FATHERHOOD AND SONSHIP: Spiritual DNA? Is it necessary? 1 Corinthians 4:15-17 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. So Paul tells the Corinthian church that although they have countless guides but he is their father. A bold statement from someone who is not a resident Pastor of the church in Corinth! But then he makes an interesting statement in verse17 and says that is why I am sending you Timothy... Because you are my sons I am sending you my son. Why? Because he carries something in him that is also in Paul. He carries Pauls ways in Christ. We always hear about the term spiritual DNA when the subject of fathers and sons is brought up. But what is it? And is it really necessary? Or perhaps does it have any specific benefits? My understanding of the term is that it relates to specific similarities between the ministry of the father and that of the son. When God made the heavens and the earth he gave a commandment that life must be fruitful and multiply. But in that multiplication every organism would produce after its kind. God created life on earth to reflect a principle. And the father-son relationship also reflects the same. Fathers produce sons that have a certain genetic code that identifies them with the father. Sometimes these similarities are not easy to pick up and only the father recognizes them. And other times they are quite conspicuous that some even dismiss the son as simply imitating the father. But what is important is the reason why this is called spiritual DNA. In my view this relates to the fact that firstly it does not come about as an enforced action by the father. This means that the father does not necessarily go about enforcing the similarities. He ministers, the sons serve and catch it. And equally it is not in the control of the son. It is as natural as in the biological process. If the son serves under the father the DNA must be transferred. Secondly it is sometimes a reflection of what the father has deposited in the son. Paul speaking to his son Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:14 said: By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. So the father ministers and the son serves and a good deposit is made. Thirdly DNA has an influence on how the son conducts himself in ministry. As much as God created animals and plants for each to produce after its kind, He also ensured that the organisms do not simply duplicate themselves. So as much as there are similarities between the father and the son there must also be a degree of variation. But the DNA ensures that the variation is kept in check. It is important that sons identify the grace that functions in their home. It is important that they fully understand the father as a minister. Because this has a bearing on how they mature as ministers. As Timothy was sent to the church in Corinth, so fathers should train their sons by sending them to minister with the intention of depositing in the churches the same spirit that is in the father. Jesus said when you see me you see my father. Even in spiritual relationships the gift of the father must be transferred to the son and eventually deposited into the church. God created ministries to be different. Each having its own grace that is different to another. But sons recognize the grace operating at home. They may vary from it a bit but they cannot or must not try to alter the basic genetic quality that is transferred into me from their father. But we must not forget that these relationships are a means of transferring the work of Christ. They are not items to use in dominating each other. The spirit of the father-son relationship is that of ensuring the growth of Gods work. It is not for sons to keep showing off how much they resemble their father as compared to others. This was the problem of the church in Corinth. They used the father-son relationship to segregate the church. Some claiming to belong to Paul, others to Apollos and some to Kefas. This practice was vehemently rebuked by Paul who said in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are Gods fellow workers. You are Gods field, Gods building.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 09:01:53 +0000
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