Fatherly Advice!

June 29, 2023

Fatherly Advice!

Last week, our two daughters learned how to drive a car with a manual transmission while staying in Ireland.  Although they confess that they are not ready to drive a car with a manual transmission in a busy and hilly city, they did become acquainted with the basics.

When I turned 16-years-old, my father taught me to drive a manual transmission in a VW Bug.  He provided good advice on how to release the clutch pedal while also pushing on the accelerator pedal.  Every time I killed the motor, he would patiently say, “Give it a little more gas and a little less clutch.”

My father also taught me how to fish, how to mow the lawn, and how to wash a car.  My father also taught me some more important things like how to respect my mother, how to work hard for my dream, and how to worship God.

There are some things a friend, a neighbor, or even a teacher can teach us.  But, there is a unique role that a father plays; a father’s advice is different than any other advice you may receive!

In his letter to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul raises up the value of a father’s advice.  In I Corinthians 4:15 he writes; “For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers.  Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.”

In our spiritual life, we need guidance from someone other than those who are our spiritual peers.  In other words, we need wise counsel and honest accountability from someone who is further down the journey of faith than we are. 

We need someone who is more like a parent than a sibling.  We need someone who is deeper in their relationship with Jesus, someone who possesses more spiritual maturity, someone who is actually practicing a variety of spiritual disciplines.

Paul was reminding the Christ-followers in Corinth that if they were to continue to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus, they needed someone like a spiritual parent.  They needed someone to guide them and encourage them as well as someone to teach them and hold them accountable. 

Our spiritual brothers and sisters don’t always possess the spiritual wisdom and life experience to give us the advice we need.  We need someone further down the journey.

For most of my years as a pastor, I engaged the services of a certified and quite gifted Spiritual Director.  I learned quickly that her role was not to be a therapist or a counselor or a psychologist.  Her role was to guide me, encourage me, teach me, and hold me accountable to the spiritual disciplines that would help me grow my relationship with Jesus deeper and deeper.

She filled a role in my spiritual life like my father filled in my everyday life.  Just as I am grateful for all the things my father taught me and let me learn on my own, I am thankful for all the things my spiritual director taught me and let me learn on my own.

The Apostle Paul understood the importance of placing ourselves under the guidance of a person who is more spiritually mature than we are.  He took the time to remind the Christ-followers in Corinth of this important truth.  He went so far as to offer to serve as their spiritual father.

I would like to leave you with two questions.  Please spend some time with these questions today as you ponder the importance of growing your relationship with Jesus.

First, who is a person that is serving as a spiritual parent, guide, or director in your life and when was the last time you sat down to visit with them?  Consider answering the question, “How is it with my soul today?”

Second, who is one person for whom you are serving as a spiritual parent, guide, or director and when was the last time you sat down to visit with them?  Consider asking them the question, “How is it with your soul today?”

Paul knew there was no such thing as solitary Christianity; it’s why the Holy Spirit gave birth to the church!  There is no growing relationship with Jesus without relationships with other Christ-followers; it why we encouraged to have a spiritual father or mother. 

The promise is that when we engage in and nurture our relationship with these spiritual guides, the Holy Spirit will pour deep joy into our life and great delight into our heart.  Maybe today is the day to re-kindle or start your relationship with a spiritual guide.

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug