Daddy

When I was a PA to a big Pastor, I watched as many junior pastors would welcome my boss to their parishes with their hands behind their backs, their heads nodding repeatedly in a show of humility and the word “Our Daddy” tumbling out of their mouths every minute.
I also saw that as soon as my boss turned his back on them, they would guffaw, shake their head, smirk, laugh mockingly at him and sometimes even hiss, I realized the hypocrisy behind that “respect” and “honour”. I am as a result weary of anyone calling me Daddy or Pastor. When Apostle Paul berated Peter, he didn’t call him Daddy or Father in the Lord. He called him Brother Peter, the same applies to Peter in his reference to Paul he called him Brother Paul. I have always felt people who serve God and work for him should call each other Brothers. The work sometimes require that we tell each other the truth without any form of pretense and all the Daddy nonsense prevents people from telling themselves the truth.
A father may feel so bold to tell a son the truth knowing the son will take it well and adjust for the sake of his future. When someone you didn’t raise as a son calls you his father, you already know that the title is only honorary. True sons behave like their father, they bear his DNA, follow in his footsteps and understand how he does things to produce results. A father therefore is the one that has the power to name a son. On the day Jesus came out of the water after his baptism, it was God who spoke and said “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”. A son cannot choose a father. That someone is calling you daddy as a mark of honour does not mean he or she truly regards you as a father. It is more important that a son behaves like his father than for him to resemble his father in looks.
A good father knows the secret of life, he gives it to his son as an inheritance. Isaac gave unto Jacob the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth. They were the secret behind his success in the time of famine. Esau didn’t get anything but he also succeeded by another method. Both children belong to the father but the one who inherited his secret carried it in his DNA. Jacob will later pass this code on to Joseph and with it, Joseph saved the whole world from famine in Egypt. Esau passed on what he knew too but it was finite and after a few generations it died out. Israel still possesses the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth till date. What fathers hand over to sons is more than a name and property, it is a life code, the secret that defines the reality of the life the father has lived! Only sons who got this and are walking in it have a right to call such a man their father. A son who has evolved his own philosophy of life and made a way for himself through that philosophy is a Father by his own right. There are many ways to skin a cat, a son does it the way his father taught him. Another son does it his own way and teaches that way to others coming behind him. The one who did it the Father’s way can boldly say “I did it the way my Father taught me” The one who innovated his own way can then boldly say “I did it my way”.There is nothing wrong in solving problems using different methods. An innovator however is a father, not a son to anyone. At best, he can be a brother to other innovators like him but he does not have to call anyone his father. Some fathers miss out on knowledge because they insist a fellow father should call them Father instead of brother. If they had remained brothers, the fellow could have taught them a thing or two that would be of value to their lives and ministry. They think it is by age, it is not! Humility is recognizing that those younger than you can know things you don’t know and help you solve problems you can’t solve on your own. Insisting they call you Father could make them deny you access to that knowledge. It is best to be equals and make progress than to adopt a superior stance and remain in one spot. A word is enough for the wise.
-GSW-