This is the question that no pastor with a family wants to ask, answer or even think about. The reality is that the answer will always be yes to some extent and that is unavoidable. That said, this question is not referring to those rare moments where a leader has to leave a soccer game to attend to a once every five year kind of crisis. This question has to do with the tone, schedule and posture of our lives as leaders. Do our children feel the ministry is more important than they are. The answer to this question in general must always be no. We cannot control the perceptions and feelings of others, but we can be sensitive to them, removing any reasonable doubt to our children that they will always matter more than the ministry that we serve. As parents, our families are our first ministry and when we get our priorities out of line, our families and organizations suffer.