*** Special Three-Part Series: #3 of 3:
"The Culture Of God Versus The Cultures Of Humanity" ***
“One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters…”.
(George Herbert)
“my father didn't tell me how to Live — he Lived and let me watch him do it…”.
(Clarence Budington Kelland)
Noble fathers have noble children…”.
(Euripides)
“A man's desire for a son is usually nothing but the wish to duplicate himself
in order that such a remarkable pattern may not be lost to the world…”.
(Helen Rowland)
“A king, realizing his incompetence, can either delegate or abdicate his duties.
A father can do neither.
“If only sons could see the paradox, they would understand the dilemma…”.
(Marlene Dietrich)
“i cannot think of any need in childhood
as strong as the need for a father's protection…”.
(Sigmund Freud)
“It is not flesh & blood but the heart which makes us fathers & sons…”.
(Johann Schiller)
“A father carries pictures where his money used to be…”.
(Author Unknown)
“A truly rich man is one whose children
run into his arms when his hands are empty…”.
(Author Unknown)
The words that a father speaks to his children in the privacy of home
are not heard by the world, but — as in whispering-galleries — they
are clearly heard at the end and by posterity…”.
(Jean Paul Richter)
“my father used to play with my brother & me in the yard.
Mother would come out and say, ‘You're tearing up the grass.’
‘We're not raising grass,’ Dad would reply, ‘We're raising boys…’ ”.
(Harmon Killebrew)
Heaven exists as the environment surrounding a King, and — as such — has a culture that derives from that King. This King is God, and He may be viewed from one of two perspectives: “Father” to those who are part of His family and “King” to those who are not (whether on His side or not). The culture of Heaven is very different from the cultures of this world, and that is because fathers establish cultures. Every culture is based on the customs, habits, laws, mores, manners, postures, rituals, etc. of the fathers who came before the present generations (key word being “before”). This is why ancestor worship is so prominent in almost every major (and minor) religion. Fathers are enormously influential. They cannot but be. Whether or not they embrace that influence, they will still be profoundly influential in the Lives of their children most certainly and often in the Lives of other people, too — especially those younger than themselves. Almost every day, the only thing that really matters to me is how well i father my daughter, how can i do it better than i am doing now, and how will i go forward in fathering as a Lifestyle.
People in our society discuss “leadership” incessantly. There is a whole cottage industry on how to lead, and leadership is crucial. The greatest problem in the world today (by far — it’s not even close) is fatherlessness. The second greatest problem is a lack of leadership. Fathers father, and leaders lead. There is a difference — a huge difference. Fathers impart; leaders rule. Both are necessary, and neither is a luxury. Today’s post is about how the culture of Heaven derives from the being of God and how that reality causes the culture of heaven to be incredibly different (or theologians would use the word “holy”) from the cultures of the world….
The new Starz series Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena (and last year’s series premier season Spartacus: Blood And Sand) both give a really good look into the political importance of a father. Last year’s episode ended with the escape of the wife of a man who had become the patron (“patron” is a word derived from the Latin/Greek word “pater,” which means “father”). However, his patronage was extorted, and his revenge was accomplished opportunistically. This season opens (the 3rd episode) with and episode entitled “paterfamilias,” meaning the father who has absolute rights in all family decisions. To see the cultural implications of the extent of power that belonged to a paterfamilias (or “father of the family”) is to understand how little power fathers have in today’s American culture. In a world where most cultures still exist this way, Americans have a very difficult time understanding True fatherhood. The lack of True power for American fathers is astounding, although they still possess enormous influence.
Why am i discussing fathers in a discussion of culture? The answer is that culture is the result of families. Culture derives from the union of a father & mother and the passing down of their combined, unique, & created ways. Fathers are crucial to everything. It all started with a Father, not with a King. God is both, but He was a father before He was a king, so to speak. But leaders are important in a different way from fathers, and a good father should also aspire to be a good leader. Often, people confuse fathering and leading. For example, You hear Americans speak of our “founding fathers,” and i understand the sense in which they mean that. However, it is important to understand the differences between who a father is and what a leader does. It annoys me when people try to make a workplace a “family.” You know what? It’s not a family, so stop trying to make it something it isn’t. It’s the same with fathers and leaders; both are important, but don’t confuse them.
You might wonder how this affects America? A couple of weeks ago when the Egyptian riots were just beginning, Colin Powell made an interesting comment to Chris Matthews. They were having a private discussion off-air about why Hosni Mubarak (the Egyptian dictator) was trying to have his son (Gamal) take over after him as the next ruler of Egypt. Matthews couldn’t understand why such a transition was so important to the Egyptian tyrant or why he would want such a transition, and Powell was lamenting to Matthews that all of the Middle Eastern dictators are that way and that “that’s all these guys care about…”. Powell used a specific word, which i have rarely heard used by Americans: primogenitor.
Now, i have known the word “primogenitor” for a long time due to my studies in history, theology, linguistics, and other areas, but i don’t think it’s part of the vernacular. It means a noun that means “1. a first parent or earliest ancestor (Adam and Eve are the “primogenitors” of the human race); 2. a forefather or ancestor.” It’s sad to me that Matthews (a respected political commentator) and Powell (an American general and a powerful political influence in our culture) seem to have such an poor and awful grasp on why Mubarak wanted his son to follow him, but it explains why American foreign policy is such a mess and so useless most of the time. Fathers in the Middle East come from ancient cultures, and the ancient cultures understood things much better than we do….
See, many people aLive today think that we are better off than those who Lived before us, and — in some cases (like medieval Europe, for example, or modern-day Islamic countries) — that may be right in some respects. However, overall the world is getting more & more stupid, ignorant, and off-course as they mistakenly believe that their progress in science, technology, & medicine is making them more intelligent, informed, and on-track (cf. Jeremiah 6:16). We are not getting better as a culture; we are getting worse. We are not progressing as human beings; we are regressing. We are still not able to understand how the Egyptians built the pyramids or understand the astrology of ancient cultures or any number of other mysteries to us. The ancient wonders of the world still amaze us with their precision, design, beauty, and scope. It is an illusion to think we are better in almost any regard to the previous generations.
For a father to wish a son to take over his rule is the normal way of doing things — not some strange perspective. Matthews and Powell should know better, and so should all of us. Why wouldn’t a father who happens to be a ruler want his son to assume his role when he dies? What could be more normal? But in the upside-down world of democracy, that seems strange.
As i critiqued democracy yesterday, You could probably tell (although maybe not) that i am not opposed to freedom. In fact, i believe that freedom is the fouth-best gift (after Love, salvation, and redemption) bestowed on humanity by God. However, as is often the case with great gifts, it is also highly dangerous. The question we must ask ourselves is this: Freedom to do what…freedom for what purpose? We have been given a great privilege by God to have freedom at whatever levels we enjoy it (personal, corporeal, national, etc.), so why would He give us such a gift and how does He expect us to use it? Freedom is Truly an awesome privilege that is marked by both opportunity and also responsibility. Democracy is not a very good use of freedom, generally speaking. Democracy — at least as practiced in America — is more often an abuse of freedom….
The answer to the question of what is the intended purpose of freedom is this: to facilitate rule (as either a father or a leader). Rabbi Paul speaks of freedom as being “profitable” (cf. here for more detail) This obviously implies that there is a sense in which freedom can be used that is not profitable. “There can be a way which seems right to a person, but at its end are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). It is important for us to realize that freedom is a gift to be used for the glory of God and the benefit of people, and that it is profitable when used thusly and unprofitable when used otherly.
Now, why do i assert that the purpose of freedom is to facilitate rule by a father or king (or others in positions of authority such as mothers of a household or teachers or police or inspectors or employers or…)? The reason i assert this is that i do not think most people understand that Truth, and ignorance of that fact is an awful thing about which to be ignorant. See, the posture of ruling is somewhat easy to assume, but the exercise of ruling is another matter altogether.
Ruling (in any regard at any level in any environment) is the most “purely voluntary” thing a person may do (as one of my friends puts it). No one HAS to rule anything. In fact, in almost any scenario, people (and other beings) will give You the option to not rule, may oppose Your rule, or may try to harm You to take Your rule away. People only rule if they choose to do so. You cannot be compelled to rule. This is why it is so offensive when people claim that they were made to rule by the people. It’s why historians tell little-known stories about the great well-spring of ambition inside every single one of our American presidents. Rule is a choice that must be embraced or neglected — there is no in-between, no man’s land, kind of unclaimed ground. Literature is replete with examples of this — none more well told than the story of Aragorn in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. We were all made to rule, but we were all made to submit first to God and then to rule ourselves before ruling others. This is the point of Rabbi Paul’s teaching about the selection of elders.
Why? Why is there no middle ground on which we may languish treading time until we make a decision about whether or not to use our freedom to rule in the manner in which God intended? The reason is simple: God gave humanity the right to rule, but — in a vacuum unexercised — that rule will not prosper. In order to oppose us victoriously, our enemy has to acquire our ability to rule by getting us to cede our birthright of rule over to him, because we have the mandate of legitimacy from God. (cf. Romans 6:13, “…do not go on presenting the members of Your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but [instead] present Yourselves to God as those aLive from the dead and Your members as instruments of righteousness to God…,” where the word picture in the Greek is one of two enemies locked in combat to the death and one pausing to hand his weapon over to the other before resuming the fighting. Stupid? Yes, but that’s how we treat freedom all the time…). It is not only our right to rule, though — it is our mandate, our task, our assignment from God.
Understand that leadership is the nexus of four things, a creation (meaning that it involves, by definition, creativity) forged from the elements of authority, power, vision, & influence. The result of those four components being melted into one sword are called, amalgamally, “leadership.” As creatures who are charged to subdue the earth and have dominion over it, as partners to God who are privileged with cultivating the gardens He plants specifically for us and then transports us into, as ambassadors who are appointed to minister His reconciliation to those without it, we must be equipped. God knows this — He designed it this way. He never had any intention of asking us or expecting us to do something for which He did not properly equip us, train us, and empower us. Therefore, He gave us an heirloom grant of rule and imparted to us (as our Father) the ability, capacity, & creativity to establish culture through families & tribes as fathers & mothers ourselves and then also bestowed upon us (as our King) His Blessing of appointments as cabinet-level officials in His government to lead (via authority, power, vision, & influence). He did these things to enable us to fulfill our design of bringing glory to Him while benefitting others.
In this context, where we witness the good rule of God in our own Lives and are asked as His heirs to submit to Him in learning to exercise our family’s heirloom of righteous rule on His behalf — first in our own Lives for our own benefit and then in the degree, to the extent, & within the scope of our charge for the benefit of those whom He has ordained to be part of our sphere of influence — we are given freedom. That liberty is to be used profitably, and yet how many politicians or rulers or despots do You see behaving in this manner. Tyranny reigns and benevolence is scarcely to be found in the cultures of the world. In its societal dealings, the world with its cultures and systems and principalities reduces families to random, by-chance organized social groups of evolved primates deserving of being squashed, broken up, or pressured at every turn. In its political dealings, it prizes power by whatever means necessary and winks at hypocrisy or corruption or greed as if they were Lovers to be courted for fleeting pleasures. Not so in the culture of Heaven, though. In the culture of Heaven, derived from the very essence of our great King, the values are goodness, nobility, & strength and the dealings are marked by integrity, authenticity, & faithfulness. Love is the overriding consideration in every matter, mercy trumps justice when repentance is but a flicker, and hope buoys the perishing until Life rafts and rescuers can arrive to bring salvation, restoration, & redemption to an eternal being who is withering….
That is my homeland. That is from where i come. That is in me, and it is in You, too.
To Live in this world is to Live upside-down where youth is prized and old age is relegated to a retirement home full of other wise people withholding their value from the arrogant whippersnappers who are too busy, too distracted, and too oblivious to see their deficits are causing their treadmills to catch fire while taking them nowhere…where rulers use their acquired power to please themselves and cause suffering in others…where the weak, poor, & vulnerable are left to fend for themselves without dignity, hope, or access. It is shameful, wrong, and sinful, and it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, every day it isn’t that way inside the spheres where heroes walk and create an alternate reality borne of an other-worldly origin and out of a higher call. In every government, there are those who quietly mind their own business but do things that run counter to the injustice and the unrighteousness. They don’t revolt — they Live differently. They obey the government, but they submit to God….
A father imparts to his children what they need to establish their tribe even more deeply in the roots of righteousness; a king makes way for citizens to use their freedom to extend his rule to every nook & cranny of the society. The culture comes from the fathers and is reaffirmed & reinforced by the king to the society. i hope that these three articles in this special series have been helpful to You. i hope they have been clear and insightful and illuminating. i hope they inspire You to remember who You are, to rise up and reclaim Your mantle, and to restore Your sphere of influence, Your garden of koinonia, and Your family of intimates to the shalom of YHWH (Blessed be His Holy Name), for that is the culture of Heaven and the difference between it and the cultures of this world.
Selah....
