Leadership and Fatherhood
Leadership… and Fatherhood
We continue our reflections on the qualities of the good shepherd, an important topic about:
Leadership… and Fatherhood
The bishop is undoubtedly a father to the people, and he is also a master who possesses fatherhood as well as leadership and authority. But which of the two qualities is predominant in him?
To answer this question properly, we must look to God Himself and to His apostles and prophets.
God the Father, our Father
God is the Lord of all creation. All creation is the work of His hands, and all is subject to His authority. And we often call God and address Him as Lord. But God prefers to be a Father. And when our good Savior taught us the Lord’s Prayer, He did not ask us to address it to our Lord, the Creator and Ruler, but commanded us to say: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed…”.
This is not a new teaching unique to the New Testament, but it is something clear from the beginning, for God calls His creation children and calls Himself a Father even to the sinners among them. Thus it is said in the Psalm: “He shall cry to Me: ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation’” (Ps. 89:26). “I said: You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High” (Ps. 82:6). “For I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn” (Jer. 31:9).
The prophets understood this truth. Thus it is said in the Book of Isaiah the Prophet: “For You are our Father; though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; You, O Lord, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name” (Isa. 63:16). “But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter” (Isa. 64:8). Even in the state of sin the Lord did not remove His fatherhood from humanity; for when the sons of Seth, God’s chosen, fell into fornication with the wicked, Scripture says: “the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful” (Gen. 6:2). And the Lord Himself laments the sin of humanity, saying in Jeremiah (10:2): “My children have departed from Me,” and He advises them: “Return, O backsliding children, says the Lord” (Jer. 3:14). And the Lord says in Isaiah: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me” (Isa. 1:2). And the prodigal son did not lose the title of sonship, for the father said: “This my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:24).
The apostles also rejoice in this in the New Testament. Saint Paul says: “God Himself, our Father” (1 Thess. 3:11). And the Lord Jesus Christ says: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
The Lord Jesus Christ, our Father
Isaiah the Prophet called Him: “…Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). And our Lord Jesus Christ used this title as well. He said to the paralytic: “Take heart, My son, your sins are forgiven you” (Matt. 9:2). And He said to the disciples: “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches…” (Mark 10:24). And to the Canaanite woman He said: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matt. 15:26).
The prophets and apostles are our fathers
Elisha cried out as he saw Elijah ascending into heaven: “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” (2 Kings 2:12). And with the same expression Joash the king spoke to the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 13:14). Saint Paul speaks to the people of Corinth, saying: “I have begotten you through the Gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15). He writes to Timothy in his first epistle (1:2) calling him “my true son in the faith,” and in the second epistle (1:2) “my beloved son,” and says to him: “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace…” (2 Tim. 2:1). And he writes to his disciple Titus calling him “my true son” (Titus 1:4). And when he wrote to Philemon regarding Onesimus, he said: “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains… receive him, that is, my own heart” (Philem. 10–12).
And Saint John the Beloved writes to the believers saying: “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin” (1 John 2:1).
Bishops are fathers
If God and His apostles and prophets chose for themselves the title of fatherhood more than lordship, then how much more the bishop, the steward of God and successor of His apostles. The Didascalia says of him: he is “your father after God” (ch. 6).
Fatherhood carries the meaning of tenderness, compassion, and love, and these are the primary foundation in the relationship of the bishop with his children. When David called God his Father, he recalled this quality, saying: “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him” (Ps. 103). And when Saint Paul mentioned his fatherhood to Onesimus, he said: “who is my own heart.”
The holy Church loves this title. When it mentions the saints in the Liturgy, it says: “Our holy fathers,” “Our father so-and-so.” In the litanies it says: “Our fathers the patriarchs and our fathers the bishops.” And from its reverence for this title, it calls the chief hierarch “the Pope,” and gives the bishop the title “Anba,” meaning “Father.”
Fatherhood is deeper and more effective than authority
Though we acknowledge that the bishop is lord, chief, king, and shepherd — as the Didascalia calls him — yet when we say “Our father the bishop,” “Our father the metropolitan,” “Our father the patriarch,” we are filled with a sense of emotion much deeper than the formality of leadership and authority. It is enough that we ourselves call God “our Father,” without diminishing His authority over us.
And you, my father the bishop, when you forget that you are a chief and master, and remember only that you are a father who gathers his children into his bosom as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, then you will live in a beautiful atmosphere of love, where affection binds you to your children more than law does, and love more than submission.
God Himself wished to lift people from the bondage of the law to the freedom of love that casts out fear.
You have authority, my father, and you have the right to command and be obeyed. But it is good that we forget your authority, and that all obey you out of love for you, not out of fear of you, seeking your blessings and your favor, not avoiding your punishments or the authority of your priesthood.
Some may submit to your command and carry it out, yet within themselves there is complaint that sometimes rises to their lips. But through love you gain another kind of submission — the submission of trust and heart’s contentment.
Through fatherhood people open their hearts to you and speak with you frankly; mere authority makes them withdraw, looking at you not as a feared master but as a beloved father. Let us hear the Scripture:
“If you will be a servant to this people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever” (1 Kings 12:7).
This topic is long; it is the foundation of all pastoral care. We will continue it in future issues, if the grace of the Lord wills and we live.
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