1 Timothy 3:5 If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?

This is treated as a parenthetical expression in virtually all translations, reasonably enough, but it is of vital, practical importance. I have seen numbers of ministries – and careers and families – wrecked because a man of God couldn’t see that his family was his first flock. This points up the reality that the Church, and any given church, is the family of God. Family dynamics apply to a remarkable extent, and failure to understand that, or understand family dynamics, for that matter, can make a real mess of things. Families are bound together by love. Kinship applies, but adopted families are just as real as bloodline families, and sometimes function much better. In the Church we suddenly discover that we are related to many people whom we may not have even known before. The shift in perception can be jarring at times! Family relationships aren’t something you can escape from, because even physical distance doesn’t change them. A person who is called as an overseer in the Family of God does far better if they’ve had a practicum in their own family, and as Paul says, the one is very predictive of the other. This is not to say that a single person cannot oversee a group, but it is to say that the difficulties are immense.

My own father realized how much he had neglected his physical children at a point when I, the youngest of four, was the only one left at home. That’s not to say that he was a bad father by any means, but he realized, finally, that his priorities had been skewed. There is literally no end to the calls on a pastor, and my father was also a university professor and administrator in addition to pastoring. I think he really did quite well, all things considered! However, his use of time remained as one of his few regrets. I wish I could say I had done a lot better, but I don’t think I can. My wife and daughters will have to be the judges of that! Now, with my daughters living in families of their own, my first priority is my wife, and then the flock in my care. I am to seek and operate in the wisdom of God so that the family dynamics may be as God intends, for a healthy, happy, growing family.

Father, thank You for Your patience with me. I’ve certainly not done a perfect job with my own family or with Your family. Thank You for the things You are doing in and among us right now. Help me be sensitive and responsive to You to that we may indeed grow in all the ways You desire and intend, as a bright light to the people of Omura, drawing many people to You for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!