Jump Start # 561

Ezekiel 34:4-5 “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.”

Our Jump Starts this week are looking at male leadership, especially in the home. This passage from Ezekiel shows the failure of Israel’s leaders. God referred to them as “shepherds” in verse two. They did not do what they were supposed to. The context shows that they cared for themselves, but did not have the wellbeing of the nation at heart. They failed to lead, protect or help.

God uses the same term to describe the leaders of His church, shepherds. All too often, these words of Ezekiel describe the condition of churches today. People are not cared for spiritually and the leaders have not done their jobs. God’s people suffer, and the kingdom fails to grow. Leadership involves leading, knowing people and knowing how to help them.

The first level of leadership begins in the home. Dads are to lead the family. These sad words of Ezekiel also describes many homes today. Lack of communication, leadership and spiritual direction has allowed the family to become vulnerable and adrift spiritually. Current statistics within churches of Christ,  indicate 50% of the kids attending church now will not continue to do that in their adult life. They will leave. That’s one out of every two children. The stats are worse for those outside this fellowship. Off to college and away from God is what is happening in too many congregations. Parents feeling guilt, point fingers at the church. Better classes would have helped. May have. Getting the kids together for social things would have helped. It might. A different preacher. Possibly. It may be the kids were influenced by the far country and nothing could have been done. But again, it may have been a leadership issue at home.

Years ago, Steve Farrar wrote a book called “Point Man.” It’s still in print. Every male ought to read it. It reminds us of what the Bible teaches. The concept came from the patrols American soldiers were making in Vietnam. A small group would go through the jungle, in advance of the major body of soldiers. They were to see if the area was safe. At the lead of this small patrol, was the point man. He was the first person down the path. He had to be the eyes and the ears for the soldiers behind him. If he walked into an ambush, all of them would be wiped out. He had to check for booby traps, mines and all the things that the enemy may have awaiting them.

Farrar uses that concept of the point man to describe the role of fathers. Dad is out leading the family. He is the ears and eyes of his family. His leadership, decisions and choices determine if the family is safe or if they walk into an ambush.

A point man who is sleepy, not alert, having an off day, or simply just not into it anymore, will be the death for an army patrol or a family. This means dads, there are times when you have to turn the ballgame off, because one of the kids needs you. The time you spend with that child and the way you approach that child can determine whether he makes it or not. My kids are all in their 20’s now, but I well remember those earlier days. That soft couch and a ball game on TV made for some real relaxation. Home work projects, someone having a bad day, someone in a foul mood, someone not connecting with Jesus would pull me off that couch. I don’t remember now who was playing in most of those games. I do remember helping my kids. Sometimes I was tired and just didn’t feel like it. I sometimes wished that their needs and my schedule could be on the same page, it never was.

The sheep are scattering, where is the shepherd? How do you want to answer that question? Watching a ball game? Taking a nap? Those sheep are your sheep.

The late Barbara Johnson wrote a whole series of books for mothers. I got to know Barbara personally, in fact, we even talked about doing a book together. Through humor she helped many parents. She had an expression that popped up in many of her books, “Where does a mother go to resign?” She understood. You don’t. You can’t. We may quit many things in life, you can’t quit being a parent. It’s there and it’s your job.

Tired shepherds, bored shepherds, shepherds who wish they were anything other than shepherds only makes the job at hand harder. If you are a parent, you are a parent, and dads, you must care and lead that family. Our selfish times have allowed people to excuse themselves from work, obligations and family because “they don’t feel like it.”

It is interesting, that expression, “I don’t feel like it,” is never found in the Bible. God never said to Noah, “I’m destroying all life except what is in that boat. Oh, by the way, how do you feel about it?” No. God never told Abraham, “How do you feel about sacrificing your son to me?” He never even said that to Jesus, “How do you feel about crosses?” How we feel about things is the first indication of selfishness. It doesn’t matter how the shepherd feels, the sheep needs him. They need protection, feeding, watching and care. If the shepherd doesn’t do it, they will scatter and become lunch for wolves. You go to work when you don’t feel like it. The kids go to school when they don’t feel like it—or, they ought to. You go to worship when you don’t feel like it. If we waited until we felt like it, nothing would ever get done. You go, you do, because it’s the right thing to do.

God was upset with the leaders of Israel. They were not doing their jobs. I expect God’s feelings are about the same with some dads today, because they don’t feel like being dads. There are parts of a shepherd’s job that aren’t very fun. Shepherds had to stick their fingers into the ears of sheep to clean out bugs. Boy, that sounds like a fun day! They had to separate some sheep when friction arose between them. They had to always be watching for wolves. They had to help those that got injured, often carrying a young one on their shoulders. Shepherds smelled like sheep. Pig farmers smell like pigs. Fishermen smell like fish. There are parts of parenting that are not pleasant, but they must be done. Changing diapers is nothing compared to trying to change attitudes of teenagers. It can be messy. It comes with parenting. You can’t resign. You can’t stop because you don’t feel like it.

Your family needs you. You are the eyes and the ears. Know what is going on in your house. Know who the kids are talking to and what they are talking about. Know what’s running through their hearts. Are they sickly and weak spiritually? Do you know?

Before you is your greatest job you will ever do, it is parenting. You are raising another generation. A generation that will walk with the Lord. A generation that will make a difference. To do that, you must be engaged, committed and give of yourself. You must be different. If you do what everyone else is doing, disaster will happen. You must be engaged with them.

Dads, you are the eyes and ears of the family. They are counting on you to get them home safely. They need you TODAY.

Roger