Magyar Egyház, 2006 (85. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2006-04-01 / 2. szám
4. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ Godly Fatherhood 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 Do you remember when men were men & you could tell it by looking, when women were the ones who wore earrings and makeup? Do you remember when men knew who they were and had confidence in themselves and in their God? They knew where God was leading them and trusted Him to get them there. Maybe the problem today is that our modem society has tried to convince women that they can be as masculine as men and men that they can be as feminine as women. So we have put them together in one big mixing bowl and mixed them all up until many are no longer sure what their role really is. Father’s Day presents us with an opportunity to look at masculinity once again. I am not talking about the Rambo type. Such men probably make bad neighbors, poor business partners, abusive fathers, husbands. Nor am I talking about the ones who sit in their chair like a king on a throne, expecting the whole world to revolve around him. I am talking about a man who knows he is a man and is proud of that. But at the same time he has a soft and tender heart that is sensitive to others and to the will of God. I’m talking about godly a man. I’m talking about fatherhood the way it ought to be. Where do we find guidance for that? The Bible is always the best source. So I’ve selected a passage from 1 Thessalonians 2 that few would consider to be a Father’s but it is fitting. In these few verses we see a portrait of fatherhood that is worth examining. And as you look at it, consider with me a number of wonderful traits of a godly father. GENUINE LOVE The first trait of a father would be the ability to express genuine love. Paul says in 2:8, “We loved you so much.” In the original language those words expressed an intensity of love that gives over and over again. He says, “It’s hard even to find words to express how much, but we really do love you.” This is an important character trait because loving and expressing love does not come naturally for many men. I’m sure that is the reason the Bible tells husbands to “love” their wives, because we have to learn how to love. The Bible almost never tells wives to “love” their husbands because that usually comes naturally for them. Instead, wives are told to “respect” their husbands, because sometimes that is hard for them to do. Men, most of us have to learn how to love. That is true about the father and child relationship, too. It doesn’t usually come easy for us. Do you remember when you brought your first child home? Your wife seemed to know what to do. She knew the head was heavy and that the muscles had not developed in the neck to support it. So she supported it. She also knew that the soft spot on top of the head was vulnerable and you had to be really careful. She knew when the baby was hungry, when its diaper needed to be changed and she did it with skill. She knew when it was bath time, play time, sleep time. But we men had to learn a lot. Our best example of fatherhood, of course, is our Father in heaven. And the best story to show that is the story of the Prodigal Son. The reason this is so universally applicable is that practically everybody experiences what the prodigal son experienced, where we’re sure we know better than our parents. We have it all figured out. You know the story. The son goes off into a far country, squanders all his money. But he came to his senses. He felt that he could go back to his father. Why? Because all the time of raising his son the father had communicated his love. That is very important. The beautiful part is that our Father in Heaven always leaves the door open for us to come home again. And as dads, we need to teach our kids, no matter how deep their sin, “You can always come home and there will be a father waiting to throw his arms around you, to assure you of his abiding love. TRANSPARENT LIFE The second trait is a transparent life. Paul writes in 2:8, “We loved you so much that we delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our lives as well.” There is a connection between gospel and lives. It is one thing to hear the gospel. But it is another thing to live it. Paul says: “When we lived among you we not only told you the good news, we modeled it for you by how we lived.” If you’re a Christian dad, your kids ought to know it by the way you live. For example, being a Christian will affect the decisions you make every day. The values in your home will be different than those found in a pagan home. You would deal with stress differently if you were a Christian dad than if you were not? I think you would, because there is a peace available to you that the world doesn’t understand, a peace that passes all understanding. And there are the finances. The way you budget your money. That would be affected by how the gospel has changed your life & made you into a different person? What about humor & joy & laughter and all the things we find in a home influenced by the gospel? That’s transparency, and that’s hard to deal with. But I think kids need to see in their fathers, not just an authority figure, but someone who is real, someone whose heart has been touched and changed, who still makes mistakes and yet has the courage to admit that he has made those mistakes. SACRIFICIAL DILIGENCE Paul says in 2:9 “You remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you”. We have a responsibility as parents to teach a good work ethic to our children. And oftentimes, if our kids don’t see a father who is a hard worker, who has a good work ethic, they’ll never learn it. We teach it in two ways. By example, by just doing it and letting our children see that and our children learn by doing. We give them the opportunity to do things, make their own mistakes and learn from those. And as fathers we have to be wise enough to step back, let them do that, to make their own mistakes and learn from those mistakes. GENUINE SPIRITUALITY Paul said in 2:10 “You are witnesses, and so is God of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed”. He said, “First of all, we preached the gospel of God to you. Secondly, you are witnesses of how we lived. We lived holy, righteous, and blameless lives among you. Our behavior was influenced by what we believed about Jesus.” God has commisJESUS the m\m OTE TRUTH, THE LIFE.
