Episode 48 - Fathered By God | Book Study Part 2: Father & Son
Jake and Brett continue their book study series on Fathered By God by John Eldredge by discussing the richness of the masculine journey and being a son of God the Father.
Guiding Quote
“We aren't meant to figure life out on our own. God wants to father us. The truth is, he has been fathering us for a long time - we just haven't had the eyes to see it. He wants to father us much more intimately, but we have to be in a posture to receive it.” (Fathered by God, p. 11)
Key Points
Men are notorious for doing life on their own. We aren’t meant to do life on their own.
We are not fully men yet. There’s a way to become a man. God wants to father us into men.
The difficulties in life are an invitation to lean into the Heavenly Father
Our immediate distress in a situation might only reveal itself in another situation where we overreact.
We often feel the triple threat: I am alone, I don’t know how, I have to get it right
So many men struggle with feeling like an imposter
When we are honest and get underneath the surface, it’s very common to feel like an imposter
A self-made man isn’t all it’s praised to be
Secular salvation schema is the cultural pressure to save ourselves
John Eldredge has put his finger on the broken and redemptive state of men
Passivity and masculinity are mutually exclusive
God is a God of process, not a drive-thru God
God is not bound by our earthly fathers and God will father us directly and personally
Ideally we create a space that we and the men around us can be unfinished men under intentional construction and renovation by the Father
We can start by: 1. Repenting 2. Admitting our need for fathering 3. Accepting our need for fathering
There is nothing more important in a man’s life that to receive sonship
“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16)
Discussion Questions
What struck you from this episode?
When you notice the “imposter syndrome” what do you do? Do you respond as an orphan? As a son?
Are you open to being Fathered? How do you know? Where do you see that?
What would it look like to have a space were we can be unfinished men under intentional construction and renovation by the Father?
Can you say this honestly, “I don’t want to live fatherless anymore.” ?
Resources
Purchase Fathered By God