The pamphlets are coming thick and fast in the mail aren’t they? Buy this, buy that. Do this, do that to show dad how much you love him. The implication is that gift buying equals love. Father’s day has become another day overtaken by commercialism.
I’m a dad. When I had my first child my life changed forever. I’m now defined by my kids and they will be my greatest achievement.
A friend of mine, Graham McDonald, pointed out a few weeks back in an email, how Father’s day didn’t originally have its identity forged in materialism. The origins are actually Christian and the core reason for honouring fathers applies to all families.
Historical background of Father's Day
Here’s a quick grab of the historical background:
“In 1909, John and Sonora Dodd attended the Mother’s Day service at their church. As Sonora listened to the sermon and heard the virtues of mothers and motherhood from the Scriptures, her mind went back to her childhood. She thought of how important fathers are in raising children and she thought of the notion of a Father’s Day.
Sonora’s father William, a Civil War veteran, lost his wife as she gave birth to their sixth child. Sonora was sixteen at the time of her mother’s death and being the eldest child, much of the responsibility to raise her five brothers fell on her shoulders.Through the difficult years following her mother’s death, Sonora watched her father care for the six children with love and devotion and saw him make sacrifices in order to give the children better lives. After the Mother’s Day church service in 1909, Sonora felt inspired to campaign for equal recognition of fathers.
In June 1910, Sonora approached the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) to establish Father’s Day as a holiday in the same fashion as Mother’s Day. Due to the support of these Christian organisations, and Sonora’s dedication to the cause, the first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910. Sonora’s Father’s Day concept started gaining attention when it was reported on in the June 6, 1910 edition of the Spokane Chronicle. The article contained writing from Sonora’s petition:
‘A Fathers’ Day would call attention to such constructive teachings from the pulpit as would naturally point out;
• The father’s place in the home.
• The training of children.
• The safeguarding of the marriage tie.
The protection of womanhood and childhood. The meaning of this, whether in the light of religion or of patriotism, is so apparent as to need no argument in behalf of such a day.’” Source: DIDUNO: Father’s Day and the Christian Connection (Sonora Dodd)
The celebrations gained momentum in a broader scale once clothing companies and the like saw the immense marketing opportunities that applied to Mother’s Day could also be applied to Father’s Day.
We are all God’s ‘offspring’ (Acts 17:28). But our Heavenly Father never asks us to buy stuff for Him. He doesn’t need our coins, our skills, nor even the rituals that were once so integral to the life of Israel as a nation. But He loves our obedience. To ‘walk in His ways’ is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). The apostle Paul sharing the gospel with people around Asia Minor in the first century celebrated converts’ ‘obedience of faith’. Trusting in Jesus’ death and resurrection for our forgiveness is never about just a mental acknowledgement. Faith in what Jesus has done for us requires a demonstration of our wills to let go of our past behaviour and put things right.
Father’s should be encouraged to be good fathers. The service of children should most definitely not be seen as primarily ‘women’s work. Father’s Day should celebrate the unique contribution dads make to the growth of their children and by honoring them, we can encourage them to step up and not leave women with the major stake in raising the kids.
What to do at your church, school or home
But wouldn’t it be great if we all were encouraged to focus on and encourage not just the existence of Fathers, but their actual role and contribution a bit more? Pause and think how you might do this in your home or church. How might we celebrate or be thankful for:
1. Dad’s place in the home
2. How Dad contributes to raising his boys or girls? Perhaps give deeper thought to how he might train them for life and godliness?
3. His faithfulness to his wife and the importance of marriage?
There are literally stacks of things going on in those three points right? We really need to explore them more and make better use of Father’s Day don’t you think?
If you’d like to share the origins of Father’s Day try the little power point slide available on my friend’s website
Send me an email and let me know what you’d like to see happen at your church, school or home this Father’s Day. Maybe with your help Anton can work on something special to raise the issue of Fatherhood down the track.
Stephen Shearsby is writer and performer of Anton’s Antics, Gospel Shows for Children and Families.