Should a minister in the church have a large family?

How could he attend to the duties of his ministry?

How could he provide for a large family on a ministry salary?

how could he attend to the cares of his family while also attending to the cares of his flock?

The life of a minister can be so demanding. How could one possibly be able to attend to the things of God's church as well as the things of a family?

And yet, we see in the Apostle Paul's qualifications of a minister in 1 Timothy and Titus, that a minister ought to be a respectable father in his own house, with respectable children. In fact, Paul goes on to say in Timothy that "if a man does not know how to lead his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?" (1 Timothy 3:5, Legacy Standard Bible). Indeed then, one of the tests of godly character for ministry, at least for those who have children (seeing that Paul himself had none), is to see the fruit of the household.

Life in ministry is indeed difficult, just as life within the family is not easy work. But that does not mean that God calls His ministers to forsake the proper care of one over the other. All too often, family is neglected and it will inevitably lead to the detriment of the other. And if the family is not neglected, then it is often cut short, with the intentional rejection of more children.

In this episode, we discuss our journey in ministry and the challenges we faced in desiring a large family in ministry.