The only thing worse than a deadbeat biological father is a deadbeat spiritual Father! If you have to tell someone that you're their spiritual father, then you're not a spiritual father! You're an insecure man on an authority trip. Unfortunately churches are filled with a ton of these guys. The Fathering movement is dangerous and is usually birthed out of rebellion. These self proclaimed fathers refuse to submit to Pastoral authority or church authority in general. They place themselves on higher ground than their leadership and in their rebellion start little movements that they become the Father of. These insecure, self proclaimed fathers are control freaks that cause division in the local church and usually do so in the name of Jesus. Their sons and daughters stroke their spiritual mains and in doing so justify their fathers rebellion! Rebellious sons become rebellious fathers and give birth to rebellious kids! It's a vicious cycle.

Now with that said let me say, that I do believe in Spiritual Fathers. These are men who have no hidden agendas. They are secure men of God that want to see their sons and daughters soar higher heights than they ever did. They're not fearful or intimidated by their sons success, that's their objective! They are not self proclaimed fathers, they're fathers by their action. True spiritual fathers work in conjunction with the local church. They believe in the local church. Their motive is never to gain a personal following or to build a movement, they follow Christ and build the Kingdom. True spiritual fathers make more sacrifices for their sons and daughters than they do for him. They never leverage their authority over their sons and never demand loyalty or submission because they do not have to. There are a ton of great spiritual fathers! I met one the other day. He never told me he was one, I just knew by the words that he spoke. I hung up the phone thinking this man is a true father!