Do Elder's Children Have To Be Christians? Part 2

Titus 1:6 and 1 Timothy 3:4-5 simply show a father that has the respect of his children at home. The Timothy passage tells of the father who rules his house well and the Titus passage shows the same thing from the children’s standpoint - they believe and trust their father so as to show the proper behavior. If the father can show that kind of respect in his house, then he will be able to gain respect in the church. Whatever the meaning of “believing children,” the point is one of respect.

Most folks have seen kids who are out of control. Children are often allowed to run wild, back talk their parents (and others), take things from other kids, slap at and hit their parents (and others), and generally allowed to get whatever they want. They would thus be called “riotous and unruly” being directly opposite of what Paul was telling Titus and Timothy to look for in elders. Kids have the responsibility to “obey their parents in the Lord for this is right” (Eph. 6:1) but it falls to the father of those kids to help them learn what their role is. If we don’t teach the principles of respect for authority and obedience at an early age, we give our children a huge handicap to overcome later.

By their nature, elders are older men and very often their children are grown up and have moved out of the house to start families of their own. God called this “leaving father and mother to cleave unto his wife” (Gen. 2:24.) Grown children are not subject to parents the way they were when younger and are free to make their choices as men and women themselves. When they go astray, it can be beneficial to look at the situation when they were brought up but remember to judge the elder for who he is now not by mistakes from the past.