IHow a Pastor's Kid Handles Identity and Relationships

You see them every time you go to church. They come in all shapes, sizes, ages and even colors. You notice them. They notice you. They're usually sitting within the first two or three pews. Perhaps one of them is even on stage in the praise team or choir. You look them over, silently critiquing their actions within your mind. "What makes them different from the other ones? Are they better? Are they worse?" They are the kids of the pastor. Young, old, boy, girl, doesn't matter. And no matter how much they like it or realize it, they are under a microscope. The good news is that, in most cases, they have an excellent source from which to draw Spiritual help, hope and aid.

Christians are given a new identity when they accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Scripture says, "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12, New International Version) The Message translation, a modern-day, contemporary paraphrase of Scripture's original language, composed by Eugene H. Peterson, says it this way: "But whoever did want Him, who believed He was who He claimed and would do what He said, He made to be their true-selves, their child-of-God selves. These are the God-begotten, not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten." (John 1:12-13) For pastor's kids (and Christians in general), this identity is something they must cling to with the utmost abandon, lest they be swept away by the falsehoods of a lying world. Who you are is grounded in Christ and no one can re-found or re-shape that.