Forget the spotted owl and the snail darter; responsible fathers are a far more important endangered species:
- About 36 percent of American children live apart from their biological father.
- About 70 percent of juveniles and young adults in long-term correctional facilities did not live with both parents while growing up.
- Fatherlessness is judged a contributing factor in as many as 3 out of 4 teen suicides and 4 out of 5 teen psychiatric admissions.
- More than 30 percent of births today are to unmarried women; most of these children ren will always live in mother-only homes.
- About half of all children in the United States will experience parental divorce.
The research of Dr. Urie Bronfenbrenner showed the dichotomy of how much time fathers think they spend with their children and how much time they actually share. Fathers were asked to estimate how much time they spent playing and interacting with their small children. Estimates averaged from fifteen to twenty minutes per day. Microphones were then attached to the fathers, and the results were astounding: “The average dad-child time was thirty-seven seconds a day.” This reminds us a little of the Genesis record of one father: “And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money” (Genesis 31:14, 15). One cartoonist drew the characterization of a young boy standing next to his father’s recliner. The father was engrossed in the sports page, while the impatient boy pounded the leather of his baseball glove. Finally, the energetic little guy said, “Play with me or trade me!”
Fathers can make a difference! The Bible gives them a lot of credit by assuming they can bring their children “up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). First-graders were asked to draw a picture of God in their Sunday School class. Their finished products contained some interesting theology. One child depicted God in the form of a brightly colored rainbow. Another presented Him as an old man coming out of the clouds. An intense little boy drew God with a remarkable resemblance to Superman. The best snapshot came from a little girl. She said, “I didn’t know what God looked like, so I just drew a picture of my daddy.”
A group of young boys were debating whose father was the best. This discussion highlighted who their fathers knew. The first boy started the debate by claiming his father knew the mayor. He was soon topped by the second boy, who said, “That’s nothing. My dad knows the governor.” The stakes were getting pretty high, and the eavesdropping father wondered what his young son would say about him. The little boy shot back, “So what! My dad knows God!” Would your son say the same thing? May our children always be able to say, “My dad knows God!” Someone said, “Children are not likely to see much of a Father in God, unless they see something of God in their father” (cf. Lk. 1 16).
