"Part of the problem with a lot of men is that they don't know what a real man is anymore"

Gil McKee, Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa, joined the Pastor's Circle today to talk about fatherhood in light of God the Father.


If we're talking Fatherhood of God. What are some cues we can take from God on fatherhood?

What an awesome subject.

I was fortunate to be raised in a home with a godly dad, which made it easy for me to think of the concept of a loving, heavenly Father.

But not everybody has that.

For a person who's brought up in a home like that to embrace a heavenly father who loves the son unconditionally is a difficult concept for them.

I guess it was always my goal to do everything I could do to reflect the heavenly Father, so my kids could embrace Him.

What are some of the key things that can happen to ensure our kids desire to follow God?

Obviously first of all lead our children to a faith in Christ by staying in the Word.

Be the kind of consistent example in every situation and circumstance in life.

When we mess up to be able to say, look, I messed up.

Just to be transparent and authentic in our relationships with our children.

How important is holy action in the lives of our kids?

I remember times when my kids were growing up, doing missions together. We would go to our neighborhood and help out.

There are so many different ways that your children can get involved with ministry alongside you.

I don't think you can place a value on that.

What are a couple things for dads to do better on?

Our dads need to be spending time with their kids.

Unfortunately too many dads are trying to make that extra dime.

Secondly, I think our kids need to see authenticity in fathers.

You know how we are as dads - egos. It's hard to say, "I was wrong" to anyone, especially our children.

I just think that's huge.

How can we love our wives better?

Number one to be committed to our wives.

To be the kind of husband we need to be for our kids to hear us say, I love you.

Just treating them as Christ would treat the church.

If we just follow that pattern, love our wives as Christ would love the church.

Even if you're at vocational ministry...to remember that ministry begins at home with our wives and with our children.

How frustrated should we get when our children don't end up quite like we imagined they would?

Well obviously I think part of the process is to train them early on that their responsibility is to their heavenly father.

At some point we have to recognize, "Hey, I've done everything I'm able to do." Then we have to let them go and let the Father do in their lives everything he wants to do in them.

That's one of the toughest steps - to let them go.

There are no easy answers for parents who go through that.

All of us go through times when we see our children make wrong choices.

At the end of the day, you're exactly right, their free moral agency is the same as ours.

Give us a tip or two about how we can encourage men today.....

I think part of the problem with a lot of men is that they don't know what a real man is anymore.

I think to just go back with men and remind them what God expects of us as men.

God's not someone up there just waiting on them to make a mistake. He wants to partner with them.