Can a Christian Family Ever Be Too Big?

Honestly, I’m not shocked that people haven’t heard to much about this.
This issue is one that in many cases doesn’t become manifest unless you already know it is there or you are in a smaller group where it makes a bigger impact.
In all of my time at Bob Jones schools (Jr high through bachelor’s degree), I never once heard the topic of birth control mentioned at all. I imagine that’s both because the entire idea of sexuality, even within marriage has become so taboo within many circles, and also the fact that it really is a matter of Christian liberty. Those two things combined made it so neither teachers nor students really addressed the issue at all in class or conversation.

My experience with this comes from being in a smaller church, where issues among the membership is far more visible than in larger congregations.

I’ve observed certain traits about those that pursue this agenda that might help make them more identifiable.
1. Those supporting this idea usually hang out more in the churches on the very conservative end of the spectrum (like Vision Forum).
2. They usually find congregations with memberships and ministers that have reached the same conclusion.
3. It’s not an issue that usually comes to light immediately, but emerges over time as they interact with others.

Their usual tactics are to take various passages from scripture on children and reproduction to apply them as blanket statements and commands toward all mankind.
You’ll hear them make statements like these: “Children are a blessing, so you’re denying God’s blessing in your life.” “You don’t have enough faith in God, since you’re saying you couldn’t handle more children.” “God told us to be fruitful and multiply, and you’re disobeying that.” “You’re playing God and trying to overrule Him by stopping the natural process.”
Now many of those statements are made by people that don’t think birth control is sinful (I have just spent about 30 minutes trying to find an old conversation in the archives on here in which I saw SI members use many of those statements), but they are applied with more force and then used as condemnations by these people.

I’ve seen several episodes in which this issue played a prominent role and eventually led to problems within the church.
I’ve seen a family that continuously harassed the minister on the topic over a course of months while haranguing the young married couples that had no children yet as trying to fight the will of God. After months of said behavior, they were told that they needed to stop causing problems within the congregation, trying to undermine the minister’s authority, and trying to overrule the liberty of their brethren, then they needed to leave. They chose to leave.
The other circumstance went so far as the family stating that a term of marriage for any of their children was that they were forbidden to use birth control.