PK's
| When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. 4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." (1Samuel8:1-5) |
A "PK" is a Preacher's Kid.
People expect PK's to be holy and righteous, but often they are not. Sometimes they're a bit naughty and sometimes they rebel completely.
Modern day explanations for this are that preachers often neglect their children for the sake of the congregation, that the pressure of living in the pastoral family fishbowl (where there is little privacy) is too much or that the expectations on children of ministers are too high. One of my colleagues cheekily said: "My children are naughty because they play with the children of the congregation."
While one could spend time on the "why's", the sobering truth is that children of pious Christ followers (not only PKs) rebel.
We've seen three priestly families in our journey through the book of Samuel - two have rebellious sons, and one seems to have done well:
- Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phineas
- Abinadab and his son Eleazar who look after the ark for 20 years.
- Samuel and his sons Joel and Abijah
Eli's sons were gluttons, womanisers and disrespectful of God. On the whole, Eli was a good man, but it seems he succumbed to gluttony and lost the respect of his sons. Eli's compromises seem to have multiplied in his sons.
We don't know much about Abinadab and his son Eleazar, but Eleazar becomes the priest and serves without incident for 20 years. We could argue that Eleazar was a priest but not a priest's kid and this was a first generation priestly family while the other two are second generation priests.
Samuel's sons also rebelled, but we find no failures in Samuel. In fact, when we get to the point of anointing Israel's first king, Samuel will challenge the Israelites to show in any way where he had failed in his duty and there are no claims at all.
So, statistically speaking, in three families there is a 66% chance of things going wrong and then it's also not always the parents' fault. This is sobering.
When our kids go off the rails, the consequences are dire. Eli lost credibility in the eyes of Israel. In Samuel's case the priesthood lost credibility and led to the monarchy being introduced in Israel.
Take time to pray for the PK's you know. Pray that their hearts stay close to the Lord.
Pray also for the kids of fellow-believers who the Lord lays on your hearts...
