Another word that will/has to be dealt with is that of children and the eldership. Titus 1:6 says, “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.” What does children mean? Is that just one or is it ten? If a man were better suited for the work of an elder because he has more than one child, wouldn’t ten make him even better suited? Where would one draw the line as to how many or how few? Let us notice more.
Genesis 21:7 “And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.” Sarah had but one son – Isaac – yet she referred to herself as having children. Do we ever use the plural and the singular is meant? Even more.
Genesis 30:7 Rachel, once said to Jacob, “Give me children or else I die.” I wonder if Rachel only had one child would she be happy? In reality she only knew one child, for she died during birth of the second. Did she know the joys of having children? Again.
Leviticus 25:41 says, “And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.” Did this mean that the Hebrew man with only one child was to be denied his freedom and that of his family, which consisted of one wife and only one child? This includes the singular in this instance. If not, why not?
Matthew 10:21 Jesus said, “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.” Does a father with only one child have nothing to fear in this case yet the child with no siblings has to fear?
Luke 14:26 “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” A man with only one child does not have to love this child less than the Lord, yet if this man has more than one he does? Does that make sense? I thought the Lord wanted us to love him more than anyone!
Solomon penned “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Does this have application at all to parents with more than one child or just to the parents with one child? Is it not the case of the singular’s inclusion of the plural?
In 1 Timothy 5 we find qualifications of widows that are to be taken care of by the church. Contemplate verses nine through ten: “Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have diligently followed every good work.” What if this widow brought up only one child? Children means more than one! If she has brought a child would that disqualify her from this work? In the same chapter verse 4 “But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.” Yet if this widow has only a child or one nephew nothing is required of this child or nephew? Are not children and child herein used interchangeably?
Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Colossians 3:21 “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” Is a father of only one child exempt from this apostolic counsel due to his having just one child – not children? If children mean children in one place why not in all places, are we ready to accept that?
There are other verses that could be sited about this very subject.
Would it be impossible for an elder to know how to rule his house if he had only one child? Someone might say but more than one would give him a greater variety in handling varying personalities. If that is the case then let us go back to the beginning of this article, ten would even be better than simply two or three, so why not make it ten. Where are you going to draw the minimum line he would of necessity need to have before being qualified for the eldership? Would it be two, four, six, eight or just how many?
Love, Keith
