-Brad Smith, Alliance Engagement Director, World Evangelical Alliance and Chancellor, Bakke Graduate University.
Children of all ages crave the blessing of their father. Every child seeks to hear three things from their father, “I love you,” I am proud of you”, “This is what you’re good at”[1] These are not merely one-time affirmations, but the climate good fathers create. Children need their father to be present, to see them, to enjoy them. Even as adults, sons and daughters never outgrow the deep desire for their father’s blessing. Yet because of sin and death, many never receive what they long for most.
At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry God the Father blesses His Son. In Mark 1:11 a voice from heaven declares, “You are my son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” In John 14:6 Jesus states, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In John 14:21 Jesus promises, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Jesus has the blessing of His Father and through Jesus, we share in that blessing too. Through Jesus, we gain the favor of the Father, the Creator of the universe, the Holy One who loves us far beyond what we can imagine.
Father’s Day is celebrated this June 21 in the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Mexico and India. It is a time to honor fathers. Yet fathers don’t get a day off from blessing their children and most good fathers wouldn’t want one. Rather than a day of rest, good fathers cherish a day of intentional presence which is the greatest blessing they both give and receive.
Some of my best Father’s day memories included me getting up early, driving a ski boat for over 12 hours, grilling meat, and then telling made up stories at night where each child got to select their super-power for the story. By the time I hit the bed I was exhausted but very happy and blessed.
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) has a unique vantage point from which to observe fatherhood and the work of Jesus in bringing us to God the Father amid sin and death. The WEA family includes national evangelical alliances in 162 nations. Seeing the Father through so many cultures, languages, people groups, customs, and traditions reveal a Father God who is far bigger and far more loving that any single nation or culture could contain.
Sociologists describe the world as having three regional mindsets. USA/Europe is described as an individualistic, innocent, guilt culture. Asia is described as a honor, shame, community culture. Africa is described as a power, fear, tribal culture. These are broad strokes to open the conversation, not to create boxes and labels.
Evangelicals believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected as our Lord and Savior. As believers in Jesus, we are adopted sons and daughters who can now call God the Father “Abba” in this life and in eternity in His presence. From three different cultural perspectives, how might we picture what Jesus has done for us?
I grew up in the USA. The work of Jesus was often described to me as a courtroom scene. I stand before Jesus the righteous judge accused and guilty beyond any doubt. My penalty is a death sentence. I have no hope. Then suddenly, the judge steps down and says even though I am guilty, he will take my punishment. As a result, my guilt is fully removed. He has taken on the burden of my sin, my guilt, and my death sentence. Because I have made a personal decision to trust in Jesus, he is now my personal Savior and I as an individual, am no longer guilty of any past, present, or future sins. Jesus now stands at the right hand of God the Father and continues to mediate for my sin, reminding the Father that even though I continue to sin, that sin is covered by Jesus taking on my penalty.
In Asia, the scene of salvation might look different. I have done acts that have shamed my face and dishonored my family. I don’t dare look at the face of my Father. I stare at my feet, bowed over, shaking and crying in my shame and rejection. I have no hope. Then I feel the palm of Jesus under my chin. He lifts my face and looks directly into it. His eyes show compassion and delight. My face is fully exposed to His, and He says, “I have taken on your shame and dishonor. You are now restored fully with your family.” Then He lifts my head even higher, and I see the face of God the Father. My face is fully exposed before Him. His eyes are full of joy as He looks at me. Jesus says, “I am the firstborn of my Father’s family. He delights in me, and now you are fully adopted, fully restored, and fully able to show your face without any hesitation to your Father, to your older brother Jesus, and to those who preceded you as a community of ancestors and will follow you as a community of descendants.”
In Africa, there is yet another scene of salvation. I have lost my tribal identity because I was expelled from the community of Eden by the tribal leader. That made me a fugitive. I don’t know who I am anymore. I am not under the cover of a leader, so I am lost without direction. People look at me as a rejected outsider. I stand alone and exposed. It is only minutes before I will be devoured by the wild things that surround me. I have no hope. All my personal attempts to belong to the community were futile. Then suddenly Jesus calls me by my tribal name, one that is ancient, but one that I only knew in part before. It is the name of inclusion and hope. The tribal leader sent his Son to get me back into the community. As the tribal prince, Jesus introduces me to my Father, my tribal head, my king. I feel a fear that is deeper than I’ve ever felt. It is a fear that includes profound respect; an awareness that I am in the presence of the true Creator of the Universe; a desire at the depth of my being that this is who I want to follow without any hesitation or argument for eternity. With my new name, I am given new tribal garments. I am fully accepted. All I want to do is to obey every word of Jesus and the Father and do whatever pleases them. I bow before them with joy, hope, and loving fear. They invite me to dance, eat, and laugh with them and my new tribe of parents, siblings, and children. I am at home, forever.
There is a nineteenth-century poem by John Godfrey Saxe retelling an Indian parable that talks about six blind men who are describing the same elephant. One feels the side and says it is a wall. Another feels the tusk and says it is a spear. One feels the tail and says it is a rope. Another feels the trunk and says it is a snake. One feels the ear and says it is a fan. Another feels a leg and says it is a tree. The poem concludes, “And so these men of Indostan, disputed loud and long, each in his own opinion, exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong!”
The work of Jesus is much larger than we realize. We have much to learn from listening to how other cultures perceive it.
We are thankful that our God is so much bigger than the limits of our culture. We invite you to journey with the WEA to build relationships that open up your eyes and heart to celebrate God our Father who is good, loving, and a blessing far beyond our expectations.
[1] Robert Lewis; Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father’s Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood (Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family, 2007), pp. 141-143
Stay Connected