Yes and no. If we mean by “priest” one who intercedes for others, beseeching the blessing of God, of course fathers should be priests in their homes. We’re called to pray for our families, to storm the very throne room of heaven on behalf of those whom He has placed under our care. I can’t begin to imagine how anyone could have an objection to this.
Not Mediators
I will be first in line to object, however, to any notion that a husband or father stands as a mediator between God and man. That is strictly the work of our elder brother, Jesus. While I certainly hope to be used in our children’s lives as an agent of grace, a means in our Lord’s hands to help our children mature in their faith, I never want to stand between them and the Lord. Children have peace with God as they, having been given new hearts by the Holy Spirit, trust in the finished work of Christ alone. They stand before their heavenly Father covered not by me but by the blood of Christ. They are joint heirs with me, and in this context not my wife and children but rather my brothers and sisters in the faith. Just as I know of no one who would object to husbands and fathers being “priests” in the first sense, so I know of no one who would affirm husbands and fathers being priests in the second sense.
Sphere Sovereignty
Why then is there so much pushback against this notion? Precisely because too many have conflated these two concepts. Those who affirm that we are to intercede for our families are heard as saying that we are intermediaries, that we stand between God and our families. Perhaps one reason they hear us this way is because too many who affirm we are priests in our homes have too low a view of the work and calling of the elders of the local church. Too many who affirm we are priests in our homes conflate the home and the church, or deny the significance of the church at all.
“Church”
This confusion is born out in myriad ways, some more egregious than others. Consider those fathers and husbands who arrogate to themselves all the functions of the biblical elder in their own home. Here the father is not just head of his family but of his “church.” The father gathers the family for worship, baptizes the children, preaches the Word, serves the Supper, all without the first hint of any earthly accountability. This is not being a priest in the home, but a cult leader and a usurper.
Give Thanks
God gave us the church, and gave it its calling. He gave us fathers and husbands and gave them their callings. Both are important, spiritual and require a great deal of prayer. But each has its own place. Husbands, fathers, pray for your wife and children, joint heirs with you of the grace of God in Christ. And join a local church.