FATHERS & KNOWLEDGE (PT. 3)
As we begin a brand New Year, we hope we have learned the lessons well from the previous year. I am sure that 2020 has taught us many lessons. Of course, we all made mistakes along the way. There were some good times and some bad times. Life is full of lessons, and none of us are exempt from the tests that come with them. As fathers, we must learn each lesson well. Our success in learning the lessons of life benefits others more than ourselves individually. This point is critical to know because, as fathers, we have the additional responsibility for those we cover. So many wives and children lived through 2020 without a man or a father in their lives. They had to endure this reality because many men were absent or missing in action. When it involves fathers, the pain is more devastating because children are involved. We hope that 2021 will be different for families because the challenge is knowledge, or the lack thereof.
Hosea 4:6 declares:
“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.”
This scripture is meant for men more today than ever before. Men today are falling behind in every significant area of life. Education is at the forefront. There are three women to every man attending college today. Men continue to lag behind in attending church, whether they are married with a family or single. We need not bring up the fact that the man, in general, is under attack. Said another way, manhood is under assault while the culture of the day continues to undermine masculinity. At no other time in history has the male-man struggled with his identity more than now. We are witnessing a generation of young men who have little sense of their purpose. A vast majority of Gen-Z males have no revelation of their God-given authority or their biblical value. There is a desperate need to educate young men today concerning their significance in our culture.
Hosea, the prophet, was truthful when he declared that “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” This revelation speaks to the plight of men today and sons tomorrow. As fathers, we must take the responsibility to teach and train our boys for manhood. Fathers must commit to leading by example because so many young men have no idea of what it means to lead. God created the male-man to be the head of his household. Many of our young men have no idea of this expectation because they have grown up in homes without a father. They have lacked an example of men leading, especially in the home! We have a generation of young men who struggle with their worth. Their competition is not limited to just other males; they now must endure the reality that they must compete with the opposite sex in most areas of life. The completion they experience is not a negative thing in and of itself. It is an everyday reality, and if they have no male role models in their lives, it will be challenging to succeed.
The more significant challenge involving men, in general, is that men are rejecting knowledge. This reality may again be the result of a lack of good male role models. However, many men who were fortunate to have a father in their lives also struggle because there was no biblical foundation laid for them. Hosea makes an essential point by revealing that God has rejected many men who have failed to represent His position as priests. The priest's role in the Bible was to stand in the gap for the people before the Lord. The priest petitioned God for grace and forgiveness for their sins. More importantly, the priest was responsible for teaching his family God’s will for their lives. Fathers were to ensure that their sons understood this role as they would be priests in their own homes one day. Most sons have not been taught this lesson.
Fathers must take this responsibility seriously because the Lord’s response is to reject the children. No child is responsible for not being taught the ways of the Lord. It remains the responsibility of parents, and more specifically, men, to provide this training. Men must take responsibility for their children. God called men from the beginning to lead in this area of life. As the head of the house, men provide cover for their families. If we are to avoid the loss of additional generations of children, men must take their roles seriously. The role of the man in the home has always been a spiritual one. Let us pray that fathers will serve as examples to sons to protect families for future generations. We pray that in 2021 there is a commitment to educating both fathers and sons on their spiritual responsibilities.