What can you give a Pastor's Kid?

Here is a quote from Barnabas Piper's book "The Pastor's Kid" (he is John Piper's son) about being a pastor's kid. I put this out there for my kids, but also because I was a PK as well so I experienced some of these same things. "Very few people in the church would vocalize their assumptions about the PK or even cognitively recognize that they hold them, but they are present. For example, some people assume all is well, that the PK has it all together. They’re usually wrong; remember, PKs are as human as everyone else. Others are intimidated by the PK: he must know more Bible verses, be wiser, and have a secure line to God’s office in heaven. Nope, not usually. And then there’s the family assumption: the PK has a pastor for a dad, and his mom leads the women’s, children’s, hospitality, shut-in, quilt-making, and baking ministries, so what could a normal old congregant offer him? False assumption. The normal congregant can offer something powerful to a PK, usually many things.

PKs want to be known, not just known of. We want to be in relationships that cut through the facades and fronts and unearth the insecurities and needs. We long for those friends and mentors who will willfully set aside all they think they know of us as PKs and get to know us as people. These friends will engage our passions, our interests, our fears, our confusions. Throughout my life since high school, I have had these friends. They are the ones who will call me out on a lie or grapple with sins alongside me or forgive when I sin against them. They pay no mind whatsoever to who my father is and instead look straight into my life and see me. They are the ones who have been there for my worst days and helped me come through them. They know me. PKs struggle, and if all we have are people around us who know of us, we bottle those struggles inside and the pressure builds. Being known is a release, a way to pour out our problems and be helped, supported, corrected, taught, and simply known."