This past week I watched parts of several stand-up comedians acts on Comedy Central. It seemed like every time I was clicking past they were talking about their Dad and what he was like. Everyone was laughing and they did several crowd shots where people were pointing at each other and shaking their heads as if to say, "He's talking about your Dad!".
As I watched I realized how different my memories were from what apparently most people grew up with. Jokes only work if there is an element of truth in them. I know I was blessed to grow up in the family I grew up in. Everyone has issues and my parents weren't perfect but I don't have those memories of my Dad treating me or my Mom bad. Even when we were in trouble my parents would let anger pass and they would punish us because of our actions and not because they were "angry".
I wonder if this model of a father figure has anything to do with the way that the three Johnson boys grew up as opposed to a lot of people we were around? It just makes me wonder how people's view of their own father affects their view of God as their Father? When I hear father I think of love. My parents put aside their own desires and their time to pour into our lives every day. If you don't trust your father or you didn't have a lot of love passed on to you from your father then you may not always have a great concept of God as your Father. I know God loves me more than my parents do and that is not an easy thing for me to grasp.
So if families are falling apart at a record pace then do you think that is at least a portion of the reason that the percentage of people who claim to be Christians is dropping in the United States every year?
Just wondering...I have no proof. I am just laying in bed thinking when I should be sleeping. I know that not everyone who reads this is a Christian but I do believe you all know I am. This is simply food for thought.
7 comments:
You are so right about the role of a father in showing his family who God is. I think it is so difficult to overcome the absence of that picture. It's like a basic concept of Christianity has been robbed of so many youth because of this.
I think that one's spirituality comes from parents, friends, and extended family in general, not just your relationship with your father. A devout single mother who takes her kids to church regularly has just as much of a chance of instilling those values in her child(ren) as a family with a father in it. Similarly, if all your friends are Christian, it's likely that you're going to end up as one as well. A father is only one part of anyone's environment, not the whole story.
Michael, if you really want to find out about why people don't have any interest in joining the church or are leaving, just ask people. If you do ask, though, be prepared to listen instead of presenting any counter-arguments, and thank them for taking the time to talk to you. Honestly, in this kind of thing, you can waste a lot of time speculating and come to conclusions that are waaaaaaay off.
:) I have asked a lot of people why they don't go to church or why they stopped. I may have to do it on here. I never thought about using my blog for that question but I would be very interested to see the answers. As for father's only being a portion of the story I couldn't agree more. I am not saying that someone's mother or friends won't have an affect on how a child looks at the world and God. I have however talked to several people who had a poor relationship with their father, in some cases abusive, and it made looking at God as their "father" a challenge. I have only talked to people I know and that wanted to share with me. I'm asking questions, I don't have the answers.
My husband is having a hard time because he's being laid off and I was attempting to cheer him up by reminding him of God's love and how He always takes care of us. Well that got us talking about the concept of how our earthly father is the only tangible father we know and how when we have no doubt that our earthly father loves us its easier to grasp the fact that God the Father loves us as well. For instance my dad never, ever left me in doubt of his love for me... he says it constantly, hugs me often and I know he will always be there for me and will always help me when I need it. In turn I have never doubted God's promises and the fact that He will always take care of me. My husband on the other hand hasn't had a very loving, or affectionate relationship with his dad and he tends to wrestle with the knowledge of God's love for him. None of this is to say that the role of the mother isn't a vital part of either of our lives but the father figure is unique in and of itself.
Wildfire, I'm not sure you were understanding the point of the blog, although I get why you said what you said.
I grew up with the same father as Michael, and maybe I can understand what he's saying more clearly than it might appear to others, but he's only directly comparing earthly fathers to God the Father. Michael could write a blog about our mother, and how she's a great example of love as well, but it wouldn't be a direct relation to God the Father in OUR case.
Michael, it certainly is a big issue, the whole father thing. There's such little talk to fathers anymore, encouraging them to be the fathers they should be. Let's just write a book about it. ;)
My interpretation of the thrust of the post was that you relate to God in much the way that you would your own father. The father figure archetype is one who is charged with protecting you and the rest of your family, traditionally is powerful, either physically or through force of will, and is in a role of leadership. I interpreted Michael's blog as indicating that as a child of that kind of family, you are predisposed toward having a certain kind of relationship that is both caring and in a position of following at the same time, which may be a template for an ideal relationship for following and serving God.
With that understanding, I'd like to clarify others' interpretation of my earlier post in terms of environment as a whole and not focus on the single mother example that I used. My example, though imperfectly expressed, was meant to illustrate that you can have that kind of relationship with not only a member of either sex, but also that you can find that kind of relationship elsewhere other than in your immediate nuclear family.
Are we on the same page? Am I understanding you correctly?
Post a Comment