The phrase, “the Father’s heart” has become a popular buzzword in many modern, Christian circles. It seems that no matter which subgroup of Christians I am around — charismatics, catholics, evangelicals or reformed — it is a common theme for believers to encourage one another with the idea that God loves them as a Father, and will not let them go or do them harm. It is for good reason that this phrase is in common use, and it will, ideally, continue to grow deeper into the minds of believers as we learn look at our heavenly Papa. Yet, it is even more necessary that as we discover more of God’s heart toward us, we also learn to demonstrate the Father heart of God toward others.
THE FATHER HEART OF GOD
The Bible reveals to us that God’s ultimate will for every man and woman, is that we would grow to walk in the ways of our heavenly Father and live according to the spiritual DNA that was placed in us at the point of our salvation. God has already done everything possible to give us the ability to see Him, hear Him speaking over us, and to enable us to be conformed to His image, in holiness and righteousness.
The greatest demonstration of the Father heart of God was that He sent His only Son, Jesus, into the world, who would be sacrificed as a holy offering for our sin, in order to give us renewed life and restoration. Through this moment of re-creation work, God changed our identity from spiritual orphans to children of God. We are now sons of God, just like Jesus! At this moment of salvation, God also placed a destiny of “good works” on each of us (Ephesians 2:10), and He sent His Holy Spirit to live within us, to continually remind us of who we are — or rather, who we have become in Him.
God has finished everything necessary to raise us up as sons, and to enable us to fulfill our divine destiny as His children. Even more than that, He comes alongside us presently, to empower us and press us forward to reach our fullest potential in Him. True, some of us fail to measure up to the call of Christ on our lives. Nevertheless, for God’s part as our Father, there is no failure which can be attributed to Him. He has accomplished everything necessary to enable us to stand!
To discuss the Father heart of God, then is to reflect on the fact that we do not have a God who is out to get us when we mess up. He is not looking down on us, wondering if we will ever get our act together, or expecting us to be able to grow and mature ourselves. Instead, we have an active God who is always near to us. (theological term: God is “imminent.”) Not only has he ensured a path for our success, but He cheers us on as we pursue that success. He gives us hope, and peace, and blessing, as a loving Father, rather than leaving us in fear and doubt as to where we stand with Him. He is a good Father to His children.
EARTHLY FATHERS
The Father heart of God became so much more clear to me when, a few years ago, I was privileged to enter the realm of fatherhood myself. On the day I married my beautiful bride, I also became the proud daddy of an amazing 5 year old daughter (now 9). Less than a year later we added a second daughter to our family, and again, around her first birthday, we did the work of creating a little boy who has recently turned 1.
In a matter of days, if not hours, into fatherhood, I instinctively understood something about God’s “Father Heart” that I never could have known otherwise. All it took was one look at my children to know that I would do whatever is in my power to protect them, give them joy, and help them to succeed in whatever their life leads them to do.
My children understand this about their father as well. If you ask my younger daughter, Harper (almost 3), where she keeps her daddy, she will happily show you her tiny little finger, where she does, in fact, keep me wrapped tightly. I hate the times I have to bring down discipline on her, leaving her crying or angry. Sometimes I withhold that discipline far longer than my wife (rightly) thinks I should, simply because my heart does not want to do any harm to her, even when she is in the wrong. I want to snuggle her, and love her, and give her everything her heart desires. I want to see her smile and dance. I want to hear her giggling and singing. I want what is best for her in everything! She has my heart, and even on my worst days, when I am grumpy, tired, and short-tempered, my hardness can be melted quickly by her sweet kisses on the cheek.
My job as a father, if I am to represent God well, is to love my children abundantly, knowing that no sacrifice is too great to give, in order to take them as high as they can go in this life. My desire is that no matter how much success I have in this life, I want them to go farther than I ever could. My children are not a burden, they are a blessing to me and if I do this fathering thing well, they will be my greatest legacy when I’m dead and gone.
SPIRITUAL FATHERS
In the last couple of years, God has enabled me to enter into another level of fatherhood. As He has given rapid increase to our ministry in East Africa, I am, once again, learning new things about God’s “father heart” toward His children. I have the privilege of serving as the spiritual overseer of more than 30 churches in Sozo Ministries International, and more directly, I have become a spiritual father to the pastors and leaders of these churches. In this role, I have stepped into a level of leadership that is both the most encouraging and the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life.
What I have noticed, though, as the grace of God has allowed me to come into this relational position, is that the way I think about every little thing in ministry is now multi-faceted. For 15 years I have served God as a youth pastor, associate pastor, evangelist and missionary, working in nearly a dozen countries. I have never wavered in my faithful commitment to seeing the work of ministry accomplished. Some who know me might even say I am a workaholic, but the truth is, I just love serving the Lord and others. Now, however, there has been a shift in my work. Not only am I seeking to see the ministry work fulfilled with excellence; I am also seeking to do so in a way that builds the leaders around me and equips these pastors to grow in the ministry as well.
What I mean is this: every day, as I go to work, it is no longer simply about doing the things God has called me to do to serve His church. There is now a higher purpose in everything I do, which is to set the example to these men and women of God, and to pour everything I have learned into them, in order for them to do the work, as well. I am raising them up as sons and daughters, and want to see them succeed in what God calls them to do!
This shift became very apparent to me recently, as I was preaching at one of our church outreaches in a small village in Uganda. The crowd was less than 100 people, and as I was called to the rickety, wooden platform to preach, I was walking into a familiar space. I have preached these small outreaches dozens, if not hundreds of times. Yet in that moment, I wasn’t simply aware of the crowd in front of me, and the Holy Spirit’s leading in how to share the Gospel. I was equally aware that sitting behind the platform were three of my pastors who were watching my every move, learning from me how to handle these opportunities.
Now don’t get me wrong, all three of these pastors have preached similar crusades. They are not new to the ministry. It was just that in the moment, God made me very aware that my spiritual children were watching, and so I couldn’t cut corners in the work, despite the fact I was recovering from typhoid and had a major headache. My role was to be the example to them as I shared the gospel, so that they can learn from me and, in turn, take their own gospel ministry to another level.
This constant awareness of my role as a living example of Christ has pushed my passion for ministry much farther than it was before. Now, not only am I working to see the lost come to Christ or to see the Lord touch those who desperately need Him to move in their lives. I am pressed upward to an even greater calling in my ministry, as I now have the privilege of raising up sons and daughters in the work, and launching them out as well.
What I have learned, and am still learning, is that the heart of a spiritual father cannot be any different than the heart of an earthly father. These men and women whom the Lord has given to me to raise up in Christ and in the ministry, deserve the same unshakable dedication from me that my natural children do. They are not threats to me. They are not competition for me. As they come up higher, it does not lower me down in any way. Rather, as their gifts develop and grow; as their ministries and churches take off, it is actually an expression of the fruit of my life, and my legacy is being developed in them.
Just as my own children carry my DNA, my ‘Gospel DNA’ and what I know of following Christ is being replicated in my spiritual children. As they carry on what they gain from me, the anointing God has placed on my life is expanding through this spiritual family, as well.
As a spiritual father, it is my role to protect and encourage these men and women. It is my burden to bring discipline when necessary, and it is the joy of my life to see them grow and succeed. This is the heart of a spiritual father, because it is the heart of God.
The question is, what about you? As you have felt the Father heart of God toward you, who are you extending that same love, care, and encouragement with? Maybe you don’t oversee churches and pastors, or have any visible leadership over others. That doesn’t change our job to extend that father heart throughout the church and into the world that is desperate to see their “Abba Father.” You must step up this kind of love, wherever you have been called to serve. The world is waiting for us to reveal Him to them, just as He has been revealed to us. It’s time to catch the Father heart of God and live it out.
Photo by Derek Thomson on Unsplash
