Being a Father: Spiritually and Otherwise

Mike Hosey, Elder

The Christian revolutionary, Martin Luther, once said, “No power on earth is so noble and so great as that of fathers.”  He was right, and all good fathers have tasted a small portion of that power and nobility. To good fathers, it is a frightening taste.

Until my adventures as a father began, I had never given much thought to the importance of the role.  Now, I think about it constantly.  From my behavior, my sons will learn how to be men. They will learn the concepts of right and wrong.  They will learn how to be citizens. They will learn how to treat women and children. Almost everything about life and manhood – for better and for worse – they will learn from me.

Learning About Missions From Dad

My daughter will learn much about her womanhood from me, too. She will learn how men are supposed to behave. She will learn concepts about gender and equity, morality and relationships. I will become a significant part of the model to which she will compare potential mates.  My good qualities, and my bad qualities, will find their way into that model. But the fruits of my responsibilities do not stop at my children. Not at all.  Posterity will show all my triumphs and failures. I have in my life the power to create a family curse, or to break old bonds. This is the power of which Martin Luther was speaking. I will transfer knowledge to my sons, and to my daughter, who will modify and transfer that knowledge to their children.  When I mess up, my errors of character will be transferred too. And errors of character usually get worse as they go down the line. They’re built upon until they become a huge, ugly and tangled mess. And that mess becomes a toxin to all of society and culture. George Herbert, the 17^th century poet and clergyman, put it aptly when he said, “one father is more than a hundred school masters.”

The Apostle Paul knew this concept well.  He picked good students and trained them diligently like a father (Philippians 2:19-22). He calls Timothy and Titus his children (1 Timothy 1:2, and Titus 1:4) and he mentored them to carry on his work long after he would be dead and gone. He knew that as a father his impact on the Kingdom was greater than a hundred seminary professors or school masters.  He knew that if he trained his children well, that the power of Christ would transfer exponentially through the centuries. 

You have this very same power and potential. Who are you fathering (or mothering)?