As a parent who has a daughter who has fallen away, I can tell you that the devil is clever. We did #allthethings to teach our kids truth. We are not perfect parents and have never claimed to be, but I can tell you there are many things I would do differently looking back. The biggest thing is keeping them away from smartphones and social media. It seems the devil is working overtime and parents have to be hyper vigilant about protecting their kids and knowing everything they are involved in. I pray that you never experience a child falling away. I can also say that just because you do "all the right things" doesn't mean the devil won't get a stronghold on them. It's truly heartbreaking. 😢
Consider the concept that the household is not the physical house of the elder. That Greek word can be translated or defined as his OWN, his descendants, his lineage. My children are my descendants and lineage whether they are in my home or not. I continue to try and influence all three of my children and my grandchildren and none of them live in my home. Consider the Old Testament concept of generational faithfulness. We never let our children entertain the thought of marrying outside the faith and they must choose faithful Christians. I homeschooled all three of my children to help control what they were exposed to and when. I’m not perfect by any means but we did all that we could to ensure they knew what choices last before then.
Thank you for the clarification of this much debated question. As the mother of two unfaithful Christian children, I often wish I could have a do-over. Sadly, this is all too common in the church today. Now I can be a teacher, an example and encourager to the children in my home congregation.
Regarding the qualification for the eldership: Are we to say an elder is disqualified from serving in this capacity if his adult child who does not live under his roof falls away? Remember, this qualification is the only one in which God gives His rationale for this qualification, "...but if a man does not know how to manage his own houshold, how will he take care of the church of God?" (1 Timothy 3:5).
But what if a faithful individual moves away from a certain congregation because of work commitments (or any other reason). Then what if later, this individual is discovered to have fallen away from the Lord. Does this now disqualify the individual's former eldership because of the individual's unfaithfulness? In the text God is equating a man's management of his own children with his management of God's household. Then if an elder's adult child falls away, shouldn't their former eldership need to resign because of their infidelity to the Lord??!
I believe this issue can be solved when we focus on the term, "household." The "church of God" refers to those individuals who have placed themselves under God's authority. The elder's "household" refers to the children who are still living at home and are thus under their father's authority. When his adult children move away (college, military, work, etc.), they remain part of the man's "family." But they are no longer part of his household since they are no longer under their father's direct authority! Therefore, they are no longer accoutable to him for their actions, nor is he held accountable to the Lord for their sinful actions, (cf. Ezekiel 18:20).
In the same way, faithful members who move away from a particular congregation are no longer under the authority of their previous eldership. If they were, then that eldership would be accountable for their actions. Yet I know of no eldership or member who holds to this belief. Yet if we make elders accountable for their adult children, then we need to hold elderships accountable for former members who have fallen away.
As a parent who has a daughter who has fallen away, I can tell you that the devil is clever. We did #allthethings to teach our kids truth. We are not perfect parents and have never claimed to be, but I can tell you there are many things I would do differently looking back. The biggest thing is keeping them away from smartphones and social media. It seems the devil is working overtime and parents have to be hyper vigilant about protecting their kids and knowing everything they are involved in. I pray that you never experience a child falling away. I can also say that just because you do "all the right things" doesn't mean the devil won't get a stronghold on them. It's truly heartbreaking. 😢
Consider the concept that the household is not the physical house of the elder. That Greek word can be translated or defined as his OWN, his descendants, his lineage. My children are my descendants and lineage whether they are in my home or not. I continue to try and influence all three of my children and my grandchildren and none of them live in my home. Consider the Old Testament concept of generational faithfulness. We never let our children entertain the thought of marrying outside the faith and they must choose faithful Christians. I homeschooled all three of my children to help control what they were exposed to and when. I’m not perfect by any means but we did all that we could to ensure they knew what choices last before then.
Thank you for the clarification of this much debated question. As the mother of two unfaithful Christian children, I often wish I could have a do-over. Sadly, this is all too common in the church today. Now I can be a teacher, an example and encourager to the children in my home congregation.
Regarding the qualification for the eldership: Are we to say an elder is disqualified from serving in this capacity if his adult child who does not live under his roof falls away? Remember, this qualification is the only one in which God gives His rationale for this qualification, "...but if a man does not know how to manage his own houshold, how will he take care of the church of God?" (1 Timothy 3:5).
But what if a faithful individual moves away from a certain congregation because of work commitments (or any other reason). Then what if later, this individual is discovered to have fallen away from the Lord. Does this now disqualify the individual's former eldership because of the individual's unfaithfulness? In the text God is equating a man's management of his own children with his management of God's household. Then if an elder's adult child falls away, shouldn't their former eldership need to resign because of their infidelity to the Lord??!
I believe this issue can be solved when we focus on the term, "household." The "church of God" refers to those individuals who have placed themselves under God's authority. The elder's "household" refers to the children who are still living at home and are thus under their father's authority. When his adult children move away (college, military, work, etc.), they remain part of the man's "family." But they are no longer part of his household since they are no longer under their father's direct authority! Therefore, they are no longer accoutable to him for their actions, nor is he held accountable to the Lord for their sinful actions, (cf. Ezekiel 18:20).
In the same way, faithful members who move away from a particular congregation are no longer under the authority of their previous eldership. If they were, then that eldership would be accountable for their actions. Yet I know of no eldership or member who holds to this belief. Yet if we make elders accountable for their adult children, then we need to hold elderships accountable for former members who have fallen away.
My post was in response to Rick Walker.