This sermon was preached in a series called Songs of Ascent which went through Psalms 120-134. I was inspired to do this series by Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.
Sermon title: Work
Main idea: We are tempted to remove God from our work, but he calls us to submit our work to him.
This sermon was preached in a series called Songs of Ascent which went through Psalms 120-134. I was inspired to do this series by Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.
Sermon title: Joy
Main idea: God’s people rejoice through suffering because God restored them in the past and will restore them in the future.
This sermon was preached in a series called Songs of Ascent which went through Psalms 120-134. I was inspired to do this series by Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.
Sermon title: Security
This sermon was preached in a series called Songs of Ascent which went through Psalms 120-134. I was inspired to do this series by Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.
Sermon title: Help
Although the video did not upload, here is a link to the audio.
Yesterday was Father’s Day. At our church, we use Father’s Day and Mother’s Day to honor the godly men and women in our congregation. We honor all men and women because, even without biological or adopted children, every Christian can be a spiritual parent to someone else.
Most Christians that I regularly engage with are Protestants. They belong to a church affiliated with the Reformation or some post-Reformation denomination. Of those folks, most are theologically evangelicals. Therefore, most don’t like referring to ministers with the honorific of “Father.”
Roman Catholics often call their parish priests Father. Occasionally, I hear some Anglican friends do the same; some Orthodox traditions do this too. To these, I sometimes hear people cite the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:9, “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.”
Without getting into a full essay on Matthew 23:9, we must understand three things: (1) the purpose of this pushback, (2) the inconsistent application of this critique, and (3) the larger biblical witness.
But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:8-12).
Jesus pushes back on those who would elevate themselves with titles. The final verse says, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” The issue is with the scribes and Pharisees, the people Jesus was addressing (see 23:2), elevating themselves with titles like “rabbi,” “father,” and “instructors.” The issue wasn’t those particular words. The issue was the prideful hearts that those words represented. This does not mean that titles are unhelpful, but it does mean that people shouldn’t bestow titles on themselves. We can’t avoid these titles. Even outside the church, we have teachers and fathers. The heart was the issue, not necessarily the labels.
Furthermore, many Christians who would use Matthew 23:9 to push back against calling a priest/pastor “Father” would be fine calling some people in the church teacher. For example, they may call their pastor or Sunday School instructor “teacher.” Throughout Paul’s letters, we are faced with the reality that some are called to specific offices and thereby called to bear specific titles (see Ephesians 4, 1 Timothy 3, and Titus 1).
Finally, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul calls himself a father in a spiritual sense. As far as we can tell, Paul had no children of his own. At the time of his gospel ministry, he was single and committed to singleness (1 Corinthians 7:8). To the Christians in Corinth, he wrote,”For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15 ). In the church traditions that I have been a part of, we often call fellow Christians “brothers-in-Christ” or “sisters-in-Christ.” Paul identifies himself here as serving the Corinthians as a “father-in-Christ.” They are not his biological children. They are not his adopted children. They are his spiritual children, in a sense.
Paul similarly calls Timothy his son and refers to himself as Timothy’s father. In Philippians 2:22, he writes, “But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.” Again, Paul is not Timothy’s biological or adoptive father, but he identifies Timothy as a spiritual son and himself as a spiritual father, as they work together in the gospel ministry.
For these reasons, although we may not choose to call ministers or mentors “Father” as a title, we can acknowledge the deeper reality of spiritual fatherhood or, to put use more biblical language, “fatherhood-in-Christ.”
Yes, every Christian man is our brother-in-Christ, but some men play a special role in mentoring, guiding, instructing, training, and disciplining others for the sake of following Christ well. Of course, pastors/elders can take this role. Those whom God has specifically called to the work of gospel ministry are particularly able to function as father figures.
The men who are called to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Peter 5:2a) often serve as fathers-in-Christ to the congregation. They cannot minister in an unrestricted sense to the women of the church, but they can publicly teach, encourage, and pastor the women of the church. With proper accountability, they can provide great spiritual care for women. Even more so, they can pastor, lead, teach, love, and disciple the men of the congregation. In directly ministering to the men, they can indirectly minister to many women who are married to these godly men who are called to be husbands and fathers to their families.
Many people grow up with absent, estranged, or outright abusive fathers. They struggle to see the love and goodness of God because of this personal hang-up. Men are given the title of father, so that they can see that their fathering mirrors the fatherhood of God. Unfortunately, they fail and are sometimes unrepentant; instead of benefitting their children by following the example of our Heavenly Father, they project a poor image of fatherhood onto God. Pastors can play a key role in giving another person, an imperfect example of fatherhood which, while still fallible, better exemplifies God’s character and admits where he falls short and seeks forgiveness and change in the face of it.
Every man, whether he has fathered biological or adopted children before, can be someone else’s father-in-Christ. They don’t need to be ordained or called to ministry to play this important role. Sometimes the simplest and most humble men play this role for myriads of men throughout their lives. They lead men to trust in Christ. They teach them how to follow him. They help them to abide in him. They send them out to do the same for others. All the while, they teach no adult Sunday School class, lead no men’s Bible study, and bear no title. They simply do what a father does for his children.
If you are a Christian man, I want to challenge you to seriously consider the opportunity before you. You can have a generational impact for Christ. You can change the trajectory of men and families for lifetimes simply by being like a dad for kids who aren’t your own. You may only have Jesus in common with them, but you can use that common union to advance a deeper relationship of encouragement, accountability, love, and discipline.
I’ve focused on the idea of a father-in-Christ, but I want to acknowledge the biblical reality of a mother-in-Christ (see Titus 2). We honor women for the spiritual mothering that they can provide in our lives. Because of this, if you are a Christian woman, you can also take on this challenge to provide the kind of mother some people have never had. Even if they have a great relationship with their mom, you can still provide a care for them that helps them to know Christ, trust Christ, follow Christ, abide in Christ, and share Christ with others. What a gift!
In Scripture, children are a blessing. For example, Psalm 127:3-5a says:
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
Even if God hasn’t blessed you with children in your home, he can bless you with children in your heart. He can bless you with brothers and sisters-in-Christ who also call you, even if just in their minds, father or mother.
Chandler Warren 