December 5,1996
Dear Br. Bush:
The family, in Homeward-Bound Family Services, not only represents our earthly relations but the heavenly household as well. We have earthly fathers and we have a heavenly Father. Many unknown numbers of years ago, our heavenly Father was confronted with a problem of the highest magnitude; sin entered heaven, in the mind of Satan who desired the power but not the love of God. Most Christians don’t understand the origin of sin or the nature of its development, not to mention its ultimate consequences, if left unchecked.
Created in the form of a lovely angel, with unmatched talents
and abilities, Satan desired to be equal with God in power, but
not in character. Here was a challenge to the God’s authority.
What would he do? How would he meet this emergency, this challenge
to His very existence? Would God step aside, yield the contest
and let Satan rule or would He maintain His parental position
and authority and rebuke Satan through the weapons in His arsenal,
the weapons of love, mercy, patience, kindness, grace, and forgiveness.
As we might say, He choose to stay and fight.
While Satan lost the struggle with God, he is frequently more
successful with earthly fathers. God has placed men in the same
position and relationship to our home as He is to His heavenly
household. He is their and our Provider, Lawgiver, Judge, Guide,
Protector, and Friend. Under no circumstances should we relinquish
our rightful authority over our wives or children, no matter how
loudly they may protest. We have no right to give away what God
has bestowed upon us. As we reflect his character of love to our
wives and children, we teach valuable lessons of Christ’s
love for us and for them. By maintaining our authority, against
all usurpers and charlatans, we illustrate God’s struggle
to maintain His rule against the challenges of the great usurper.
When provoked by our children, we often surrender without a fight
in the mistaken belief that we must not restrict or interfere
with their growth or development. Society and even the church
teach that parents must guide their children in love. While this
is true, there are different types of love. Is it generosity to
let them have anything they desire? Is it love to deprive them
of the benefit of our mature wisdom and experience, even if they
don’t want it? Is it affection to let them rule the household
when they can’t even rule themselves? Yet many fathers quickly
abdicate their God-given authority when challenged by the expression,
“If you loved me, you would let me do such and such.”
We give up without a fight the first time our power is questions,
preferring to purchase harmony though surrender. As the English
discovered prior to World War 11, placating Adolph Hitter only
lead to a greater and more costly fight later on. Appeasement
never quells the fires of rebellion in our children.
But there is another, more insidious form of challenge to our
rule. This one is often launched by the fairer sex, our wives.
Women, imbued with the tenets of feminism, resent male leadership,
just as Satan chaffed at Christ’s leadership; perhaps this
type of threat is more difficult to meet, for it is launched not
directly, but more subtly and with more craft and cunning, albeit,
in most cases, unconsciously.
It is almost impossible for any modern women not to drink at the
polluted and corrupted fountain of feminism. Once having drunk,
they desire more, and desiring more, they seek to implement its
insidious poisonous into the family domain of which they should
be the queen to their husband’s king. However, the essence
of feminism, in disguise, is only another form of attack against
Christ in the person of male authority and leadership. Christ
gave men the responsibility of representing to their families
the virtues and value of His character; He did not give into the
hands of women this responsibility. It is to men, to their father
and their husband, that our children and wives are to look when
they desire to see a manifestation of Christ.
Thus, the real struggle is over wether, as men, we will stay and
fight or meekly surrender at the first salvo, especially if it
is clad in skirts.
God and Christ have never authorized men to surrender their position
within the family; we are not allowed to stand aside and let another,
either our children or our wives, assume our leadership role.
No matter the disharmony or outright hostility to our authority,
we must never yield the battle, but our weapons of defense are
the word of God and love. We are not allowed to use the weapons
of Satan to oppose those who would usurp our position. Only love,
kindly and mercifully administered, will win the battle.
Those men who have surrendered, no matter how stern the battle,
will never hear the “well done” of Christ unless they
repent and endeavor to restore the broken and severed relationships
they created. We need all the wisdom and guidance divine love
can give us in the reconquest of our family authority, but He
has promised to strengthen us in love and meekness.
We must resolve today to redeem the time and our leadership. Our
females and churches are crying out for male guidance. The reconquest
will be tough and many fatalities will occur in retaking the leadership,
but Christ will vanquish our foes if we lean upon Him for the
strength and guidance and wisdom we need.
It is far easier to defend a citadel then it is to retake it once
surrounded. Let us resolve to encourage every man who is fighting
manfully the good fight to remain courageous and faithful in his
struggles to represent Christ. Just as He conquered Satan at every
turn, by the weapons of love, so we may conquer every challenge
to our authority through the use of the same weapons, and like
Christ, we may also conquer, even the challenger wearing skirts.
We may also claim, as our right, the love and respect of our enemies,
even though they may never give us the satisfaction of admitting
it.
May the Lord bless you. Hold tightly the fortress of your family
against all challengers, foreign and domestic. Use rightly the
weapons of love and you may come off the victor. Your brother
in Christ.
Allen A. Benson