Just as we have this innate need to please our earthly fathers, let’s make our heavenly Old Man proud by showing our willingness to understand his heart on fatherhood.
Fact: God has specifically appointed ‘fathers’ to be the heads or leaders of their homes.
False: This biblically sanctioned ‘headship’ or ‘leadership’ means enforcement of power, domination, and control.
Eliminating Our Cultural Bias
Without dispute, we acknowledge the Christian Scriptures called The Bible as the legitimate and historical record of God’s thoughts. We’ve seen, read, and heard how Bible verses were used to either affirm or refute arguments over the various affairs of mankind. Whether we admit it or not, our differences in opinions and perceptions were brought about by our cultural, political, and personal filters.
Case on point, we’re not going to delve into cherry-picking verses to back our claim. Suffice that we present our strong conviction about God’s heart on the matter of “fatherhood.” It is, in actuality, a call to servanthood, not domination.
While “authority” and “power” are contributory elements to the father’s “leadership,” the greater weight is on “responsibility.” A father is responsible for the economic, emotional, and spiritual care of every soul under his roof. Thus, on Judgement Day, he’ll be solely accountable to God on how he managed his household.
It is for this reason that we hear multiple sermons and teachings about the necessity of “submission.” Still, that’s not even a ‘right’ that a man should demand himself. It must be voluntarily given by his wife and children.
The inspiration behind Zac Brown Band‘s “My Old Man”
Best Model: Jesus’ Relationship with His Old Man
Theirs is the best example so we need not find another. All throughout Jesus’ life, he submitted and depended on God. This is the significance of Mark’s account of Jesus addressing God as “Abba, Father.” Just as we, earthlings, have a lot of life lessons to learn from our fathers, so did Jesus.
With all that said, let’s further contemplate with the following track by the Grammy-nominated, Best Country Group Performance, Zac Brown Band as it best summarizes today’s feature.
My old man
I hope he’s proud of who I am
I’m trying to fill the boots of my old man