And "father" you should not be calling one of you on the earth, for One is your Father, the heavenly.
Matthew 23: 9, Concordant New Testament
This week I ran across a article where the Archbishop of New York, a man by the name of Stephen Cottrell, suggested that the words "our Father" from the lords prayer may problematic as people may associate them with abusive and bad earthly fathers. I have to admit that this struck a chord with me as my own father was not really a part of my life growing up. As it is, whenever someone referred to the Lord as "Daddy" I somehow felt cheated and left out. Now, if this could happen to me, how many more church going believers out there feel the pain of not knowing their one true Father? The Father that never forsakes them. The Father who will always love. This is the Father which I learned of a bit later in life. Yet by then some of the damage had already been done. I won't get into the nitty gritty of being the child of a single parent home or of not having that fatherly influence as I've delved into it before. However, I think of the others whose own experiences affected their understanding of our heavenly Father as well. This was never the relationship the Father intended. It has always been the desire of the Lord that we would be one with He and His Son {John 17:21}. The love of our Lord is not abusive, selfish or manipulative. The very nature of God is love {1 John 4:8}. This is in stark contrast to the nature of far too many earthly fathers out there. For try as they may, even the most solid fathers among us will never achieve the status of our heavenly Father. It was never meant to happen that way. What was intended was for our fathers to treat their children with the love, mercy and respect which the Lord has shown us in our own lives. It's painfully obvious that far too many of our fathers have missed that boat.
Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God! And we are! Therefore the world does not know us, for it did not know Him.
1 John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament
One of the main comments I hear from believers is that they find it hard to believe in a God they cannot see. I get it. I've been down that same road. A dear friend of mine reminded me this week that to get a good picture of the Father all we need to do is look to Jesus. For Jesus has proclaimed that if we have seen Him we have seen the Father as well {John 14:9}. However, when Christ is revealed in us, we come to know the Father on a more personal level {Galatians 2:20}. Our focus should not be on a earthly father who endures the same struggles as we do, but on our true Father in whose image we were created {Genesis 1:27}. This is the Father archbishop Cottrell seeks to discard from the scriptures. The Father whose faith he supposedly teaches (although I would dispute that assumption). We live now in a world where we are not only harmed by earthly fathers, but also by those claiming to represent our heavenly Father as well. When I hear of those who have been "harmed by the church," this is what I see. The antics of Bishop Cottrell are simply another way believers are being harmed by todays leaders of the faith. Is it no wonder that our churches are experiencing the masses leaving their congregations? I would suggest that if someone is seeking the Lord, if they are looking in the mainstream church then they are looking in the wrong place. We will not find the Father in the church, but through Christ Jesus within us.
Jesus is saying to him, "So much time I am with you, and you do not know Me, Philip! He who has seen Me has seen the Father, and how are you saying, 'Show us the Father'? Are you not believing that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The declarations which I am speaking to you I am not speaking from Myself. Now the Father, remaining in Me, He is doing His works.
John 14: 9-10, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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