4 Minute Devotions: In the Name of the Father

Why are we so reticent to call God “Father” these days? If Jesus did it, then why don’t we?

Podcast version here

John 10:32 Jesus replied, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?"

In this politically correct world, we often forget how radical and dangerous it was for Jesus to call God “Father.” The Jews of His time were outraged because He dared to declare a closeness and intimacy with God that was blasphemous to their ears. God was supposed to be holy, sacred, and distant. Christ’s familiarity with God was sacrilegious. His message was too bold and undermined 2000 years of tradition. He had to be stopped; He had to be silenced; He had to be stoned to death.

These days, it is becoming more subversive to call God “Father.” Whenever I go to Presbytery, I am often saddened by the politically correct statements of faith that reflect our culture, instead of Christ’s words. In an effort to make everything palatable, God is often referred to as Creator. There is no intimacy or relationship with that word; God may as well be called Manufacturer of the Universe or Chief Producer of Life.

Christ came among us to reveal how intimate, involved, and interested God is in our lives. He called God “Father” because of the real relationship He had with God. Jesus wanted His people to get over their holy hang-ups and sacred taboos because those things were creating a gap between themselves and God. So boldly, fearlessly, and faithfully, Christ named God as Father. It was such a distinct and true relationship that even His last words from the Cross were, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.”

We need to get back to basics and stop messing up our faith with cultural conveniences. Jesus faced stoning because He dared to call God “Father.” He opened up a radical way of being in relationship with God, despite the protests of His peers. And in the end, it was His faith in His Father that triumphed over His miserable, lonely, and painful death.

As Christians, we call Jesus “Lord” and seek to follow His ways. If calling God “Father” was good enough for Jesus, then why isn’t it good enough for us?

Prayer: Father God, break down our self-imposed barriers and politically correct structures which fence off our intimacy with You. Liberate us from modern day conventions and enable us to fully accept and embrace You as our Father in Heaven, the Father of our hearts, and the Father of our faith. Give us the boldness of Jesus to step out from cultural limits, so that along with Him, we may boldly declare You as our Father. In Christ’s Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Erin Church Devotions: Real faith

Audio version here

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote to you about Pastor Daniel, an evangelist from Indonesia. He, along with 40 other Christian leaders, has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment, just because he prayed for the Muslim community to be open to Christ’s Gospel. I informed you that I was handwriting a letter to him in phonetic Indonesian, so that his family and friends could hold on to their hope in Christ.

Two weeks have passed and Daniel has received over 1400 letters from pastors and people around the world. The authorities are beginning to sit up and take notice. Daniel’s family are heartily encouraged by the amount of international support that he is being given. It truly is a wonderful way of sharing and expressing the Gospel to people in other lands. I hope and pray that Daniel and the others are released soon.

Daniel is a God-fearing Christian, who takes Christ’s message to heart and is unwilling to compromise its integrity. A week on Tuesday, I am going to our local Presbytery meeting and already I am feeling torn by it. Two new pastors will be presented at the meeting for approval. I’ve read their statements of faith online and once again, I am bewildered. I’ll have to ask one of them what is meant by salvation and is Christ the Only Savior of the World. The other one does not mention God as Father, nor of Christ as being His true Son.

It may just be a slip of the pen or keyboard, and to other people this will not seem important, but when I think of Pastor Daniel languishing and suffering in an Indonesian prison for not compromising his faith, I feel really ill at ease with those pastors amongst who all too readily set aside traditional beliefs and replace them with what they’ve learned from seminary professors, instead of holding fast to the words and teachings of Christ and His apostles.

I’ll probably endure some criticism again for asking these questions and voicing my concerns, but it will be nothing compared to what Daniel is experiencing. I hope and pray that my passion will not overload my reason; and that my heart will not overwhelm my head.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the Son of God and He is Your Almighty Father. We are adopted as daughters and sons of God through our allegiance to You and by Your sacrificial death. Help us to value our salvation and keep us revering Who You really are. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Verse for the Day:
Titus 1:4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.