was not be a “slanderer.” Interestingly, the word translated “slanderer” is “diabolous.” We get our word “devil” from that word. Quite literally, she is not to be a devil. If a man has a “she-devil” for a wife, he is not qualified to be a deacon no matter how many other qualifications he may have attained. I also believe he would not be qualified to be a pastor. How can we recognize these she-devils? Just consider the attributes of the one they are named after.

These she-devils stir up problems when there is none. In the garden of Eden, there were no problems until the Devil came along. Everything was great. What pastor hasn't been corralled by some she-devil's complaint following a victorious Sunday evening service where the Spirit of God had worked on many hearts. The pastor's evening quickly disintegrated from shouting the victory to having to consider some petty problem. Often, the sorry husband is standing in the background giving quiet acceptance to her complaint. (He is probably breathing a sigh of relief for the brief break he is getting while she pours out her venom on some other male.)

They verbally attack those in authority. The Devil verbally attacked the one in authority in the garden. He cast doubt upon God's honesty and motives, and set himself up as judge against the authority's (God's) word. These she-devils make their comments to any who will hear, casting doubt upon the pastor's honesty and motives. They are quick to tell other ladies that they don't need to listen to the pastor when he preaches on something they are doing; "After all, that's his interpretation."

They lie and deceive in order to give their case some credence. The Devil lied about what God said, and deceived Eve after planting the doubt and lying. These she-devils never get the story quite straight when they retell it. The staff member was always harsher, with no compassion, and stubborn. While the she-devil was just innocently presenting her case.

If you ever wonder why some pastors and staff members want each interview taped, or at least have witnesses present, it is because they have been burned by the she-devils before. What is even more interesting is that people automatically assume that the she-devil's story must be true, exactly like they told it.

The reality of the situation is that these interviews are NEVER reported like they happened. At least nine times out of ten, the staff member was TOTALLY in the right. It is bad enough to have human “devils” in the church, male or female. However, a formula for disaster for any ministry, is to have a man in a position of authority and honor, from which his she-devil wife can wreak havoc, and destroy the work.

Dr. Mike Allison,
Madison Baptist Church, Madison Alabama