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Fathers, Faith, and Family |
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THE IMPORTANCE OF FATHERHOOD There is a story about a father who won a toy in a drawing at a department store, but he had five children and had to decide which child would receive the toy. He asked his children, "Who has been the most obedient? Who has listened the most to Mom? Who has obeyed Mom in almost everything?" All five children said, "Dad, you should keep the toy!" The story is humorous, but there is a crisis of fatherhood in America. Someone said that fathers are like the Abominable Snowman-footprints everywhere, but hard to find. Statistics indicate that 40% of children in America grow up without a father in the home. For African Americans, it is 63% and in the inner cities of America, it can be as high as 70%. Satan is successful in the breakdown of society if he can create a vacuum by removing men from the home. Like Pharaoh and Herod, he knows that if he can remove men from the home and society, he can run the show from the depths of Hell. Eliminating the right kind of man from the home and society can lead a boy to become the wrong kind of man. Fatherhood like motherhood is at the core of civilization. There are positive role models for men in the Bible and in the church including Abraham who is called the father of many nations. God commended him as the spiritual head and leader of his family: "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him" (Genesis 18:19). There are three lessons from the example of Abraham about the purpose, practice, and problem of fatherhood. THE PURPOSE OF FATHERHOOD Fatherhood is a divine calling to accomplish divine purposes involving a covenant like Abraham as the father of fathers who entered into a covenant relationship with God (Genesis 17:1-4). The covenant of fatherhood involves a spiritual responsibility, not merely a legal responsibility. What will the court make me pay? How much time will the court make me spend? Fatherhood is not about the government. It is about men accepting their responsibility. Fatherhood as a covenant involves transferring the image of God from generation to generation. One purpose of procreation in addition to the spread of the human race is to replicate the image of God in human beings as He instructed Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:26-28). Unlike the rest of creation, human beings have the potential to imitate the character of God-to love Him with all the heart, soul, and mind. The image of God is a spiritual quality indelibly stamped upon individuals and civilizations. Fatherhood involves more than passing on our looks or personality; we pass on the image of God and plant the seed of faith in the hearts of our children. It is about legacy. It makes no difference how fast we run the race, if we do not pass the baton to our children. Otherwise, fatherhood becomes a curse instead of a blessing. "He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart" (Proverbs 11:29). Are you fulfilling your purpose as a father? THE PRACTICE OF FATHERHOOD Like Abraham who led his household, the covenant of fatherhood is practiced in the home as fathers mandate and model spiritual truth. "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). Fathers are responsible for the spiritual training and discipline of children, but sometimes he is physically absent from the home or his spiritual leadership is missing. We are reaping the consequences in our families and in society in general. A metal detector mayor may not beep when you pass through because it has different sensitivities and someone has to program it. There are too many young people whose consciences are not beeping because no one has calibrated them and that is the work of fathers. "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). Are you practicing fatherhood according to the will of God? THE PROBLEM OF FATHERHOOD Families are not problem-free. Abraham had to raise his family in the midst of a sinful culture not unlike the culture today. We must be careful not to let the world establish the agenda for our families. "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:15-17). We may feel hopeless in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile toward families, but we have a spiritual toolbox to help us build a family that is pleasing to God including the word of God, prayer, fellowship, and the church. We may have to pull our families across the finish line, but remember that we have divine help. Our children will have no other father except the father they have. Is the covenant of fatherhood a priority in your life? We are not perfect, but our families deserve the best we have to offer. |
