Happy Father’s Day.
Being a Father is an immense privilege.
When you first hold a floppy little bundle of warm child in your hands you are overwhelmed with emotion but you don’t really have a clue what to expect. It’s usually not long before you find out and the first few weeks involve crying, pooing, feeding, holding, sleeping (repeat). And somewhere in the midst of all that noise and all those smells it dawns on you that this little bundle of smelly noise has been given to you by God. And therein lies the privilege.
God has entrusted a life to you. God has said here – have this – it’s yours to care for and love and grow. It’s a gift. And each one is a privilege. Just ask those without children or who have lost children and they will underline this reality all the more.
But we adults often act in such ways as to ignore the privilege. It is a sad and tragic symptom of our society today that so many children never get to experience Fatherhood. So many children grow up outside the ideal family. I know almost every single mum tries their darndest to grow their children and help them along in life and nurture them, but almost every one I know, in their most honest moments, wishes not only that they could have someone else to help and support them but that their children could have an involved and engaged dad.
A SMH article said: The National Fatherhood Forum manifesto claims that “fatherlessness and family breakdown are the major social problems of our society”. Steve Biddulph, in his best-selling book Raising Boys, writes that boys with absent fathers are more likely to be violent, do poorly in schools, and join gangs.
And this does not apply just to broken families but to families where Dad is disengaged or uninvolved. Some time ago Brodie came into our bedroom and I was sitting on the bed texting and Nicky was on the bed about to read her Bible with her computer open and he said, “Hello anti-social people”. Funny but a great warning. Dads can be present and absent all at the same time. Be careful with your phone time – don’t give your kids the impression that people outside the room are more important than those inside it.
John Piper writes helpfully, lifting the vision of fathers to our Heavenly Father:
We ought not be cowering or dumbfounded or paralyzed in the presence of our merciful Father; nor should we be flippant or careless or trifling or presumptuous in the presence of our majestic Father. But rather discover in the power of the Holy Spirit a bold brokenness, a reverential relaxation, a fearing familiarity, a trembling tenderness, an affectionate awe. Oh that our kids might find something similar in us dads.
In Christ
Nigel