How To Identify a Father
by Pastor Dag Heward-MIlls
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.
1 Corinthians 4:15
The gift of a “father” is a rare gift. Not every man of God is a father. Not everyone who teaches the Word of God is a father. Not all the visiting preachers and teachers were fathers. Not every prophet is father and Paul pointed this out to the Corinthians.
A Father Is a Rare Gift
There will be many people who will make an input into your life. Instructors and teachers abound but these are different from fathers. A father’s input is comprehensive. A father gives you a complete package that goes further than a good teaching. A teacher is concerned about giving a good lesson. A prophet is concerned about ministering the power of God through visions, dreams and words of knowledge. But a father is concerned with your total welfare.
Because fathering involves much more, there are not many fathers! It is easier to go through the prepared notes than it is to give total care. People can be so difficult and so ungrateful that only fathers can handle them over the long term. There are many, many pastors, evangelists and prophets, but a fathering prophet – who can find? That is why Paul said: “You can have ten thousand instructors but you do not have many fathers.”
The key characteristic of a father is not his age but his ability to produce after his own kind. Contrary to some opinions, there are many young people with a father’s heart. In the natural, people often become fathers at a young age. The proof of fatherhood is in the children who are produced by the father. It takes love, commitment and patience to bring up children. In the end, the children attest to your fatherhood.
If you compare the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, for instance, you will find the differences between a fathering prophet and a non-fathering prophet. These differences become quite clear when you study their ministries. By comparing the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, you quickly see the differences between a man who has a father’s heart and one who does not.
Both Elijah and Elisha were excellent prophets. But Elijah had an additional gift of being a father. That is why he had a successor. Elisha had no successor. He cursed Gehazi who was next in line to him. He cursed Gehazi when he made a mistake with money. The father’s heart does not curse his only child. The fathering spirit is that thing which causes a man of God to produce people just like himself in the ministry. Very simply put, the fathering gift is a manifestation of God’s love. It takes love to bring up people who don’t understand what is being done for them.
It takes love to bring up people who will not understand you for many years. Truly, God sends many, many teachers who minister to our lives. They will minister the lessons and the points that make up the doctrine. But a father will go many steps further. In addition to teaching you, he will minister the love and the patience that are needed to bring you into God’s perfect will.
Idealism in a minister makes him look for perfection all the time. Idealists and perfectionists are not usually good fathers. They often do not appreciate that the grace of God is working slowly in someone’s life. They insist on perfection all the time and that is not possible with human beings.
You can receive a man of God as a teacher. You can also receive him as a pastor. You may receive a man of God as a prophet or evangelist. It is also possible to receive him as a father. May you find a father in this life! May you receive the capacity to love and to become a father yourself!
by Dag Heward-Mills
A mega church Pastor
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.
1 Corinthians 4:15
The gift of a “father” is a rare gift. Not every man of God is a father. Not everyone who teaches the Word of God is a father. Not all the visiting preachers and teachers were fathers. Not every prophet is father and Paul pointed this out to the Corinthians.
A Father Is a Rare Gift
There will be many people who will make an input into your life. Instructors and teachers abound but these are different from fathers. A father’s input is comprehensive. A father gives you a complete package that goes further than a good teaching. A teacher is concerned about giving a good lesson. A prophet is concerned about ministering the power of God through visions, dreams and words of knowledge. But a father is concerned with your total welfare.
Because fathering involves much more, there are not many fathers! It is easier to go through the prepared notes than it is to give total care. People can be so difficult and so ungrateful that only fathers can handle them over the long term. There are many, many pastors, evangelists and prophets, but a fathering prophet – who can find? That is why Paul said: “You can have ten thousand instructors but you do not have many fathers.”
The key characteristic of a father is not his age but his ability to produce after his own kind. Contrary to some opinions, there are many young people with a father’s heart. In the natural, people often become fathers at a young age. The proof of fatherhood is in the children who are produced by the father. It takes love, commitment and patience to bring up children. In the end, the children attest to your fatherhood.
If you compare the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, for instance, you will find the differences between a fathering prophet and a non-fathering prophet. These differences become quite clear when you study their ministries. By comparing the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, you quickly see the differences between a man who has a father’s heart and one who does not.
Both Elijah and Elisha were excellent prophets. But Elijah had an additional gift of being a father. That is why he had a successor. Elisha had no successor. He cursed Gehazi who was next in line to him. He cursed Gehazi when he made a mistake with money. The father’s heart does not curse his only child. The fathering spirit is that thing which causes a man of God to produce people just like himself in the ministry. Very simply put, the fathering gift is a manifestation of God’s love. It takes love to bring up people who don’t understand what is being done for them.
It takes love to bring up people who will not understand you for many years. Truly, God sends many, many teachers who minister to our lives. They will minister the lessons and the points that make up the doctrine. But a father will go many steps further. In addition to teaching you, he will minister the love and the patience that are needed to bring you into God’s perfect will.
Idealism in a minister makes him look for perfection all the time. Idealists and perfectionists are not usually good fathers. They often do not appreciate that the grace of God is working slowly in someone’s life. They insist on perfection all the time and that is not possible with human beings.
You can receive a man of God as a teacher. You can also receive him as a pastor. You may receive a man of God as a prophet or evangelist. It is also possible to receive him as a father. May you find a father in this life! May you receive the capacity to love and to become a father yourself!
by Dag Heward-Mills
A mega church Pastor
