Beloved Christians: Is it Right to Call Your Pastor “Daddy”?

Here's an article by Femi Aribisala, discussing the spiritual rightness of calling your pastor "Daddy". Do you agree with him?

Jesus insists his disciples must repudiate all earthly fathers of whatever description in preference for the one true heavenly Father. 

Pastor Adeboye of Redeemed Church testified that for some time all his children were girls. When he finally had a boy, he quickly became his favourite child. But one day, the boy fell sick. The more Adeboye prayed for his healing, the worse he became. Finally, he cried out to God: “Why won’t you heal my son?” The Lord replied: “Because he is your son, I won’t heal him.” Therefore, Adeboye quickly changed his line of prayer. He declared that the boy was God’s son and asked God to heal him. When he did this, the boy was healed. 

God’s message here is crystal clear: the children we presume to be ours are actually
God’s children. We are just their guardians.  This makes it all the more surprising that virtually everyone in Redeemed Church still refers to Adeboye affectionately as “Daddy G.O.”  

But if Adeboye is not allowed to be father to his biological son, how can he be “Daddy” to other peoples’ children? Surely, everybody in Redeemed knows that Adeboye himself has no other Father but God. Time and again, Adeboye has insisted he should not be called “Daddy,” but his church-members have simply refused to listen.  

Jesus defines parentage strictly from the eternal perspective. Heavenly fatherhood links us to God and makes us sons of righteousness. Earthly fatherhood ties us to the devil and makes us slaves of sin. (John 8:32-34). This means those who persist in earthly father/son relationships cannot expect to spend eternity with the heavenly Father.  

Our Father 

Jesus said to God at the end of his ministry: “I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world.” (John 17:6). “I have declared to them your name.” (John 17:26).  

The name Jesus declares to his disciples is “our Father.” He reveals that God is no longer classically “God;” distant, foreign and fearsome. He is now “our Father;” close, intimate and loving. Therefore, Jesus gives us a new directive. He says: “When you pray, say: our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Luke 11:2). 

The name we are now required to hallow is “Father.” It must be of exclusive application to God and to God alone.  

A living parable 

Kenneth King, my wife’s “old man,” was in his late-seventies and in poor health. He lived in Guyana and had to undertake dialysis twice a week. This was very expensive and the costs were virtually bankrupting him in his retirement. My wife and I discussed the matter, wondering how we could raise money on a regular basis to send to him. In Lagos, dialysis costs 30,000 naira (250 dollars) a session, so the sums involved were too much for our lean resources. 

I ended the discussion by telling her: “Look Karen, there is little we can do in this matter. God will provide.” Suddenly the Holy Spirit interjected and said to me: “Femi, don’t say God will provide. Say Our Father will provide.” I immediately relayed this to my wife: “The Holy Spirit says Our Father will provide.”  

The next morning, she got an email from Georgetown. The government of Guyana had decided to take over the funding of Kenneth King’s dialysis treatment in appreciation for his past services to the country. Immediately, the Holy Spirit said to me: “Your Father has done it.”  

Beloved Christians: stop calling your pastor “Daddy.” You must have no other Father but God.