Since time began, power was, and is, the principal motivator of life. Whoever wields power has control, authority, and security. If you think about it, these three things are essential for just about any group of people. In fact, they are essential for a healthy family.
This is why family is so important. It is the very fabric that holds society together.
Whether you agree or not, God instituted family. He derived the construct from his trinitary-self of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Father, wife, and child, are by design, God’s reflective image of himself into creation.
God first creates man, then woman, then from their union, offspring. God shares with man his power, giving him control, authority, and security. He places man in the center of paradise and says you tend to cultivate it, rule over it, and honor its boundaries (security).
Fundamentally, our identity, personhood, and security come from our families and principally from our fathers. The most primal and significant connection we can have on earth begins with our fathers. It’s not an option — it’s foundational!
This is why fatherhood is under such terrible assault. It is the most strategic and essential part of God’s design and image. Destroy the image of fathers, and you destroy the image of Father-God. Turn the children from their fathers, and you’ll frustrate and hinder children from finding their Heavenly Father.
When fathers and children turn away from each other, the family crumbles. When this becomes the norm, marriages crumble, and children become aimless and disenfranchised from the safety of paternal authority, control, and security. They become targets of destructive philosophies, ideologies, and influences.
The following is an excellent portrayal of the destructive force against fathers and family:
In the 1991 Movie “Hook,” starring Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, Robbin Williams as Peter Banning (Peter Pan), and Charlie Korsmo as Jack Banning, Peter’s son; an interesting scene takes place between Captain Hook and little Jack Banning:
Hook: Such a pretty, pretty…. … What is that I hear? A ticking. Smee, stop the ticking! Stop that! Stop that “tick-tick”!
Smee: There’s no ticking here. There’s nothing left to tick.
Hook: This is for the ticking that might have been. Get his father’s watch!
Smee: Right.
Hook: Go on. You know you want to. Give it a try. Go on.
Jack: This is for..never letting me blow bubbles in my chocolate milk!
[he smashes his dad’s watch]
Smee: Yes!
Hook: Ha ha! Good form! Bravo!
Smee: There you go! Isn’t that wonderful?
Jack: This is for never letting me jump on my own bed.
[Jack smashes the watch again]
Hook: Make time stand still, laddie.
Jack: For always making promises and breaking them! For never doing anything with me.
[ Once again, Jack smashes the watch]
Hook: For a father who’s never there, Jack. Jack, for a father who didn’t save you on the ship.
Jack: [Sadly] Who wouldn’t save us….
Hook: Who couldn’t save you, Jack.
Jack: He wouldn’t. He didn’t even try. He was there, we were there, and he wouldn’t try.
Hook: Jack, he will try. And the question will be: When the time comes, do you want to be saved? Now, don’t you answer now. No, no, no, no. Now it’s time to be whatever you want to be. Put behind you any thoughts of home…that place of broken promises.
Jack: That what?
Hook: Have I ever made a promise, Jack… … I have not kept? Have I, son?
Did you read how the evil Hook exploits Jack’s wounds? Then Hook belittles his father, even to the point of “when the time comes, Jack, do you want to be saved?”
Hook continues, stealing the boy’s identity:
“…Now it’s time to be whatever you want to be. Put behind you any thoughts of home… … that place of broken promises.”
Not only does Hook steal the boy’s identity, he sinisterly robs him of his sense of belonging and then mischaracterizes Jack’s home “as a place of broken promises.”
Hook tops it off by reidentifying Jack as “his son.” He strikes Jack’s wound at the center of his heart, reminding Jack that his dad is weak, a liar, and a man of broken promises.
“Hook: Have I ever made a promise, Jack… … I have not kept? Have I, son?”
I truly believe that this clever and well-written movie accurately illustrates how evil destroys fathers, families, children, and homes.
In the last book of the Old Testament, the last chapter and the last two verses read:
“Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6
The fulfillment of this Malachi prophecy occurs in the First Chapter of Luke 1:17. John The Baptist prepared the way for Jesus Christ, whose mission was to redeem the lost sons of Adam.
When fathers and children remain estranged and God’s salvation is averted, the land, culture, and society become cursed. It is undeniable that our land, America, has been cursed.
Fathers, do whatever it takes to connect with your kids. Kids, do whatever it takes to connect with your fathers.
Sometimes, taking up our father’s interest in sports, hobbies, etc., is the only way we can connect with our fathers. His pastime becomes ours, and maybe the only bridge on earth to reach him and spend time with him.
However, I’d rather see fathers turn their hearts towards their children, enter their world, and connect with their likes.
The hearts of the fathers must initiate a turning back to their children, or there’s little hope for society. Their best hope of connecting to God is their connecting with you!
Fathers, your legacy is at risk – worse, your children’s future and eternity are at stake.
Never underestimate the power, authority, and security of a father’s role and his connection. There is nothing on earth that can take its place!
Call To Courage 