Danny's Men's Studies

In the Bible, three types of people were anointed with oil:

1. King/Judge
2. Priest
3. Prophet

And the one and only person who deserved full treatment was The Anointed One, or Messiah or Christ, who has/is/will fulfill all three roles. (Most of the Jews were looking for King-only Messiah, rather than future King, present Priest/Prophet 2000 years ago....)

In my study of biblical manhood, it was clear that the fathers fill in the kingly role (protecting the home, oversee mundane (executive) activities at home). I've been slowly buying into the idea that father is also the priest of the household: he should not only lead in worship at home but also to mediate (not meditate) for the family before God. The father, not the parents, not the mother, but the father is fully responsible (it doesn't mean he can't delegate but the buck stops with him).

For a while, I couldn't figure out how, if any, the role of a prophet can be taken on by the fathers. And then it all came together this week as we have been studying about the vision our church has, as well as the Rite of Passage talk on the importance of father's having vision (see my entry below) and realized that discerning God's vision for the family and properly communicating it (and pass it on) to the family is the prophetic role of fathers. In some ways I had some of this all along by my desire (my vision) to see to it that my children be home educated. I thought that at first, giving some freedom during school years were enough to get the children ready for college (like reading about homeschoolers sending their children to Harvard). But over the years I've become more open about the meaning of true education and growing together with my wife, the goals of our home education was less academic and more the whole being: becoming godly persons.

So to summarize:

1. Prophet: Strategic, visionary, seeing the future directions
2. King (& judge): tactical, day-to-day executive, protect the home
   
3. Priest: spiritual leadership and mediation
   

I believe all the more that the Church needs to model these roles (in the elders, first of all) and then encourage other men to join in and those men who buys in to this vision would then become discipled (as Morley puts it: "love the weak men, disciple the strong.") The Church needs to be a place where men can be trained, encouraged and equipt to become the "messiah" of his household (I mean more "anointed" but in today's world, a savior of the family).