Heavenly Father-Earthly Father

This morning I am in the office because a very busy week means I'm not quite done with my work yet. So I'm writing a blog entry to get the juices flowing and then its finish my sermon so I can spend the rest of the day with the family. Made breakfast for the family this morning. Since today is supposed to be a family day except for some time this morning, I was reflecting on that as I read the Bible this morning. I looked up verses on household, fathers, and children. The biggest verses were Paul's teaching in Timothy about the importance of a pastor/elder/deacon managing his household well. There is also a teaching of Paul in Timothy about the importance of men providing for their household. The last Scripture was an admonition to fathers not to provoke their children to wrath. That last one prompted a little more study on my part. There are several different variations of translation of that verse with the NAS saying "do not exasperate your children" and the KJV saying "do not provoke your children to anger". Good News translation says don't "irritate" and the Contemporary English says "don't be too hard" on them. NIV says don't "embitter". Looking at the word they are translating: "to stimulate (especially to anger): - provoke." It is presumed to be a prolonged form of the word for quarrel, debate, and strife. So What Did I Learn? How does God the Father parent me? He leads with love, gentleness, firmness, instruction, correction, reproof. He's not on my case all the time and He allows me to make mistakes but he always tries to get me to understand, come back from, and learn from them. He invests time in me and is constantly asking me to talk to Him. He is also constantly trying to spend more time with me and talk to me. He constantly seeks to share what He is doing with me and involve me. Is that how I parent? Too often I think we, especially as Christians and most especially as pastors, have over-emphasized discipline over relationship. There are plenty of Christian kids, especially pastors' kids, who have been "provoked to wrath" or "embittered" or "discouraged". (the greek word could be literally translated "no passion"). They have been corrected to the point of exhaustion. I notice very clearly that it takes a lot less time and energy (in the short run) to simply reprove and correct than it takes to get down and make sure I am sharing myself with my kids. After all, I am a busy man. But when I get down and talk to them, share how I am feeling, share my thoughts about what is going on, include them in what I am doing, when I am slower to correct but quicker to bond, the result is a more obedient, more helpful child who has a better attitude. Sometimes I have to correct, but sometimes I need to redirect. Sometimes I need to punish, but then I need to sit down and connect and share my heart and hear theirs. Sarah and I are still learning and practicing the dynamics of this, but we see results as we do. That leads us back to where we started. How God fathers me and how I father my children goes right to the heart of being a pastor. Am I heavier on correction and guidance than I am on connection? Does my church know my heart and hear my concerns? Do I parent the church the way God parents me? I am still learning the dynamics of that too although I hope we are off to a good start. Ok, the juices are flowing. Thanks for doing this little study with me. For those of you who go to BCBC, tomorrow morning we are going to be looking at the power of being a Christian that many of us miss in the daily grind. I am excited about this new study as we enter the book of Ephesians. And you dads out there, spend some time today entering into your kids' world the way God entered into yours and connect. Its what I plan to do.