Pastoral Perks
If you wish to leave much wealth to your children, leave them in God's care. Do not leave them riches, but virtue and skill. For if they learn to expect riches, they will not mind anything besides, and their abundant riches shall give them the means of screening the wickedness of their ways.
John Chrysostom
What are the advantages of raising a family in a pastor's home?
A couple of years ago, I had the chance to sit down with James Dobson, perhaps the best-known champion of the family in the contemporary Christian world, and ask him about his days as a preacher's kid. I was curious whether his experiences in the church were positive or negative.
His reply: "Very positive. The church was the center of our social life, and I felt loved and accepted by this extended 'family.' That little body of believers provided an unshakable foundation of values and understanding, which I still hold firmly today. I was three years old when I voluntarily knelt and gave my heart to the Lord, and I'm still grateful for the teachings I received in those early years."
Church life, however, has changed dramatically in the last generation. What about the differences between the family life he experienced growing up in a small church in Oklahoma and family life in the large Southern California congregation he's involved in now? Is the small church or the large church more conducive to family life?
"Each has its own contribution to make," Dobson replied. "Some people thrive better in a crowd, and they need the programs and specialists that can be provided only in a large church community. Adolescents, for example, are driven by this 'urge to herd,' and they feel more secure with large numbers of their peers.
"On the other hand, some people need the intimacy ...
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