Fathers
What comes to mind when you think of a father? For some, this is a foreign concept because they have never been cared for by a father. Some were abandoned by the person who was supposed to be their father.
The act of procreation can make a man a father, but his caring and character will determine whether or not he is a good one or a bad one.
The Greek word for father is Pater - literally or figuratively, near or remote; it means - father, parent.
Fathering is more than just telling those under one’s watch what they should do. Good fathering involves caring at a much deeper level, causing one to invest their time and resources to help those under one’s watch develop according to their potential. It is caring with the aim of seeing someone attain their calling and destiny. It involves loving, sacrificing, and investment and will also entail instruction along the way, but it is so much more than just instruction. Fathering sometimes requires saying and doing things that can be uncomfortable in order to challenge a son or daughter to rise and realize their potential and ability. Fathers deal with the heartache associated with watching the struggle of their children because of the level of involvement they have with them.
This is why Paul wrote the following to the Corinthians:
1Corinthians 4:15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
A true characteristic of a real spiritual father in the faith is the idea that someone was brought into the faith by their preaching of the gospel. Spiritual sons and daughters are those begotten by the gospel preached by a father in the faith.
Paul is saying to the Corinthians that they may have given their time and attention to other instructors, but they only have one father in the faith. We observe this sort of reality playing out in normal life among the children of parents. Children cannot have multiple biological parents. They only have two, a father and a mother. As they grow up, they may start listening to peers and instructors, to whom they give their respect by embracing what they tell them. Sometimes, they can give greater respect to an instructor than they do a father. It is not that uncommon to see this happen. Today, it is sad to see some gravitate to popular social media personalities for instruction while abandoning the very ones who are present in their lives to truly care for them spiritually.
That happened at Corinth. The believers were fighting over who’s instructor was the best. The difference between fatherly instruction and the instruction of many others is the motive at hand. Fatherly instruction is for your benefit, not theirs. Meanwhile, mere instructors might want you to listen to them so they have a notch in their belt, so to speak, and can bolster their sense of importance and security at your expense. They are not as invested in the real outcome.
Galatians 6:13 For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
False fathers care more about their reputations for gathering a following than they do for the ones following. They are not authentically invested in your future and well-being spiritually as much as they are concerned with how they are progressing in popularity and following. Instructors do not show up when hardships hit you, and you do not know what to do to handle them. That is something a father does. Fathers appear when you need it most; instructors just spew ideas from afar.
You do not have many fathers. Do you know who your true spiritual fathers are?
