Fathers, Guard Your Command

Fathers in our culture are portrayed as out-of-touch, overly religious, counter-cultural fuddy-duddies or as rambling, bumbling idiots with nothing worthwhile to contribute except corny dad jokes or uncomfortable "uncool" dad moments. 

And because of the cultural shift around us, too many dads are content with sitting back and letting the culture redefine what family should look like, what their role as father should look like. Too many dads have abandoned the idea of being the stalwart warrior and protector of the kingdom that God has placed them in command over, preferring instead to abdicate command to their wives and spend their time tinkering in the garage with a beer in one hand and a tv remote in the other, or worse yet, disappearing altogether and allowing their one-time "baby mama" to go it alone. 

True masculinity is decried as toxic and to be avoided and fathers are pushed into the background of our families and our culture, and yet we wonder "Where did the MEN go? Where did the FATHERS go?" 

Why are our children becoming more confused, less secure and less grounded? Look no further than the loss of authentic fatherhood in our western, post-modern, post-Christian society. Look no further than the cultural trash heap where fathers have been relegated.

Growing up fatherless, I see this firsthand in myself. My dad wrestled with many demons, none as influential as his own relationship with his father, and decided that running from them would be the best course of action, leaving me without the most important influence in my life - even though I long ago pledged that I would be a good, Godly father and husband and not do things the way my dad did them, and even though growing up I had Godly men who came alongside me and tried to fill some of the empty roles that my dad did not fill, there are still areas of fatherhood where I am inadequate because I didn't learn those things through the intense influence of a father/ son relationship. There are things that I've had to learn from fatherhood books in order to teach my kids, because they are lessons that my dad didn't, and likely couldn't, teach me. 

Fathers in our culture, and even within the church, are encouraged to abdicate and flee, but that's not what we are instructed to do. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul writes out the responsibility of fathers: to be a constant Godly influence in the lives of his children and those around them and to guard to command that Go places over him:


Man of God, guard what has been entrusted to you! Keep your command without fault or failure! (1 Timothy 6:13-14)

I love this command that Paul shares. It's written in the closing, almost as a reminder- sprinkled in amongst a list of important things that Paul wanted Timothy to remember and to share with the churches. "Guard the command entrusted to you." 

There is so much in that little verse. Fathers, you are the commander over the kingdom that God has given you. Not only do you get the greatest reward for what is produced by your Kingdom, but you bear the responsibility for the influences that you let reach your children. 

The world can call you out of touch all they want, but you bear responsibility for what negative influences YouTube brings to your children's eyes, for the negativity that pollutes them from Facebook. The old adage may say, "Be careful little eyes what you see. Be careful little ears what you hear," but in reality the truth screams at us: "Fathers, guard what your children see! Guard what your children hear! Protect them! Don't even allow the negative influences of the world to invade the fortress."

Lock the fortress down tight, dads. You have a lot of good, amazing, Godly information to relay to your kids, to teach them and train them up in. They don't need a counter-influence coming at them, especially negative influences that come at them simply because you're too lazy to lock down the fortress or simply letting things in because you're ignorant of what they're watching or who they're talking to. 

Guard - Protect - Train. That is your job. It's one that we need to start taking seriously.