The
Readings (1 Sam. 15.34-16.7; Mark 4.26-33; and 2 Cor. 4.6-15) give us good
teaching on the role of Fathers as co-creators with God, wives and friends, of
the Kingdom of God on Earth. This is a spiritual kingdom based on love and
faith where men are judged by what is in their heart, not by outward appearances.
The two agricultural images of reaping what we sow and taking responsibility
for sheep, help us understand what God expects men to do in our time.
1. Many men have lost their identity and authority
in our time
Men and women were given their identity and
authority by God. In Genesis 1.28 we are taught they are to ‘fill the earth and
subdue it’.
The rest of the Bible is the story of how men
and women have struggled to fill the earth and subdue it over the last 4,000
years. In our time there has been a serious loss of male identity and
authority:
·
Many men have not had fathers who taught them
how to be a man and a father
·
Many men have not read, been taught or
studied the Bible
·
Many men have either lost their faith or
never had a faith
·
Separated from God they have lost their identity
& direction
·
Separated from God they have lost their
authority as priests to the family and become self-centred and isolated
·
Women have shamed men and often replaced them
as the spiritual authority in the family in our time
·
Good news is that many men are now beginning
to realize that they need to attend a church and join a Bible Study group to re-discover
their identity
2. God judges men and women by the
character of their heart
