What is it about?
In this essay, I explore the issues surrounding fatherlessness from a triadic perspective (God's word, church, and world). While some see the role of “male” fatherhood as superfluous, I argue that fatherlessness is a pervasive problem, an epidemic—chiefly arising from two root causes: divorce-on-demand and unwed pregnancies—that has severe implications regarding God’s word, church, and world.
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Why is it important?
It is important because fatherlessness is a pervasive problem that often goes unnoticed and unaddressed in the church today. It has become an elephant in the room, which no one addresses—especially, considering the controversial, taboo topics of divorce, cohabitation, and feminism that are rarely (if ever) discussed within the church. The largest and most rapidly increasing segment of homelessness in the world is that of children, and one of the root causes of homelessness amongst children is fatherlessness.
Perspectives
As a children and youth minister for over a decade, I have seen the pervasive problems that fatherlessness causes. The children appreciated that I had taken time to get to know them and their struggles—going beyond the superficial formalities of "meet and greet" and spending time with them outside the church walls to understand their family dynamics and the challenges they face as fatherless children each day.
Rev. Gregory Earl Lamb
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Fatherlessness: Implications for God's Word, Church, and World, May 2017, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/073989131701400109.
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