Perhaps a macro view of the water’s edge might offer some insight into the importance of Father’s Day. After years of erosion and deposition, the core of engineers has devised a way to both retain the shoreline and build new necessary piers. The most efficient method comes from the creation of concrete barriers called tetrapods. These oddly shaped pods placed in strategic rows are the most effective form of defense against the crashing waves. We should note that nothing can stop all the waves. The oceans have no equal. However, there is a way to break up those violent waves and here is where the tetrapod comes into play.
Without running the risk of oversimplification, it should be said that a base with small rocks and a host of other factors go into the creation of these fortified barriers. In all, these combined elements have saved smaller coastline communities and boardwalks all over the world.
True fatherhood functions in the exact same way. Doubt, disappointments, cultural influences, and a host of other things cause “erosion.” Worldliness results in the loss of innocence and purity. Yet a true father is the buffer who stands in defense and protects against those inevitable moments of trouble. We cannot stop it all, but we can provide a covering.
Fatherhood is not just a position, but a calling that is so desperately needed in our day. We need to feel the strong hand of a father upon us; a guiding voice to lead us. People of all ages need to know that someone is standing as a defense against the enemy of our soul. The church needs men to take on the function of fatherhood, both spiritual and emotionally. Our world is missing this vital role. The enemy of the body of Christ would diminish our men and destroy the position of the father. Society’s great demise is that so many homes are absent of that most critical role; no protection, guidance, or covering.
I pray that we do more than just honor our biological fathers on this day. We must recognize and promote the blessing of having godly men standing in the way and making up the hedge, as recorded in the scripture. Our families, homes, and church will reap the benefit both in the present and for years to come if this critical role is found.
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole