Braggin' About Your Father

It seems like it is probably happening less and less, but I can remember back when you could overhear a dispute among little children over whose dad was the greatest. Perhaps it is a scene which is fading from American life. Because of divorce or separated parents, many fathers are almost out of the picture. And many of those who head our educational systems seem bent upon undermining the family and the power of parents over their children. It seems that braggin’ on our dads has become “politically incorrect”. How sad.

In times past, when adults overheard this kind of dispute, we looked upon them with a smile on our faces. If a father overheard one of his children giving his reasons why his dad was the greatest, it would bring a light of joy to his eyes.

As the dispute would rise in emotion, each trying to outdo the other in building up his father, they would probably enter into great exaggerations of their father’s abilities or qualities. But I never heard anyone break into such disputes correcting a child, making him stick to reality. No, we left this kind of exaggeration alone. Provided this confrontation was not leading to bloody noses, parents in general felt this was a healthy activity.

The apostle Paul could put a string of praises together that would reach heaven itself. Paul knew how to “brag on his Father”. We never find Paul bad-mouthing his Father. Paul applied great words to his appraisal of his Father and ours.

Listen to some real braggin’:
“For this cause I kneel in prayer to the Father, that Father who is the origin and ideal of all fatherhood in heaven and on earth, praying to Him that in the wealth of His glory, He may grant to you to be strengthened in power through His Spirit in your inner being, praying that your faith may be such that Christ may make your hearts His home, praying that love may be that in which your life is rooted in which it is founded. I pray that in fellowship with all God‘s consecrated people you may have strength to grasp how broad and long and high and deep Christ’s love is, to know that love of His which is greater than we can ever understand, for then your life will be filled with all God’s fullness.
Now to Him who can do for us far more than our lips can ask or our minds conceive through that power of His which is at work in us, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus from age to age, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:14-21)

There are far too many of these lavish praises in Paul‘s writings to bring into this short article. But I encourage you to spend a few weeks just reading the epistles of Paul, especially chapters one, two and three of Colossians, Ephesians and Philippians. You will discover that Paul is not only lavish with his praise of our Father, but he magnifies his praises even more greatly by not saying anything bad about his Father. Let me explain.

Most Christians when called upon to glorify their Father can readily muster up remarks about His being all-powerful and all-loving. But Christians at other times can be quick to spout out some short-coming in the supposed bad side of God. God will give you at least one chance to love Him, but if you don’t - into the oven you go. As a matter of fact, most of the modern gospel centers around making sure you don’t get on the bad side of “Father” because if you do, that’s it! You can forget the mercy, love, forgiveness bit. You are thrown out of the house forever. Don’t waste your breath trying to change His mind. Once His mind is made up, that’s it. We lump all of the bad side of God into a nasty little four letter word that many Christians love to use … HELL!

Now as lavish as Paul was with his praises, and as absent-minded as he was in speaking about the bad side of our Father, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Paul never used the word “hell”. Not once! He never warned anyone about it. Isn’t that rather strange, considering the fact that he was commissioned to deliver the “full” gospel to all the nations of the world?

Was Paul either very absent-minded, or too big on his God to think about HELL?

Paul wasn’t exaggerating about his Father. Paul intimately KNEW his Father and just declared the truth. He didn’t talk about a God quick to throw people into something called “hell” because Paul apparently didn’t worry about that as a part of God’s plan. He didn’t speak of “eternal punishment in eternal flames of fire” because he wasn’t concerned about it. Paul knew the gospel he was commissioned to preach and it did not contain a fire pit for those that many feel should be roasted.

Is “hell” a fire pit? Is “hell” just(??) a separation from God? Paul didn’t seem to care one way or the other – and neither do I!

Someone may say, “Lou, don’t forget about “hell” like Paul seems to do. People need to know the consequences of sin!”

My Father (and yours) is in the creation business and He is darn good at it. He is in the loving business and you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! He is in the forgiveness business and I suggest you spend some time under the tree of crucifixion and find out personally how far back His forgiveness goes.

Yes, I agree that unbelievers should hear about the importance God gives to the consequences of sin – whether it be eternal fire torture as many believe, or an eternal separation from God as many others believe, or even an eternal death and destruction as some believe.

Remember the beginning of this article. Remember how boasting on our dad - even if it was exaggerated - was tolerated by mature adults? As a matter of fact, if it was our child who boasted on us, we would gleam. I know something about fatherhood. I am one. I also know my heavenly Father. And I believe He is beaming right now. I believe in this truth about my Father - that He doesn’t have a “bad-side”. I am boasting from what I see in His written record. I am pouring out what I understand from the new heart He gave me. I am only being a witness to the love He has deposited in me and it seeks to declare to anyone who will listen that becoming a true child of God is where our thinking should be.

Paul declared that it was impossible to understand how broad and long and high and deep God’s love is. Well with the mind that He has given me, I am just doing my best to see His love as revealed to me.

What if I am wrong when I ignore the concept of “hell”? I don’t believe I am, but I could be. But, fortunately, I don’t have to stake my life on it. You see, He has already redeemed me! I stand on solid ground. By grace, I was saved through faith and it was a gift gladly received.

I STAKE MY CLAIM ON GOD’S LIFE WHICH IS IN ME THROUGI MY UNION WITH THE INDWELLING JESUS CHRIST.

“Hell” did not seem to concern Paul. And “hell” does not concern me. I know my Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. As surely as I know them, I know they are true to their Word and nature. It is possible to exaggerate about our natural father’s love and ability.

But as a child of God, I am closer to my heavenly Father than I was to my natural father. Christ lives inside me in a union with my human spirit. We are one. My natural father, although loving in every human way, could never be this close to me.

It appears to me to be impossible to exaggerate about our heavenly Father’s Love and Power. But if, perchance, I have exaggerated, I am sure God has a smile on His face FOR HIS BRAGGIN’ CHILD!

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