So, tonight's topic is:
How do you explain "God the Father" or "Our Father" to a kid whose dad beats him with pipe when he has misbehaved even a little?
I must admit, this question is one I have heard before, but never really pondered until now. The father metaphor is found throughout Scripture, so it's not something you can just avoid til they're ready to face that particular demon. It's something that is going to show up time and time again. And honestly, many children in places like the Ranch feel broken or messed up for being here, and I loathe the idea of a child seeing God as "just another person who doesn't understand me because I'm broken."
There must be some way to explain it to them. To show them the meaning of the metaphor without necessarily hanging on the words.
For some, simply focusing on their mother works. Their mother may have been the one rock of safety they knew in their previous life, and so that vision of God as a loving caretaker can be carried through their mother. Sure it's not air-tight, but it's a start.
But others... well others simply have no real concept of what a family is supposed to be. And it's these that trouble me. How do I, as a person responsible for these children for however long God allows, illustrate his fatherly love to them? How do I help them understand?
I know that metaphor. the love of a father is strong. It stands any and all opposition. Even when I do wrong, my father loves me. Even when I need to be punished, it's because he wants what is best for me in the long run. A father's love makes him work crazy hours so he can take off time to go to his son's game, or gives up saving for a sports car so he can take his daughters to Disney. A father's love has him do crazy thiings, like beat around his kid's closet with a bat to "kill monsters", or to get up at 2 am Christmas eve to eat cookies and milk and put presents under a tree. A father's love is something most of us can grasp, but for those who can't, to whom do they look?
Is the metaphor of "Father" lost to them, or is there a way to let them see it? What other figure illustrates these unique facets of love?
Any suggestions?
That's a tough one. Very few, if any, can love as a father does. Friends only go so far, and a brother or sister really don't have the same kind of relationship that a father would (in most cases). Personally, I would turn to a good book who had a strong father figure, or pull from multiple fictional sources to paint a picture.
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