I have recently started a study on the Pastoral Epistles and have some questions. Please be advised I have no doctrinal teaching or seminary education on any of this, and in fact have never heard any teaching on these books. I would especially like to hear from Pastors on these issues and how it applies to their local congregation.

My main question is when do these qualifications begin to count? Is it over the man's entire life, or only after his conversion? Is it a combination of the two, or only if certain conditions are present?

1. Blameless - we know this doesn't mean literally 'perfect' but certainly someone who lives a life worthy of respect and honor. Would this exclude someone with a pre-conversion bad reputation, like a convicted criminal, violent man, thief, etc? Are some pre-conversion bad reputations acceptable and others not? What are the guidelines?

2. Husband of one wife - does this exclude every man who is (was) divorced, even pre-conversion? Or does it only apply for men who have become divorced after conversion? Who determines? What are the guildelines for deciding who gets qualified?

Personally, I'm not sure how anything prior to conversion can count, because that is a life dominated by sin. How can we account as converted Christians for our sinful (or less sinful) lives? On the other hand, if a man married before conversion and after 10 years his unconverted wife divorces him because he's christian (no fault of his like adultery or anything involved), is he disqualified from being a pastor in the future because she left?

Are all pre-conversion felons automatically exempt from Pastoral roles? What about pre-conversion adulterers? What about pre-conversion liars and theives?

Please help me figure out hw to determine the qualification process. Thank you.