Fathers — Disciple Makers

"Wait 'til your father gets home!" I know this is a saying that is past its prime, but it used to be the apex of home the home disciplinary threat. That idea of discipline has apparently gone the way of the dinosaur in that disciplinary measures are no longer considered just the father's role. This may be a positive development but there are still some concerns that go along with it. My question is whether or not have fathers abandoned the function of making disciples along with the sharing of discipline. I hope not.

Scripture is clear in several places that the father should be responsible for training and teaching his children. PROVERBS 1:8 instructs children to HEAR THE INSTRUCTION OF THEIR FATHER AND TO NOT FORSAKE THE LAW OF THE MOTHER. The psalmist exhorted in PSALM 78:5 that A LAW WAS APPOINTED IN ISRAEL AND....COMMANDED OUR FATHERS TO MAKE IT KNOWN TO THEIR CHILDREN. It seems clear that fathers have a huge role in making disciples of their children. The question is how can fathers do that.

It has been said and widely believed that more is caught than taught but that both need to take place. Instead of telling our children they should have a quiet time, we should have one also. When was the last time your children saw you reading the Bible and heard you talking to God? Instead of just telling our children they should honor and praise God in all they do we should do so likewise. When was the last time your child saw you honor and praise God when someone cut you off on the freeway, or a clerk was rude to you?

At the beginning of a new year it is a good time to decide to let our children see us as disciples of Christ every day. In so doing they can catch the discipleship journey as well as hear about it. PROVERBS 22:6 teaches us to train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. As fathers we need to remember that a father who loves his children will discipline them (HEBREWS 12:7) and a father who loves God will also display what it means to be a disciple of the Lord.

Happy 2012.