A Metaphor For America
Restoring The Father- Led Home
Some months ago, an ugly crack appeared in my bedroom wall. I called a painter who replaced the defective plaster and repainted the wall. It looked great. I was happy; he was happy. I paid him, and he left. But about a month later the crack reappeared, uglier than ever. Preachers don’t get mad, but I was somewhat “evangelically ticked off”. I called the painter back and asked him to fix the problem. He apologized and expressed surprise that the problem had recurred so quickly, he redid the work and everything was fine- for about forty-five days. But then the crack came back, only this time it brought its aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews at this point I concluded that I need a new painter. I called another professional to come and fix my problem for good. This man looked at my wall and shocked me by saying, “I’m sorry sir I cant help you with your problem because you don’t have a problem with cracks in your wall.” Well I looked at the cracks in my walls then I looked at the “crackpot”, telling me my problem wasn’t cracks in my wall. I said, “Excuse me, but I can see a crack, you can see a crack in fact all God’s children can see a crack.” “oh yes, he replied, you have a crack, but that’s not your problem, it just reflects a much deeper problem. Your problem is a shifting foundation. Until you stabilize your foundation you will forever be repairing cracks on your wall.
That’s a metaphor for America. The condition of American Society today, we can see cracks everywhere; social cracks, political cracks, moral cracks, even cocaine cracks. But until we stabilize the foundation, no number of programs, government grants, or elections will be able to repair the cracks in our cultural walls. There is no place where the foundation of America needs to be stabilized more than in the home.
The breakdown of the family is the single greatest contributor to the deterioration of our country. Strong families hold the key to a strong society, while conversely, weak families lead to a weak society. This is so because every other institution in society is predicated on and dependent upon strong families and you cant have strong families without God at their foundation. No wonder Satan didn’t bother Adam until her got married. Satan knew that in order to shut down God’s program of expanding his Kingdom on earth, he would have to destroy the institution at the foundation of that program; namely the family. We can’t talk about the role of Christians in affecting society without talking about the family. As Christians we need to help others, if our families are a mess, we don’t need to be exporting that into the culture.
As a husband and a father as well as a Pastor, I am convinced that the responsibility of building Godly homes lies at the feet of the man. This is not to discount a women’s importance and input. But God has placed men at the head of their families, and I don’t know of any greater task or any more risky business that to be a man holding the responsibility of leading a home. Look at what we are up against. What used to be considered rather unusual not too many years ago a family without a father is now a crisis of growing proportions. The reality in our culture today is that a staggering number of children are growing up in single-parent homes. The vast majority of which are fatherless. In 1970, for example only 13 percent of children grew up without both parents at home. But, today that member is at least 30 percent in the culture at large. For African-American children, the percentage more than doubles to 63 percent.
We’re talking about millions of children growing up in homes where in most cases they will know little or nothing of a father’s influence. I know that mothers are deserting their families today too, but the numbers are still heavily weighted toward missing fathers.
In fact, we’re told that half of all American children will go through at least some part of their lives without having a father at home. And the future doesn’t look any brighter. By the year 2010; it is predicted that 70 percent of black children will be products of single-parent (mostly fatherless) homes.
The implications of this are staggering in terms of the world we have to live in and minister to. This is not theoretical for me.
I want to address primarily fathers and husbands as we look at how Christians can strengthen America by stabilizing their own homes in the foundation of God’s word. It used to be alot simpler
than it is today. At one time our culture shared a basic understanding about what it meant to be a father and a husband. But the role of man has been radically redefined, leaving behind a whole generation of boys and men who aren’t clear about what it means to be a man, let alone how to go about leading a home.
Restoring The Father- Led Home
Some months ago, an ugly crack appeared in my bedroom wall. I called a painter who replaced the defective plaster and repainted the wall. It looked great. I was happy; he was happy. I paid him, and he left. But about a month later the crack reappeared, uglier than ever. Preachers don’t get mad, but I was somewhat “evangelically ticked off”. I called the painter back and asked him to fix the problem. He apologized and expressed surprise that the problem had recurred so quickly, he redid the work and everything was fine- for about forty-five days. But then the crack came back, only this time it brought its aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews at this point I concluded that I need a new painter. I called another professional to come and fix my problem for good. This man looked at my wall and shocked me by saying, “I’m sorry sir I cant help you with your problem because you don’t have a problem with cracks in your wall.” Well I looked at the cracks in my walls then I looked at the “crackpot”, telling me my problem wasn’t cracks in my wall. I said, “Excuse me, but I can see a crack, you can see a crack in fact all God’s children can see a crack.” “oh yes, he replied, you have a crack, but that’s not your problem, it just reflects a much deeper problem. Your problem is a shifting foundation. Until you stabilize your foundation you will forever be repairing cracks on your wall.
That’s a metaphor for America. The condition of American Society today, we can see cracks everywhere; social cracks, political cracks, moral cracks, even cocaine cracks. But until we stabilize the foundation, no number of programs, government grants, or elections will be able to repair the cracks in our cultural walls. There is no place where the foundation of America needs to be stabilized more than in the home.
The breakdown of the family is the single greatest contributor to the deterioration of our country. Strong families hold the key to a strong society, while conversely, weak families lead to a weak society. This is so because every other institution in society is predicated on and dependent upon strong families and you cant have strong families without God at their foundation. No wonder Satan didn’t bother Adam until her got married. Satan knew that in order to shut down God’s program of expanding his Kingdom on earth, he would have to destroy the institution at the foundation of that program; namely the family. We can’t talk about the role of Christians in affecting society without talking about the family. As Christians we need to help others, if our families are a mess, we don’t need to be exporting that into the culture.
As a husband and a father as well as a Pastor, I am convinced that the responsibility of building Godly homes lies at the feet of the man. This is not to discount a women’s importance and input. But God has placed men at the head of their families, and I don’t know of any greater task or any more risky business that to be a man holding the responsibility of leading a home. Look at what we are up against. What used to be considered rather unusual not too many years ago a family without a father is now a crisis of growing proportions. The reality in our culture today is that a staggering number of children are growing up in single-parent homes. The vast majority of which are fatherless. In 1970, for example only 13 percent of children grew up without both parents at home. But, today that member is at least 30 percent in the culture at large. For African-American children, the percentage more than doubles to 63 percent.
We’re talking about millions of children growing up in homes where in most cases they will know little or nothing of a father’s influence. I know that mothers are deserting their families today too, but the numbers are still heavily weighted toward missing fathers.
In fact, we’re told that half of all American children will go through at least some part of their lives without having a father at home. And the future doesn’t look any brighter. By the year 2010; it is predicted that 70 percent of black children will be products of single-parent (mostly fatherless) homes.
The implications of this are staggering in terms of the world we have to live in and minister to. This is not theoretical for me.
I want to address primarily fathers and husbands as we look at how Christians can strengthen America by stabilizing their own homes in the foundation of God’s word. It used to be alot simpler
than it is today. At one time our culture shared a basic understanding about what it meant to be a father and a husband. But the role of man has been radically redefined, leaving behind a whole generation of boys and men who aren’t clear about what it means to be a man, let alone how to go about leading a home.
