{"id":32014,"date":"2022-09-10T15:52:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-ways-churches-can-stand-in-the-gap-for-the-fatherless\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:52:51","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:52:51","slug":"5-ways-churches-can-stand-in-the-gap-for-the-fatherless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-ways-churches-can-stand-in-the-gap-for-the-fatherless\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways Churches Can Stand in the Gap for the Fatherless"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pixabay photo – Pexels<\/div>\n

By Daniel Darling<\/em><\/p>\n

Father\u2019s Day is one of my favorite days of the year.<\/p>\n

I get the chance to honor my dad, who is one of the godliest men I know and who first showed me what it looks like to be faithful to the church, to walk with God, and provide financially for his family.<\/p>\n

I also love Father\u2019s Day because, as the father of four wonderful kids, I get to thank God for the grace of allowing me to be a dad. Parenting is tough and not every day is a banner day, but being a dad is a wonderful gift.<\/p>\n

But I realize that both the experience of having a great father and being a dad is something many others in the church and in the community don\u2019t share.<\/p>\n

In fact, for many, Father\u2019s Day doesn\u2019t evoke warm feelings of playing catch, going fishing, or crucial life advice. Instead, even the word \u201cfather\u201d evokes images of abandonment or cruelty, abuse or neglect.<\/p>\n

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This means churches have an opportunity on Father\u2019s Day to honor and uphold the good gift of fatherhood and to walk alongside those for whom fatherhood is an idea that brings deep emotional pain. Here are five ways churches can stand in the gap for the fatherless:<\/p>\n

1. We must welcome fatherless children in our congregations. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the last several decades, the children\u2019s ministry paradigm has shifted from a church-centric approach to a parent-centric approach. I\u2019m grateful to see churches begin to equip parents to do the necessary work of teaching their children the Bible rather than create environments where parents feel like discipleship means being a taxi driver to church functions. This is a good trend.<\/p>\n

But as we work to empower families, we must not forget those children in our community who do not have the benefit of healthy, committed parents to raise them in the faith.<\/p>\n

If we aren\u2019t careful, our assumptions about our audience will leave behind those who desperately need to hear about Jesus and whose only opportunity is a church-sponsored discipleship activity like Wednesday night kids club, VBS, or Sunday School.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve even heard some ministry leaders say perhaps the church shouldn\u2019t have any programming at all for kids. And yet, hardly a week goes by that I don\u2019t interact with a brother or sister in Christ who became a Christian because an aunt or grandmother or friend dragged them to church and for whom church programming was the only spiritual instruction they received.<\/p>\n

2. We must welcome fatherless children into our hearts. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s important to not only welcome fatherless children into our congregations, but into our hearts.<\/p>\n

There is a difference between having programming that children attend and coming alongside fatherless children. Quite often children with unstable family situations will act out and misbehave, bringing challenges to kids\u2019 ministry (though pastors\u2019 kids can bring the disobedience with just as much energy!) in ways that breed resentment.<\/p>\n

In churches I\u2019ve served, I\u2019ve heard uncomfortable senior saints grumble at scuffed carpeting and rowdy behavior and \u201cthose kinds of kids.\u201d But the kingdom of God is made up of \u201cthose kinds of kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bible reminds us that none of us, in sight of God, have righteousness of our own. All of us were outsiders until Christ\u2019s death made us insiders. We have to ask ourselves if we truly want to reach our neighborhood with the gospel or if we want to be comfortable and unbothered.<\/p>\n

The church could be, for many kids who walk through our doors, the only warm and welcoming place they\u2019ll find in their lives.<\/p>\n

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3. We must help mentor and guide fatherless children.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For kids who haven\u2019t had an experience with a good father, there are often deep feelings of insecurity and loneliness.<\/p>\n

Some experts call this a \u201cfather wound,\u201d a hollow space that keeps them from fully understanding the love of the Heavenly Father. This is where mentors and other father figures in the church can step in and play a vital role.<\/p>\n

This looks different in every context, but it could be that godly families come alongside and show, by their family life, a small picture of what life in God\u2019s new family can be.<\/p>\n

One of the most haunting conversations I ever had was with a young teen who once admitted to me and my wife that she wished \u201csomebody had told her the rules, the way life is supposed to be\u201d so she didn\u2019t have to figure it out on her won. Her father had left her at a very young age.<\/p>\n

How sad and tragic. Imagine if your church help fill those gaps.<\/p>\n

4. We must ensure that church is a safe environment for fatherless children.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Bible tells us Satan is an enemy who seeks to devour and quite often he uses sexual predators to go after vulnerable children. Often it is children from unstable families who are prime targets for abusers, who prey upon the trust of Christians in churches.<\/p>\n

Churches must rigorously vet those who work in our children\u2019s ministries and provide training and important guardrails to prevent abuse of children. And we must be unflinching in reporting abuse to authorities.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read too many stories of children who escaped terrible home environments only to be the target of abuse by leaders they trusted. The church should be prepared to care well for anyone who has been abused.<\/p>\n

5. We must always point fatherless children to their Heavenly Father.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For many, the father language in Scripture is difficult to hear, due to a terrible experience with their own father. Many see God as father and wonder if God will abandon or abuse them.<\/p>\n

We can point fatherless children to a Heavenly Father who is unlike their earthly dad, who will not leave them or forsake them and who was willing to sacrifice his son, Jesus, in order to save them from sin.<\/p>\n

God is a good father who walks them through the valleys, who enters into their pain and who understands in Jesus, what it is like to be rejected and alone. What\u2019s more, God is fathering them in the gaps where their earthly father failed.<\/p>\n

So as we gear up to celebrate Father\u2019s Day in our churches, let\u2019s rightly honor our dads and honor dads who are working hard to lead their families. But let\u2019s not forget those kids for whom this day is a painful one.<\/p>\n

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Daniel Darling<\/h2>\n

@dandarling<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Dan is the director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Seminary. He is the bestselling author of several books, including The Characters of Christmas<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n