June 2000 Message

Not Many Fathers

By Rev. Victor I. Burgos

In the natural realm many children are raised without a father figure in their homes. For whatever reasons that may be, the truth is that thousands of mothers are on their own trying to do their best in bringing up their children as decent human beings. The majority of them do a great job in spite of all the obstacles that are against them. In the spiritual realm of the believer we find that many children of God are growing up as though they do not have a father figure.

And why is it so important to have a father figure? Someone may ask. I believe that part of the answer rests in the fact that we all know how vital it is to have good role models for inspiration in our lives; people we would love to imitate in character and deeds. The examples that society has appointed us, in one way or another, have disillusioned us for different reasons. In some instances we expected too much of them and they could not deliver. The outstanding performances, the expertise and discipline that many of these so called role models have in their interaction with society does not always match the same expectations we have of them for other areas of their make-up, their character being the most important.

Unfortunately, in the Christian arena, it seems that we are in some cases no better than the world around us. We experience disappointments that look and feel very similar. Only God knows the true assessment of the damages of trying to pattern our lives after the wrong example or image. But He also knows that in Him there is hope if we follow after His counsel found in His word.

As believers we have a Father that has promised us to never leave us or forsake us. In the gospel of John 1:12-13 we read, "But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power (the right or privilege) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." And in Hebrews 13:5, "…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." And speaking of the Holy Spirit the Lord says in John 14:18, "I will not leave you comfortless: (Or, orphans) I will come to you."

We know that we must follow and model our lives after the example of our Master. He is matchless! He has also given us a recreated spirit that has the nature and the ability to conform to His blueprint for our lives. Of no less importance is the fact that He indwells us in the person of the Holy Spirit who has the assignment to lead us into all truth, His Word is truth. Add to this the spiritual language, tongues, that He has made available to every believer to draw the mysteries, hidden truths, out of His Word and we have all the ingredients needed to succeed. Glory to God!

The Lord has also given us in the body of Christ godly men and women as examples that we can follow. Let us examine the word of God and see what He has to say. We do not have to be afraid of falling into the wrong path if we know what we are looking for.

I Corinthians 4:15-16
15 For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

In my entire Christian walk I never heard any one claiming they had a spiritual father until I heard my own pastor speaking about it. He claimed, and still does, that he has a spiritual father. I have seen people claiming that God was their father but with very little to show for it in terms of transformation and regeneration. And my pastor was not speaking as the new fan-club member of the new kid on the block-celebrity-preacher status of the latest spiritual discovery. He was speaking about a man who mentors him into becoming Christ-like; a man that has created in him an unsurpassed hunger and thirst for the life of Christ in him, through him and upon him. This has translated into a deeper love for God's word and the awesome responsibility of knowing that as he feeds the milk of the word to some and the meat to others, he has to live a life that is no longer his own before the whole world, believers and unbelievers alike.

It is a tremendous task to father others into their inheritance in Christ Jesus as it is to father their born again spirits into perfection or maturity in Him. The former without the latter would be like building castles in the clouds. This endeavor was not left to ten thousand instructors or tutors but to spiritual fathers: nourishers, upholders, protectors, and overseers in the body of Christ.

Men that glory in men

I Cor. 3:4-7
4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are you not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increased.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, but God that giveth the increased.

I Cor. 3:21 Therefore let not man glory in men. For all things are yours.

Sometimes we are tempted to have pet doctrines or pet teachers and we run the risk of swallowing a camel and straining out a gnat. We shut down the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and His ability to lead us into truth before examining what He wants to show us. It is from Him that we learn. Yes, a man or a woman might be the instrument that God is using to mentor us, but we better make sure that what they are teaching comes from the same Holy Ghost that is in our hearts. We must give honor to whom honor is due, but not at the price of losing what we have attained in Christ. Whatever understanding or revelation they receive, they receive it from God and it is His Glory. Our honor is to go after Him and search the understanding and wisdom of His word, the prompting of His heart (see Prov. 25:2). After all, Paul says that all things are ours (I Cor. 3: 22), the teachers of the word of God are given to us from God from whom they received their call. They are stewards of the mysteries of God for our profit. In the gospel of John 5:44 Jesus says, "How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?"

Itching ears: Curiosity killed the cat.

II Timothy 4:3-4
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables.

According to Earle's study on the meaning of different New Testament words and citing Arndt and Gingrich, he says that they make the remark that the use of the word "itching" in this passage of scripture is used "figuratively of curiosity, that looks for interesting and spicy bits of information." The literal meaning would be to "scratch" or "tickle". It sounds to me like people that claim to "know the word", have "heard the word" but the word of God is not enough for them because "the truth is out there", and they are determined to find it no matter what. They choose to shut their ears to the truth to go after fiction, to go after "secret or new revelations" that the rest of "the Body is not ready for." My Bible says that no scripture is of any private interpretation (II Peter 1:20) and that what the Lord reveals to us we can preach it or proclaim it upon the housetops (Matt. 10:27). The Bible tells us that when we go here and there for the latest revelations and we accumulate a cluster of teachers of our liking, we are opening ourselves to big time errors. If we shut down the Teacher in the inside, the instructors on the outside can have a field day with our lives. If you do not believe me, maybe you have not read the newspaper, heard on the radio, or seen the news on TV land about the many innocent people who being led by curiosity and not by the Holy Spirit have lost their lives following the imaginations of men void of the ability to mentor them into the person of Jesus.

Jack of all trades, masters of nothing

II Timothy 3:6-7
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

In the first five verses of II Timothy 3 Paul describes the kind of individuals that will proliferate in the lasts days. Paul describes men and women who look at themselves as the center of their own universe, in rebellion to God and men, that through a mask of godliness walk over anybody or anything as long as they can satisfy their own primordial appetites; men of depraved minds who would make prey on those that are always learning something new and never developing experiential knowledge of anything; professional students of the word of God and completely ignorant concerning the execution of His commandments and of faith toward God and their neighbors. They are like people that spent all their life taking driving lessons, can pass their written test, but can not face the day of their practical test. They have a well develop philosophy on driving a car but have never seen one. I like what my pastor says, "If somebody is going to perform surgery on you, you certainly don't want somebody who wakes up one day feeling a call to be a surgeon and with a book in one hand and a knife in the other wants to do a number on you;" quote, unquote. If the last stretch of your walk in obedience to God depended on a flight that you have to take from Seattle to Portland, you certainly want somebody with theoretical and practical accredited experience behind their back and not somebody that bought a pilot license over the Internet. Believe me, they are not the ones you want to imitate.

Doers of the word, not hearers only

I Thessalonians 2:13
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing; because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Paul the apostle acknowledges the "ears to hear" the word of God of the Thessalonian church and how the word was continually set in operation in their lives through faith. Because of this, in the next verse (14) of the same chapter Paul states that they "..became followers (imitators) of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus....."

It is fair to say that our ability to imitate or follow any one has a lot to do with how clearly we hear the person who is talking to us, how well we understand what they are saying, our desire to be transformed, and our diligence and faithfulness to implement the steps for such transformation. We do not become transformed by accident in the same way that we were not saved by accident.

We are saved by grace through faith apart from works but after being made righteous we must do righteousness and this is an expression of our faith. James 1:22 says, "But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving you own selves." Also in James 2: 17, "Even so faith, if it hath no works, is dead, being alone." And again in James 2:26 the scripture reads, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

Making merchandise of you

II Peter 2:1-3 1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

Peter warns us of those that through a gospel of their own invention, words that they have made up and brought in secrecy, have designed devilish ways to exploit the hearers. It is amazing how Satan shows up in the church not with new tricks but with the same old ones clothed in the attire of holiness and the advancement of the gospel. He uses any area he can grab of our lives. It does not matter to him whether we have been in Christ fifty years or five seconds or in-between. I wonder how many have been taken by scams that promise to make them rich so they can give to the Lord's work, or by promises of healing, promises of salvation for a love one in exchange for giving to their cause. Even the world in many instances seems to have more sense in some areas than we do. Have you heard the expression "buyer beware"? Well, there is a lot of wisdom in those two words. I have seen those investigative reporters on TV and they warns us of scams like sweepstakes in which you are the winner but to claim your prize you have to send a certain amount of money. If you have to pay them, it is not free. Is it?

Salvation is free; it is by grace through faith. We cannot work for it, therefore we cannot take credit for it. The purpose of giving to the work of God is not to buy things from Him, like peace, healing, riches or any other sort of things. He is not for sale and neither are His promises. There are those men that would exploit our emotions, our needs, our weaknesses, but mainly what they do is that they exploit our ignorance and our lack of commitment to grow spiritually. We become their commodity when we choose willingly to become alive to ourselves and lay back with God.

We do not hear much about the mortification of our flesh yet the scripture is very clear about keeping the old man where it belongs in relation to the new man in us and that is dead. In the book of I Cor. 9:27 the apostle Paul states, "But I keep under my body, and bring it to subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be castaway." What Paul is saying is that he kept the outward man of the flesh under the authority of the inward man of the spirit. He dealt with the physical man in such a way that he was no contender for his spirit man, for he knew how to starve it from all its appetites and how to deal it a deadly blow when it rebelled. The outward man had become a slave to the spirit man in him. This control over his flesh put him in an advantageous position when he expounded the gospel to others, for like in a natural fight when he wrestled with it, he did it "by the Book", therefore he could not be disqualified when declared the winner.

What should I look for in a spiritual father?

A better question would be what does the Lord require in a spiritual father? When I thought about this the first scripture that came to my mind was in the book of Micah.

Micah 6:8
He hath shewed thee, o man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

What is Micah saying to us in this scripture? What he is saying is that whatever the Lord is asking and seeking in us, He shows it to us first. The word "shewed" here means more than something laid open to view so that we can see it with our eyes. It means to manifest, to explain, to expound, to report, to expose, to certify, to declare plainly, by word of mouth to one present. It leaves no room to claim ignorance. He makes it very plain, there is no "beating around the bush", of what He wants to find in us and out of us, and that is: that which is good, pleasant, full of grace, bountiful, full of joy and always ready to be delivered with the right kind of heart. Three things the Lord requires: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before Him. I believe this list goes from top to bottom.

The first requirement is that we walk humbly with God. This speaks of fellowship with God, of spending time with Him, of a constant seeking of His face, of a sincere desire to please Him and a bold willingness to obey His word without the slightest thought or action that would indicate any kind of pretence on our part. It is that attitude of mind and that conformity of heart that John the Baptist expressed in John 3:30: "He must increase, but I must decrease." It is the same position that Paul the apostle declares in Galatians 2:20: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

The second requirement is to love mercy. Mercy is that quality of the nature of God himself that caused Jesus to look at the masses with compassion. Jesus saw their needs, spiritual and physical, knowing that it was in Him alone that all their needs, and the needs of the whole world, would be met according to His riches in glory: if they would believed his report: "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:17. It is that mercy that rejoices over judgment that James 2:13 speaks about.

The third requirement is to do justly. When we walk in humility before God and we love mercy it is without question that to do justly must follow. This is the outward manifestation of God's character and nature being formed in us. What He is, what He does, in two words: His glory. This glory will flow through us because, as he promised, it is in us. In Him there is equity and no favoritism. He recompenses every one according to their deeds, He carries no false balances, His lips are truth and the words of His mouth are always faithful. He did us justice so that we would stand justified in His presence: "Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." Acts 3:26. He expects us to show to others the same kind of indiscriminate favor that we undeservingly received from Him. That is justice.

It is evident that if the Lord requires these three qualities, then it must be imperative that we seek them also in our spiritual fathers.

Other traits of a true spiritual father

In the book of Ezekiel 34 the Lord brings to light the poor job that the shepherds of Israel were doing in representing Him, their Shepherd and their God. Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy against them because of their misrepresentation of God. At the center of that gruesome situation we can see and hear the cry of the redemptive heart of God toward His people.

to feed the flock
to strengthen the diseased
to heal the sick
to bind up the broken hearted
to bring back the driven away
to seek the lost
to oversee with mercy and justice

In the book of John 10:11 Jesus declares, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." This statement shows an abysmal contrast with the shepherds of Ezekiel 34 which were feeding themselves, exploiting the sheep for their own profit, ruling them with a "fist of iron", and neglecting to minister to their needs. It is quite obvious that those shepherds had no fellowship with the Lord, no prayer life and no joy in serving Him. They had become hirelings not caring for the welfare of the flock of God. The lack of fresh revelation spilled over into a lack of fervency in serving the Lord by serving His people.

The following verses reflect the true heartbeat of God toward His sheep:

I Peter 5:2-3
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

The word "ensample" in verse 3 of I Peter 5 conveys the idea of a pattern, worthy of being imitated, a model or guide to conform or follow after. The Amplified Bible sheds more light on these verses as follows:

I Peter 5:2-3 (AB)
2 Tend (nurture, guard, guide, and fold) the flock of God that is [your responsibility], not by coercion or constraint, but willingly; not dishonorably motivated by advantages and profits [belonging to the office], but eagerly and cheerfully;
3 Not domineering [as arrogant, dictatorial, and overbearing persons] over those in your charge, but being examples (patterns and models of Christian living) to the flock (the congregation).

Good examples, good spiritual fathers are a rare breed of man.. We must learn where and who we are looking for. We cannot look to the world for our answers, we must look in the Church. The Lord has godly men and women that meet His standard. We must remember though, that these men and women are like gold nuggets in the kingdom of God. They are not perfect, like none of us are, but they strive for the same perfection in Christ Jesus that we are seeking to model our lives by. And as long as they continue to humbly submit and pattern their lives after the Good Shepherd," we can reliably follow after them.

I have found in my own pastor my spiritual father. He does not take the place of my ultimate role model: our Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd of the flock of whom David speaks in Psalm 23. I do receive him as the gift of God through Jesus Christ spoken in Ephesians 4:8-13.

Thank you Pastor Jann Butler for inspiring this message in me.

Victor