Christian by Association

Introduction
Owning Disgrace

As I pour over the passage in Luke 11 and question how one might take ownership of his own disgrace, my eyes keep wandering back to the prayer model Jesus gave His disciples. Notice how it begins: “Father, hallowed be Your name.”

I love thinking about the return of Christ. Nothing else separates us from the world as much as the promise of the return of a living Savior. It is the centerpiece of Christianity. I think to myself that, “’Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done’ would be a good place to begin a prayer.” It may come as a shocker, but Jesus disagrees. He taught His disciples to begin a prayer with a declaration, not a request. Before we seek His kingdom, pray for forgiveness, or ask for bread, we are to declare to the God of Heaven that He is just that, the God of Heaven.

Have you ever noticed that, once you buy a new car, you start seeing that same car all over the place? The same is true in Scripture. Now that I see this simple principle, different scriptures all over the Bible keep coming to mind. Hebrews 11:6 explains that we cannot move forward in our relationship with God until we 1. Believe that He is (God) and 2. Understand that He rewards those who seek Him. The foundation of faith is belief that God is God, the one true God who rewards those He deems fit.

Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” God was not watching the saga in Babylon hoping the Jews would desire their lost home in Jerusalem. God did not want them to seek all they had lost in the battles with the wicked king Nebuchadnezzar. God wanted them to seek Him. Psalm 29, the great psalm of worship, begins, not with a cheesy youth leader playing the latest Crowder song, but with the words, “Ascribe to the Lord you heavenly beings. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name.”

Prayer, worship, and general discipleship all begin with understanding. First, we must understand who God is. He is the Almighty Creator. He is the Savior of the world. He is the One in whom all things live and move and have their being. He is the Judge of all and the Forgiver of sin. He is God in every sense of the word. He is not a god but the God, the only wise God. Jesus, the same God in the flesh, as a submissive son, began the very model of prayer with the words, “Father, hallowed be Your name.”

My parents divorced when I was 6. My dad visited on the weekends and holidays, but that decreased as we got older. I am a sinner and take full responsibility for my actions, but to say that I have trouble with authority is the understatement of the century. Without learning to live with one, I never reacted well to father figures or authority in general. As a child, I both wanted the authority that comes with a dad and resented the very idea of someone exercising authority over me. Is that a coincidence? According to statistics, not really. According to various sources, a fatherless home matters. Listen to these statistics: 63% of youth suicides[1], 71% of high school dropouts[2], and 70% of juveniles[3] in state-operated institutions are from fatherless homes.  Boys who grow up in fatherless homes are more likely to have trouble establishing appropriate sex roles and gender identity[4]. Children from low-income, two-parent families out perform students from high-income, single-parent homes[5]. Fathers matter.

As I raise my own daughter, I see that the father plays the primary role of authority, disciplinarian, forgiver, and general “king of the castle.” I do not say that tongue-in-cheek. Before my daughter’s first birthday, I already see this as the way God designed the family. I see what I should strive to be in my home, but I still struggle with accepting a Father. When I think of all the baggage I associate with the word “father,” I wonder if I have ever truly accepted God as my Father figure. I am saved, but accepting His invitation into the family is not the same as appreciating that He is the head of that family.

Before you decide that I am doubling down on the “divorce kid” card, hear this. In the last 10 years of ministry, a disturbing trend has become apparent. Even in traditional families, fathers are not fathers any more. God designed the family in a very simple order:

God - Husband/Father - Wife/Mother - Children.

Today’s culture portrays marriage as an absolutely equal partnership between two people. That makes a cute wedding sermon, but it is not the truth. When I stand before God at the judgment, in the same way I will be held to a higher standard as a minister of the gospel (James 3:1), I will be held to a higher standard for the outcome of my family. It is time for fathers to make decisions, stop letting mom be the bad guy, and lead the family in love, discipline, and forgiveness. It is time for mothers to support fathers, and for children to obey. 

Does this mean I long for a return to the days of the authoritarian husband who beats his wife into submission? Absolutely not! My wife is the most intelligent person I know. We will always go through the decision making process together. We have learned, however, that I, as husband and father, am held accountable to God for the decisions and directions of this family. My wonderful Christian wife helps with every decision but strives for the world and our children to see me as God’s ordained leader of our home. Praise God for my wife.

In this world of fatherless children and fathers who aren’t fathers, accepting God as the true authority of our lives seems almost out of bounds. Notice that I said “almost.” It may have been easier in the 1800’s or the 1950’s to accept this Father-child relationship, but it is still possible today. If we ever want to seek God with a shameless audacity, we must fight the 21^st Century culture and give the extra effort required to accept Him as Chief Authority, Chief Disciplinarian, Chief Forgiver, and King of the World.

Jesus did not just call God Father. He followed it with “Hallowed be Your name.” The word hallowed means “holy, consecrated, sacred, or revered.” Jesus not only declared God as the Father, but also prayed that the very name of God would be sacred. I like to rewrite Scripture in my own words. It helps me see how much I truly understand. As I read these words and write my mental commentary, I hear, “Father, You are my Father. May the very thought of Your existence make me shudder in awe.”

It is said that early Hebrew scribes, when copying manuscripts, would take a bath, put on fresh clothes, and make a new quill when writing the names of God. Compare that to our world where, when a television show will allow the word “God” and blur the word “damn” when using that deplorable expletive. Asking the name of God to be hallowed is not a prayer that the spoken name of God would not be used in vain. I hope that I always speak well of Jessica (my wife) when using her name, but there is more required of me. When I think the name Jessica, I envision the woman I married. I think of her in a very unique way. She alone is the woman of my dreams. The very thought of her name conjures up thoughts of her face, body, opinions, and our experiences (both good and bad) together. The spoken name should be held in high regard, but her name and the thoughts associated with it are also set apart as special.

Asking God’s name to be hallowed means asking the very thought of the God to create an attitude of awe. We should be disgusted when others misuse it and excited every time we think it. Before seeking God with a shameless audacity, we must understand the nature of the Friend on the other side of the door. He is our Father, the Chief Authority of our lives. The very thought of His being, as brief as it may be, should conjure up deep and passionate awe. If I want to own my disgrace, I must understand my Father.

Lord, You are my Father, the chief Authority of my life. May the very thought of Your existence make my heart shudder in amazement at Your greatness.