June 17, 2008 07:50
Men as umbrellas
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The other day I was watching a short video segment on Men and Leadership by Ed Young of Ed Young Ministries. He used the symbolism of an umbrella to talk about the subject of submission and covering.
Men were designed to be the one carrying the 'umbrella', not women. When a man is carrying an umbrella he is holding it up high. His wife is under the umbrella with him. This is symbolic of the following:
The Lord is above the umbrella, the man is under the umbrella, and he becomes the covering of his wife as she stands under the umbrella with him.
There is something that happens if the man drops the umbrella. A woman will invariably pick up the umbrella an try to carry it. But what happens is that she does not hold it up high enough and is running all over the place. The man tries to get under the umbrella, but he has to stoop to get under it and half of his body sticks out and is unprotected. He is trying to be the covering, but he is not covered himself. And a woman cannot be his covering.
My coments, not Ed Young's
Isn't it time that divine order comes into the church? Men need to stop dropping the ball in being the covering for their wives. They need to be the spiritual leaders in their home. Not only for their wives, but for their children. The father is also to be a covering for his children and set an example for his sons. We have a society of boys who grow up and never become men because their father never set the example and never mentored them. What happens is these boys who never grew up to be men, refuse to to be counseled or mentored-walk under a spiritual covering. So they continue to act like boys instead of men. Instead of walking in submission and a covering, they are running around getting rained upon by the enemy and wondering why their life is a mess. Invariably they experience a train wreck. But not only them, but their families. Which then creates an entire new generation that repeats the cycle. This has been happening for years in this nation.
As a pastor who is called to mentor men, it can be challenging to continue working with men who have the mindset of a child, who continue to refuse godly correction that will help prevent a train wreck. What normally happens is their life is a mess, they cry out to God who provides a mentor in their life. They see the mentor as one who has rescued them from the latest train wreck in their life and are very thankful. But then after awhile they lack gratitude and start having spiritual pride-which leads them ultimately to another train wreck.
What lead them to another train wreck? Lack of gratitude, followed by spiritual pride. Once spiritual pride comes in, it is almost impossible to help that person to avoid a train wreck in their life.
Fathers, start carrying the umbrella of submission to God and be the covering of your wives and children. And do no be so prideful that you will not be under the umbrella of godly spiritual authorities. How important is this?
Watch this 1 minute video.
06/17/2008, 13:32
I couldn't agree more with you brother. Our young people in general have become so narcisistic... and many are simply not growing into adults, and the males in our churches are not taking up their roles as leaders, but are rather allowing the women to do these things... and this is causing confusion, because it is not God's order of things. My church is in desperate need of men stepping up into leadership... and those who are doing it now will soon retire or die. The sad part is, there are no young men committed enough to replace them... this is much more serious than many know. Many churches have watered down the Word of God and focussed so much on emotions and entertainment that young men are not being mentored properly. I hope for the church's sake the this trend is soon corrected.
06/17/2008, 14:09
At our church we have strong discipleship program for both men and women. Our senior pastor and his wife have around 15 men and women they disciple along with our senior pastor having in addition around six young men that he is raising up as leaders. This is in a small church of around 125 people. To be honest we know of very large churches in our area that are not doing this. In fact, they have daughter churches that instead of a pastor preaching on Sundays, the congregation watches the senior pastor of the 'mother' church on a video screen. A 1,000 member church cannot raise up anyone to preach on Sundays in another church? This is an entire other subject that could be discussed.
07/21/2008, 21:00
I just "happened" to stumble upon your blog and I have to say I completely agree with you. Being a wife who has tried to carry the umbrella for many years now I have to admit that it is very tiring and frustrating doing something that I was never meant to do. My husband, whom I love very much was never taught how to be a man. He is responsible, but his father never mentored him in how to be a man, husband, and father. So here we are with a 2 year old son, that fear I will have to train up in the way he should be - allthewhile knowing that I can not mentor him or set the right example for him only because of my position as his mother. So I pray that someday my 40 year old husband will wake up and realize that God has called him to be more not only for himself, for me, but for our children. I beg men to raise their children up according to God's Word and realize that what they do now will affect many generations to come. Thank you for your blog - I needed to hear that there are others who see what I see happening with our society today and what unfortunately started many years ago.
10/02/2008, 19:36
As the owner and the provider of our lives He alone has the right to our individuality. His firm and faithful being consumed our personality with greatness. Worth is He who redeem us from hell, all praise and glory be to God almighty. Keep posting! and God bless... Just recently registered in your blogsite and i thank God for the chance of knowing a faithful servant like you. Hope to hear from you too, brother in Christ