Education of pastors' children (1 Tim 3:1-7)

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/220067842981

 

>> .... Now a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, ... He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way; for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God's church? .... (1 Tim 3:1-7) <<

 

I heard a pastor, whose son had an illegitimate child by adultery with a married woman and is now in prison for an economic crime, preaching on the FEBC with the above text for the text of his sermon. (I mean Mr. Cho.) 'What would he say with the above text, in his sermon?' As expected, the focus was on the rationalizing of himself.

 

"We can give birth not to an inward man but just to an outward man. You can't educate your children as you want. Abraham begot Ishmael, and Isaac begot Esau. Sons of Eli the priest were debauched men, so were sons of Samuel. David also suffered hardships thanks to his sons. It is God who raises your children, so you must trust him to raise them well. The last thing you can do is to find fault with others' children. ...."

 

That is absolutely not the teaching of the Bible. The Bible says that parents are responsible for the wrongdoing of their children. The Bible strictly directs us that, if we love our children, we should even whip our children from their early age to correct them. The Bible tells us that your son will not depart from the right way in his old age if you teach it to him in his early age. And the Bible commands us to stone to death those who refuse to obey their parents.

 

The Bible also says that children sometimes go wrong because of the sins of the parents. Abraham didn't believe God thoroughly but slept with Hagar the maidservant and gave birth to Ishmael, and David committed adultery and murder, so that his sons became immoral and were punished by God instead of David himself.

 

Especially God resolutely punished the house of a clergyman when the priesthood was defiled by his sons. When the sons of Eli the priest desecrated the house of God by immoral deeds and defiled their father's priesthood, God destroyed his house. God had already severely rebuked Eli for neglecting to discipline his sons. What about Samuel? His sons were criticised for their bad behavior by people, so Samuel had to step down from the position of the judge of Israel, and Israel accepted the system of kingdom. Can you find words that tell us that Samuel disciplined his sons rightly? After all, isn't Samuel also guilty of neglecting his sons' education?

 

In the book of Revelation, Jesus tells the church in Thyatira: "Behold, I will throw her on a sick bed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her doings; and I will strike her children dead. (Rev 2:22-23)"

 

So, to think comprehensively, a pastor's child becomes a bad man because he was not properly educated from child, or because the pastor himself continually disobeyed God, and didn't repent his sins, so that the curse from God befell his child. In other words, the responsibility for the bad child lies on the pastor rather than on the God.

 

Of course, a pastor has educated and disciplined his son diligently with chastisement from child, and has been a faithful servant of God and a good shepherd of the saints; nevertheless sometimes his son can be a bad person. Then the pastor has to make an important decision. He has to either drive out his son from his house or give up his priesthood. This is for the glory of God. How much did Christian priesthood become a laughing stock in Korea because of some houses of pastors who have immoral sons?

 

Dear fellow believers, the teaching of the Bible is that those who have immoral children in their homes must not perform their priestly duties. You must not accept the false teachings of false pastors and cause the church to rot. God is holy, the church is holy, and the priesthood is holy. Unclean things must not stay in the church and make it stink. "Your fruits show what you are" ㅡ the word of Jesus, the Master of the church.