Lacking…

Eva,

I have been listening to a video of a panel of different preachers, teachers and theologians about different topics. It is an open forum type deal. One of the questions that was asked was about the lack of Godly men in the church and who will step and lead a family. This is unfortunately the case in the environment  and culture you are growing up in…Specifically in the church. 

I know this to be a fact, because I was partially one of those men. I was not raised with clear direction on what a Godly, biblical man was or should be. It was exactly the opposite actually. I was shown how to care only about what inconvenienced me, what made me feel good and what was important to me….not the God of the Bible. I want to steal on an acronym from one of the pastor/theologians on the panel. I think he explains what a Godly and biblical man is suppose to look like. Before I do, i want to say, I fall so short of this still today, but I know that Jesus is making me into this in order to bring Him and the Father glory, therefore, I have hope.

The speaker who said these things which I am going to repeat, his name is Voddie Bauchman (pronounced “voady”). He gave these descriptions of what a Godly man should be:

Priest: The man who leads you, should be the representative of you, your children and himself to God. He should be the first to repent of sin, the first to the cross, the first to ask forgiveness from God and from you (if he has done something wrong or sinful). He should think of himself as the representative of your household before God. In order for him to do this, he needs to know the scriptures…and he needs to know them well. He cannot do his duty as priest representing you before God, nor can he delight in God himself, without a deep love and understanding of God’s word. If anyone tries to sell you something different, they are lying to you.

Prophet: The man who leads you, should be the prophet of God’s word to you. Again, he must know, enjoy and love God’s word…even above the way he feels about it, and you or your children feel about it. He must be and have a desire to lay out the scriptures to you and your family. Look for a man who loves God’s word…and desires to obey it above anything else.

Provider: The man who leads you must be able to provide for you. He doesn’t have to or need to be rich. As a matter of fact, I would advise you to steer clear of any man who has a good deal  of money, is in pursuit of riches or who desires to keep alot of money. The Bible is chucked full of scripture dealing with the pursuit of monetary gain, here is one that is straight forward and pointed, it comes from Paul’s letter to a young pastor who he training up named Timothy, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Please pay special heed to these verses Eva, for yourself and for the man who will lead you through life. This doesn’t mean,  he should shirk the responsibility of providing for you and your family. Paul also writes, earlier in the same letter, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). It is his responsibility to provide for you. It is not his responsibility to get rich for you or provide you with wealth. This would put his soul in danger of “all kinds of evil”. Join with him in pursing God above riches Eva. Be a conduit for the Holy Spirit in his life to pursue and enjoy God and His Son, through God’s Spirit.

Protector: The man who leads you must protect you. Voddie put it this way, “The man must put himself in between harm and his family.” The man who leads you must not be looking for trouble, but he must not run away from trouble.” He must not be fool, he must have sense and wisdom…but he must have courage to fight if need be. He doesn’t need to be big and strong, he just has to be able to stop and neutralize a threat.

Eva, no man was ever perfect, except Christ Himself. He was the only man without sin. You should not expect perfection out of any man. Nor should you look to a man to be fulfilled…completely. God is the only person who can fulfill you through and through…over and over again. You were made to worship and bring glory to God….to enjoy him above anything or anyone else. So do not hold it over your husbands head to bring you ultimate fulfillment. With that said, enjoy your husband :). God created you to enjoy Him together with your husband and to enjoy each other. Let your marriage reflect the beautiful union that is the triune Godhead (the trinity). God exists in distinct persons which make up the trinity: The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. These three have existed forever, and they have been knowing and enjoying each other completely from all of eternity. Let your marriage reflect the purity, love, selflessness and innocent enjoyment of the trinity Eva; let it overflow into your children’s lives, and your grand children’s lives.

Your marriage is not just about you and what will bring you the greatest amount of satisfaction. It is ultimately both of you enjoying God’s Son fully, and bringing glory to His name by making disciples and spreading the absolute satisfaction of loving and enjoying God to all the peoples (Matthew 28:18-20).

Your mother and I love you so much Eva,

Daddy