A Childless Father

      By Fern Horst

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." (III John 1:4)

My father often quotes this verse, referring to my siblings and I. I like to tease him that he's taking the verse out of context, because, you see, the man who penned those words never had biological children. He was the Apostle John, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, and we have no record that he ever married or had children.

But this "lack" did not make him ineffectual. He "fathered" many in the faith, including the recipient of the letter that we now know as "The Third Epistle of John." The recipient was Gaius, a leader in a church that John had likely helped to establish. John had recently received a report from other believers that Gaius was walking in the truth. Delighted to hear this, John sat down and wrote a letter of praise and encouragement to him.

Not everyone is called to be a biological father or mother. But everyone who is a disciple of Christ is called to be a spiritual father or mother. John gives us this example in the relationship he had with Gaius and likely others. There are people in each of our lives who need someone to teach them God's truth, to encourage them spiritually, to take joy in their growth in the Lord, and to praise them when they are faithful to Him.

In all reality my father doesn't take this verse out of context at all when he uses it, as John did, to praise and encourage my siblings and I. More importantly than the fact that he fathered us biologically is the fact that he fathered us spiritually. Our spiritual health gives him much more joy than anything else we could accomplish with our lives. If you have biological children, it is a given that God has also called you to be a spiritual parent to them.

One hundred years from now it won't matter if we fathered or mothered or gave birth to a child physically. But it will matter whether we were a spiritual parent. Take some time to reflect on the people God has placed in your life. Are there those that you could sit down and send a letter to, telling them that you have no greater joy than to hear they are walking in the truth?

If not, ask the Lord to guide you to those whom He wants you to be a spiritual parent to. Ask Him for spiritual wisdom and maturity to "raise" them in the faith. There are those who have not yet been "birthed" into the Kingdom. There are others who are "toddlers," perhaps orphaned from those who did guide them to Christ. They need someone dedicated to their spiritual wellbeing - people like you and I who God can use to be a spiritual father or mother to them.

The question is not whether there's a need. The question is whether we are willing. Remember, "there is no greater joy ...."

"I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." (I Corinthians 4:14-15)

© 2007 Fern Horst

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