Fatherhood Is Irreplaceable In God’s Design of Humans

The horrific murder of George Floyd and lawless property theft and destruction taking place across America have put our focus on American cities, the plight of the urban poor, and especially black urban poor. This focus has rightly challenged Christians to consider how better to confront racism in our own lives and American institutions. As Fathers’ Day approaches, I want to also suggest that, as we consider the plight of the urban poor in America, we recognize the epidemic of fatherlessness taking place in our cities and the black community. Its impact is enormous. But father absence is not just an urban or black problem. Fifty percent of children in America grow up with fathers who are physically absent (34%) or emotionally uninvolved or harmful through abuse (17%). Today’s episode looks at the way God has designed children to need a father, the damage caused by that absence, what a child needs from his/her father, and what we can do to help boys and girls in our midst who don’t have dads in their lives.

Some of the material in this episode comes from Pete Alwinson’s book, Like Father Like Son: How Knowing God as Father Changes Men, which I highly recommend.