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Where Are The Fathers?
Jon Burgess“Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked. They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.” But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.”
2 Chronicles 10:6-8 NIV
We have a fatherless generation facing the same decision as Rehoboam did. Will I listen to my friends or my father figures? Rehoboam's friends told him what he wanted to hear: "You're the big man on campus now. Don't be a push over. You gotta show the people of Israel you are stronger then your dad was." These words appealed to Rehoboams ego. The counsel from his friends fed his desire to serve himself and his own agenda. His insecurity in his leadership role put flattery in the front seat and drove his decision making process. What did his Dad's friends know anyway right? Quite a lot actually. They had seen the pinnacles and pitfalls of Solomon's reign and were actually there to see Rehoboam succeed.
How do we answer the question "Where are the fathers?" If we're honest? They are everywhere. Like Rehoboam, we just aren't listening to them.
1. A father figure will say what we need to hear not what we want to hear.
2. A father figure will encourage us to move from a reaction of fear to a response of faith.
3. A father figure will often need to be sought out and given permission to speak into our lives.
4. A father figure isn't your friend but he is for you.
5. A father figure will counsel from what's pertinent not from what's popular.
Find your father figure. Even if you never had an earthly father you could look up to or learn from there are many in the church who are waiting in the wings to speak in to your life. Honor them by asking them out to coffee and learning from their stories. We cannot be good leaders without a few good fathers in our lives.
I thank you God for my father and the father figures You have put in my life. Now more then ever I need to seek them out and hear what You are saying through them. I love my friends, but I need my fathers. I pray that the leaders in my generation would be more like Timothy and less like Rehoboam. I pray for Paul/Timothy connections for all the young leaders in my life: “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.” Philippians 2:19-22 NIV
