Question: “What does the Bible say about Christian fathers?”

Answer: The greatest commandment in Scripture is this: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Going back to verse 2, we read, “So that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.” Following Deuteronomy 6:5, we read, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (vv. 6-7).

Israelite history reveals that the father was to be diligent in instructing his children in the ways and words of the Lord for their own spiritual development and well-being. The father who was obedient to the commands of Scripture did just that. This brings us to Proverbs 22:6, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” To “train” indicates the first instruction that a father and mother give to a child, i.e., his early education. The training is designed to make clear to children the manner of life they are intended for. To commence a child’s early education in this way is of great importance.

Ephesians 6:4 is a summary of instructions to the father, stated in both a negative and positive way. “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” The negative part of this verse indicates that a father is not to foster negativity in his children by severity, injustice, partiality, or unreasonable exercise of authority. Harsh, unreasonable conduct towards a child will only serve to nurture evil in the heart. The word “provoke” means “to irritate, exasperate, rub the wrong way, or incite.” This is done by a wrong spirit and wrong methods—severity, unreasonableness, sternness, harshness, cruel demands, needless restrictions, and selfish insistence upon dictatorial authority. Such provocation will produce adverse reactions, deadening children’s affection, reducing their desire for holiness, and making them feel that they cannot possibly please their parents. A wise parent seeks to make obedience desirable and attainable by love and gentleness.

The positive part of Ephesians 6:4 is expressed in a comprehensive direction—educate them, bring them up, develop their conduct in all of life by the instruction and admonition of the Lord. This is the whole process of educating and discipline. The word “admonition” carries the idea of reminding the child of faults (constructively) and duties (responsibilities).

The Christian father is really an instrument in God’s hand. The whole process of instruction and discipline must be that which God commands and which He administers, so that His authority should be brought into constant and immediate contact with the mind, heart, and conscience of children. The human father should never present himself as the ultimate authority to determine truth and duty. It is only by making God the teacher and ruler on whose authority everything is done that the goals of education can best be attained.

Martin Luther said, “Keep an apple beside the rod to give the child when he does well.” Discipline must be exercised with watchful care and constant training with much prayer. Chastening, discipline, and counsel by the Word of God, giving both reproof and encouragement, is at the core of “admonition.” The instruction proceeds from the Lord, is learned in the school of Christian experience, and is administered by the parents—primarily the father, but also, under his direction, the mother. Christian discipline is needed to enable children to grow up with reverence for God, respect for parental authority, knowledge of Christian standards, and habits of self-control.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). A father’s first responsibility is to acquaint his children with Scripture. The means and methods that fathers may use to teach God’s truth will vary. As the father is faithful in role modeling, what children learn about God will put them in good standing throughout their earthly lives, no matter what they do or where they go.

Recommended Resource: Fathering Like the Father: Becoming the Dad God Wants You to Be by Gangel & Gangel.

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The American Civil Liberties Union issued a complaint recently against the Sumner County Board of Education in Tennessee, saying that schools within the district have been endorsing Christianity in breach of the U.S. Constitution.

The ACLU filed the complaint on behalf of parents of three families with children who go to T.W. Hunter, Beech High School, Madison Creek Elementary and Indian Lake Elementary, The Tennessean said.

The complaint alleges that the school system has endorsed religion at least since 2006, by, among others, distributing bibles in two of their schools, displaying a cross on a wall in a classroom, saying prayers over the school loudspeaker during special events and the holding (by three high schools within the district) of graduation ceremonies at a Baptist church, The Tennessean reported.

The complaint is not a lawsuit. However, it does ask that all religious activities cease, according to The Tennessean.

Named in the complaint are all members of the school board, and Benny Bills (director of schools), Frank Cardwell (Beech High School principal), Ahmed White (T.W. Hunter principal), Robin Hood (Madison Creek Elementary principal) and Jewell McGhee (Indian Lake Elementary principal), The Tennessean reported.

The Sumner County Board is responding to the complaint through the American Center for Law and Justice, which is giving its services free of charge, according to The Tennessean.

Wesley H. Southerland of the ACLJ told The Tennessean, “At this point we are aware of the allegations, and we have advised the Board of Education to take all precautions necessary to make sure they are operating in a constitutional way.”

Complaint

According to the ACLU complaint, members of a bible study group at Madison Creek Elementary were allowed to “pray over the loudspeaker” on a daily basis, The Tennessean said.

However Robin Hood, the school’s asst. principal, denied the allegations saying, “We observe a moment of silence over the intercom in the mornings before school,” according to The Tennessean

Hood, who also teaches at the school, told The Tennessean, “I have never heard anyone, an adult or a student, pray during morning announcements or at any other time over the loudspeaker.”

Bible

The complaint from ACLU also alleges that a teacher from Indian Lake Elementary told students to line up so that those who wished to could get a Bible, and could put their names on it if they wished, The Tennessean said.

Jewell McGhee, principal of Indian Lake Elementary declined to comment about the incident to The Tennessean.

Baptist youth minister

The ACLU complaint also alleges that a Long Hollow Baptist Church youth minister visited T.W. Hunter Middle School regularly during lunch time as the guest of a member of the church, The Tennessean said.

The youth minister would often visit the tables of other students in the cafeteria and talk of his church ministry and faith. Three students, the complaint alleged, did not welcome being proselytized to on a “weekly, if not daily basis,” The Tennessean reported.

The complaint also states that the Baptist church, in collaboration with some T.W. Hunter Middle School students, promoted “TCAP’aloosa,” an event where students could go to the Baptist Church using Sumner County school buses where they were given treats, played games and watched movies, The Tennessean said.

Those who chose not to go remained at school and were given work assignments to do, according to The Tennessean.

Ahmed White (principal of T.W. Hunter), and Rev. David Landrith (senior pastor, Long Hollow Baptist Church), did not issue any comments regarding this, The Tennessean said.

Graduation

The complaint also averred that pending graduation ceremonies slated for May 20-21 will be held at Long Hollow Baptist Church for Station Camp, Beech and White House high schools rather than at a non-religious facility, The Tennessean said.

Benny Bills, director of schools, told The Tennessean that Long Hollow has the required space to accommodate up to 5,000 people, and its facilities are given free of charge. While other venues were considered by the school system, the fees were too costly.

The ACLU wrote in its complaint that the board attorney and Bills were told of the complaints since December, but “Despite being put on notice of their unlawful policies, customs and practices, the school board has failed to address these issues,” The Tennessean reported.

Herzfeld, who penned the ACLU complaint, declined through a spokesman to comment, The Tennessean said.

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A small village in Haiti is enjoying prosperity, education and spiritual wealth because of a Christian ministry that was founded in 1999.

The village of Gramothe, one hour away from Port-au-prince, today has schools, a clinic, a church, water system and homes—a great change from 10 years before, when all they had were five voodoo temples, The Christian Post said.

In 1999, Willem Charles founded Mountain Top Ministries which challenged voodoo in the village where there was no clean water, not enough jobs, and no hope at all, according to The Christian Post.

Give Your Best, a book authored by Andrew DeWitt, tells the story of Charles. DeWitt told The Christian Post, “There are pockets in Haiti that are actually transforming from poverty and voodoo to prosperity and Christianity.”

Charles grew up in a one-room home with nine other people. However, he grew up to become a CNN interpreter, and helped to convey to the world the chaotic presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, according to The Christian Post.

Other successes Charles enjoyed before founding MTM, according to The Christian Post, included joining Haiti’s national soccer team, plus personal success as a businessman.

Charles started MTM in Gramothe because it was the village on the hill across his childhood home. He knew that 90 percent of its people were jobless, and the teacher in the tiny school had only a third-grade education. Villagers walked a mile to get drinking water from a river where they also bathed and laundered their clothes, The Christian Post said.

Today, there are spigots near the homes of the villagers delivering clean water, reducing disease, and enabling farmers to plant year round instead of depending on rain, increasing their produce fourfold, The Christian Post reported.

Changes with MTM

Today villagers can save money to remodel their homes, and children study up to 12^th grade at the village’s Christian school. According to The Christian Post, a high school diploma is deemed a huge feat in Haiti.

In the book Charles says, “What Haiti needs is freedom and security. Along with that, education will bring jobs, which will bring overall prosperity,” The Christian Post reported.

Voodoo culture

A former colony of France, Haitian slaves of the French colonizers were required to become Catholics. However, the people instead incorporated the Catholic icons into their voodoo religion, according to The Christian Post.

In the book DeWitt wrote, “As a result, Catholicism has a different meaning to the people here in Haiti. In some ways it is synonymous with voodoo.” Charles understood this, and through MTM villagers learned to let voodoo go, The Christian Post said.

For example, a man in the village complained to Charles about the rats in his home which bit his children leaving sores on them. Charles raised money to build the man a new house and told him to keep it clean, according to The Christian Post.

He also told the man, “Voodoo is like the old house. It’s full of a bunch of spirits that are just like rats. You’ve seen the damage the rats do to your children. Voodoo does the same thing to our spirit. But God is a jealous God. He won’t allow any voodoo at all in your life,” The Christian Post reported.

The Christian Post noted that Haiti has had a succession of corrupt rulers and some 200 years of near chaos. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, rendered even poorer with the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Quoting DeWitt, The Christian Post noted that Haiti could still reshape itself into a new, prosperous country. DeWitt said, “If MTM can display the village of Gramothe as a model for other villages to follow, then all over Haiti villages can do what we are doing, and we can defeat generational poverty village by village.”

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Christian schools in Mumbai demurred recently a suggestion by the Birhand Mumbai Corporation to introduce Hindu culture into their classes.

Archdiocesan Board of Education General Secretary Gregory Lobo said their 150-odd Christian schools in Mumbai promote respect for all faiths, and there is no need to focus on a particular faith, Christian Today India said.

The BMC also asked missionary schools to increase holidays for Hindu festivals and to remove a ban on students applying mehendi and bindis (decoration marks on the hands and forehead) and bangles, CT India said.

However, Lobo denied that Abe schools have such restrictions and said that students were allowed to wear bindis and bangles.

The ABE is preparing to take legal action against the proposal that is now being considered by the Maharashtra government, CT India said.

The BMC also said Abe schools do not sing the national anthem.  However, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai said, “All our Christian institutions inculcate the values of patriotism and religious harmony and through the apostolate of education, we are serving the country,” AsiaNews.it reported.

The cardinal noted that  some groups are fed by fundamentalist ideologies that create a climate which threatens peace and peaceful coexistence, according to AsiaNews.it.

For this reason Cardinal Gracias said their 2009 activities included seminars for the “Year of peace and harmony” where he spoke about measures to combat extremism and fundamentalism, AsiaNews.it reported.

Most Abe schools are considered prestigious and are known for their academic excellence.  They receive some financial help from the BMC, which is run by a right-wing Hindu coalition comprised of the Shiv Sena party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, BBC reported.

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President Obama’s speech to public school students on Sept. 8 caused an uproar among conservative parents. Prior to the speech’s delivery, many “conservative” parents accused the president of trying to indoctrinate their children with socialist ideas. Others said they were concerned because the speech had not been screened for political content.

There was even a  Student Walkout to Prayer (President Obama’s Live Address To Students), which more than 1,000 people attended, according to Facebook. (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128572170027)

When Obama gave his speech Tuesday, he urged students to work hard and stay in school.

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