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Not Many Fathers


 When I was growing up in an AME church, I got to see many men in the church. They would come in Sunday after Sunday with their wives, dressed in full suits with shiny shoes. They would spend the few minutes before service talking about work, and sports, and making small talk. I would watch these men stand up for their families and their faith. I would especially enjoy seeing them sneak out to their cars to listen to the game on Sundays when the reverend became a bit long-winded. I would watch as older deacons would stand up and sing old songs during testimony time. Once an older man gave me $20 to get a nice pair of "church shoes" when he saw that I was greeting with the other kids wearing my tennis shoes.

As I began to grow older, I realized that there were less men in suits around me. There weren't many men standing up to sing songs and give testimonies. Less men were laughing and making small talk, or fixing things around the church building. Soon there were only women dragging their children into church, and the only men there were part of the pastoral staff. What happened to the fathers in the church?

In 1 Corinthians 4:15 Paul informs them that he is a father to them because he begot them in the gospel. Unfortunately, many young men are growing up without fathering in the gospel by older, more seasoned, Christian men. Many young men don't have a father at home, nor have fathering in the house of God. Paul meant that he as a father loved them and instructed them in the ways of God, but sadly "not many fathers" has a different meaning now. Men and young boys in the church lack fathering in God's house to mature in the things of God.

I pray that we will have more fathers speaking into the lives of boys and young men again.

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