For 26 years I have been a PK (PK= Pastor’s Kid).
I have watched my dad closely over the years as he has moved from youth pastor to church planter to senior pastor.
Through the years I got an inside look into ministry and took lots of notes during the journey.
So here are some lessons I learned from being a PK:
1. Actions Affect More Than Yourself.
It appears to me everyone is born with the same “me-myself-and I” mentality. It is like we are the stars of our own show and everyone else are just extras.
Being a PK made it loud and clear this life is not to be lived selfishly.
When myself or my siblings would sneak into the baptismal pool, run around the church or play pranks on other church members, my dad would hear about it and would have to deal with our mishaps. Our actions affected him and my mother.
So even though we are all guilty of living selfishly, I learned when I only think about myself, the consequences tend to trickle out to other people in my life.
2. People Watch and Wait for Failure.
In high school I was really involved in our church’s youth group. Anytime there was a youth event I was there. More often than not, I’d help carpool students to events.
One day, in my sweet Ford Probe, I dropped a younger girl off at her house. Not two minutes later did I get a phone call from my dad asking me if I was smoking in my car.
Really? Me smoke? I’m 17 and at a youth event.
Turns out, I was eating an apple caramel lollipop when I had dropped the young girl off. The mom looked out the window and saw the white stick coming out of my mouth and assumed I was smoking and gave my dad a call.
I wasn’t angry at that mom. But many moments after that in my life taught me the world is watching us a Christians. And they wait and hope for the moments when we fail.
As Christians we must live above reproach, because we never know who is watching us and how we may unintentionally harm the image of Christ.
