Fathers' Day at the Geezer Service

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Protestant churches have caught on to what the Catholics were pioneering when I was a kid—the hootenanny mass. They wanted to make God more attractive to the youth. ( pause for reflection...   It would behoove us to realize they ended up with the Flying Nun.) So we have two services. Same sermon, different flavor.

If there was ever a concept that mixes cluelessness with an equal amount of absurdity, it would be that of mankind attempting to make God attractive.

Anyway, I'm not sure what goes on at the youth service, but the geezer who led the prayer this morning used a phrase worth repeating: entrusted with manhood.

That is a provocative (in an intriguing sort of way) take on fatherhood.

It resonates with a segment of 1 Thessalonians 2:4 — we have been approved by God to be entrusted
(The King James uses "allowed" rather than "approved," but all four literal translations I checked used "approved" and another lexicon used "deemed fit.")

This is probably one of the most under-preached secrets to fatherhood and parenting in general: being able to trust the trustworthy. Raising a child to be trustworthy is only a portion of the job. The child then has to be entrusted. That is how a father-God develops a son's self esteem, no, make that his value. God the Father entrusted his Son with Saving the World!

But, on a smaller scale, it is fundamental to raising (not razing) really good kids.

"Entrusted" is a concept that is lacking in the secular-psychology paradigm for creating self-esteem. Parents are told that they need to "affirm their child's value." But that misses the mark, and it is not how God treats His kids, at least, not the primary way.

God did not say, "Abram, I'm choosing you because you have value!" Rather, He said, "I'm choosing you because you can be entrusted to teach your children to keep the way of the LORD." (loosely paraphrasing Ge 18:19) In other words, he was chosen because of his values. The choosing of David and Daniel and most of the prophets follows a similar course. God did not affirm the individual's value. He affirmed the values the individual held.

It is just one little 's' that makes a world of difference. Compare:

Affirm a child's value. vs. Affirm a child's values.

It is the noble values of a child's heart that ought to be affirmed and established.