Diary of a Disturbing Influence

My mom and I stumbled upon a Discovery Health Channel special on the Duggar family. If you haven’t heard of the Duggars, check out this link: http://health.discovery.com/convergence/duggars/duggarfamily.html. They have 17 children (18 if you count the one on the way) and believe that birth control is ’selfish’ since the Bible says that children are a blessing from the Lord. Families that adhere to this philosophy are called ‘quiverfull’ families in reference to Psalm 127: 3-5: “…blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them (children).”

I don’t intend to posit that children are anything but a blessing; I believe the Bible is quite clear on the subject. However, the Bible also encourages good stewardship. In Genesis, we’re commanded to be good stewards of the earth. The stewardship motif doesn’t stop there. The Scriptures are packed with examples of the consequences brought by bad stewards and the blessings brought by good ones. One of Jesus’ most famous parables deals with stewardship, and the Apostle Paul instructs early believers to be sure that an Elder is a good steward of his household ( http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=433; as an egalitarian I disagree with some parts of this commentary but it provides a closer look at the stewardship element of the office).

Here’s my question: is it good stewardship to have a Duggar-sized family? I would argue that it is actually very poor stewardship indeed. It’s not selfish to want to control the size of your family. It’s common sense. If you know you don’t have the resources to care for a large family then you have no business having one. Plus, if you’re using all your available resources (time, money, etc) to provide for you and yours, what do you have left to contribute to the kingdom of God?

When you consider the quiverfull philosophy from this angle, their argument is turned on its head. Birth control suddenly doesn’t seem so selfish, does it?