"Can pastor dads control their kids?" by Stephen M. Miller
Q: LIFE APPLICATION. What do you think churches today should do about Paul’s suggestion that candidates for church leadership should have all the ducks of their household lined up in a row? “I mean, come on,” Paul wrote, “If a man can’t manage his own family, how can he manage God’s church, full of families?” (1 Timothy 3:5).A: Some folks might agree with Paul. They wouldn’t be inclined to want a pastor who has an openly rebellious daughter or an adult son in prison.
Other folks argue that if the pastor is responsible in any way for the misbehavior of his or her children, so are the churches. They often demand so much time of their ministers that the families of the ministers suffer because of it.
Someone in the church dies, gets sick, ends up in jail. Pastors get the holy version of a 911 call, and they’re on the road again, leaving their families in the rear-view mirror.
One approach to Paul’s suggestion is to filter it through his culture, when families were tied more closely to one another out of the need to survive in an agricultural age.
Then we’ve got to apply his suggestion to a culture today that is much more individualistic, with everyone going their separate ways while consulting their smart phones for guidance instead of asking Dad, Mom, or Uncle Henry. (Leader’s Guide & Atlas for 1, 2 Timothy)
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