Hi sisters! If you attended a church gathering today, I am assuming you also sang the popular song “Good, Good Father” because the US is celebrating the holiday Father’s Day. I remember when this song was taking the Christian music world by storm. It gave great opportunities to have intentional conversations around God as our Father. As I engaged women on this subject, I started to realize how very few women even knew WHY God is a good Father according to the Bible!
Suffice it to say, we cannot depend on a song, no matter how popular it is or how good it is, to inform our hearts and minds of God’s fatherhood over the Bible. God, in His infinite wisdom, gave Himself the title of Father and therefore He has the sole right to define His fatherhood. Please do not take this as an attack on the song.
Let me insert a piece of the book I am writing! In the book, I take some time to deconstruct some distorted or unhealthy cycles we have in our Christian women’s church culture in order to reconstruct Biblical truths:
“Sisters, I listen to Christian music and listened to K-Love before it was even cool in my hometown. I used to painstakingly move the radio dial ever so slowly to hear the music clearly. This of course was before high speed internet or smart phones. Therefore, please do not interpret the following as a war on modern Christian music. But since the modern Christian worship movement has shaped many people’s theology of God, it must all be evaluated. Every thought and argument must be called into obedience to Christ (II Corinthians 10:5), even our music. Also, women ages 25-44 make up the core of Christian music sales. We as women, the largest demographic listening to modern Christian music, have a responsibility to evaluate what we are creating as an industry.
‘I’ve heard a thousand stories of what they think you’re like. But I’ve heard the tender whispers . . . You’re a good, good Father . . .‘
This is probably one of the most famous songs of our day. Notice the song writer never mentions what God says He is like. You will ask, “So, are you saying God is not a good Father?” Of course that’s not what I am saying! Of course God is a good Father. My question is why? Why is God a good Father? Does the writer give any inclination of why? Well, it seems He is good because: 1) God is pleased with me; 2) God loves me 3) He’s perfect in all His ways; 4) I’m never alone. 5) He provides the answers we need; and 6) God gives us peace. Five out of six of those answers revolve around me or what I get. Only one revolves around God in and of Himself.
After I kept hearing this song, I could not help but be a little bothered. How does God describe Himself as a Father? What example is there of a healthy father/ child relationship in the Word? I put together a Bible study for a ladies brunch where we examined the thread of God as a Father through the entire Bible. It is sobering, beautiful, and awe-inspiring.
Here is the Bible study if you too would like to print it and spend some time searching the Scriptures.
We started by discussing our own bias of “father” based on our own physical fathers and what we see in culture (TV shows, movies, ads, etc.). There were plenty of tears shed as women vulnerably shared their experiences as children into adulthood. These are heavy matters of the heart and can leave deep scars. Doing this first helped us see that our experiences greatly impact our perceptions of God as Father. Whatever our bias is, there will be aspects of God’s Fatherhood we will be tempted to either ignore or define our way.
By the end of our time together, women were amazed at how God portrays Himself as a Father: compassionate, slow to anger, loving, provides, humbles His kids, and disciplines His kids to name a few. Actually, one of the number one attributes of being a Father in the Scriptures is God’s discipline of those He loves (see Proverbs 3:11-12 and Hebrews 12). I wonder why this did not make the lyrics of the song?
And that perfect Father/ Child relationship? God the Father and Jesus. Examining the dynamic between the Father and Jesus is eye opening. Jesus sets the example for us to follow and Jesus is utterly obedient to the Father, doing nothing on His own accord (John 5:30). This relationship is more comparable to a child joining the family business, not following our hearts and chasing our dreams as daddy cheers. Can we really say God is pleased with us if we want little to do with the things that concern Him? For the kids are concerned with the Father’s business (Your Kingdom Come, Your Will be done . . . )
Shockingly, the Father ordained that His Son would suffer incredible pain, abandonment, and injustice so that others may come into relationship with Him. In Romans 8, we love verses 15-17a: “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba,Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,” but that sentence ends with 17b: “if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Right after establishing the Father/child relationship with us, God says that we will share in Christ’s suffering and share in His glory. With the Spirit of adoption (the promised good gift) comes BOTH great joy and great cost.
And He is a Good Father in this. This is what GOD SAYS He is like as a Father! Of course the other pieces about God are true as well. But again, let us take the full truth of God’s Fatherhood from God’s very own words, not from the words of a fallible human being.”
Now do not take my word on this either for I am also fallible. Study the Scriptures yourself. The study I attached above is a good start. However, the Scriptures go much deeper than any song, blog, or mini-study can possibly go on this subject. I hope this did not cause offense, but I hope it increases your appetite for the Word of God.
“… they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
~Acts 17:11
By the River Together 