Who Is the Orphan?

Scripture has plenty to say about the orphan and our responsibility to them.

*We’re instructed that our neglect of the orphan reflects the purity of our faith before the Father (James 1:27).

*We’re warned that mistreatment of the orphan is punished by the wrath of God (Exodus 22:22–24).

*We are also exhorted to seek justice for the orphan (Psalm 10:8, 82:3).

 

Since Scripture is our guide for living faithfully in this fallen world, we cannot afford to ignore the orphan if we desire to follow Christ.

During Old Testament times, the word “orphan” most often referred to children that were fatherless and not only isolated to those who had lost both parents.
***However, when our culture thinks about orphans, hardly anyone thinks about the boy or girl growing up in a single-mother home.

 

Contrary to society’s claims, fathers play a crucial role in the mental, emotional, and spiritual development of a child.
Voddie Baucham has noted some startling statistics on fatherlessness.

*Nearly 75 percent of fatherless American children will experience poverty before the age of eleven, compared to 20 percent of those raised by two parents.

*In fact, fatherlessness is the number one cause of poverty in America.

Although it happens on occasion, very few children are living in poverty with a father in the home.

*Children living in homes where fathers are absent are far more likely to be expelled from school.
*They are also more likely to drop out of school, develop emotional or behavioral problems, commit suicide, and fall victim to child abuse or neglect.

*Fatherless males are far more likely to become violent criminals (fatherless males represent 70 percent of the prison population serving long-term sentences) (Baucham, What He Must Be, 22).

The assumption that the father is of little use in the home and lives of children is costly.

This mindset is especially unfortunate because the church has adopted it, at the very least, in practice, even in Reformed circles.
*We reveal this when we show little care for those without fathers.

 

If the church wants to bring up young male and female leaders in their congregations and effectively evangelize their city, they must address the issue of fatherlessness. This is not an option.

But how does this look?

We Can Learn from Paul
Paul is a great model for what it meant to be a spiritual father. He exhorts the church at Corinth to “be imitators” of his fatherly example (1 Corinthians 4:15–17).

In this passage, Paul points out that the Corinthian Christians have many “guides” but few fathers.

The difference between teachers and fathers is intimacy. Paul perhaps recognized that mere words are insufficient — opening our mouths isn’t enough if we never open our hearts to train.

It takes men and families building relationships with kids and young adults intentionally looking for spiritual sons and daughters to adopt “unofficially.”
To our surprise, I think we’d find most kids and young adults with absent fathers would be open to older godly men acting as a spiritual father in their lives.

These relationships need to be developed patiently, with the local church encouraging and supporting this initiative in the context of discipleship.

There are many men in our local congregations who God may be calling to say them — and fill the gap.

Lord, thank You for Your love and being my Father and adopting me as your son.  Thank You for my earthly father , which I had, that did the best he new how.  Help us all to see the need of the ones without an earthly father present in their lives and ask the Holy Spirit what He would like us to do.   Show me that the fatherless should be considered orphans and what they may need.  Amen