As a son of divorced parents, I have long wrestled with the concept of fatherhood. While I want to be a father one day, I feel horribly unequipped and unprepared to face that journey. While I fully cognize and embrace that God is the only one who can shepherd me through this tribulation, I have engrossed myself in the pursuit of understanding what makes an effective Christian father. So far, I have only learned two things indubitably:
1.) There is no consummate elucidation for fatherhood. Discipline, leniency, understanding, lifestyle, and attitude all are capable of either bolstering or undermining your esteem as a parent.
2.) The only exception to the posit above is an individual, relentless pursuit of the true Father.
My only critique of this book involves not its content but its format. In my opinion, chapter 10, entitled“Dry Copies,” should be the first chapter of the book. This chapter asseverates the imperativeness of providing a great example of godliness and masculinity through actions rather than words.
My life has been full of incredibly flawed, yet understandably human, father figures—each with their own vices and discreditations. As a child and as a young man, I have committed my labor to the pursuit of the values and ideals of leadership, power, and education, and I have since struggled with the frustration of witnessing fathers in my own life or others’ who speak before they act or, worse yet, demand what they have not exemplified. Throughout all the leadership training I’ve attended and resources I have studied, the first and most important step for people who desire authority has been to lead by example, and the only way to encourage others to do something you haven’t done yourself is to clearly and compellingly explain why it is in their best interest to act accordingly. I realize now that my own inadequacies are a byproduct of the shortcomings of the men in my life, and my frustrations are targeted not toward these men as resentment but toward my own inability to overcome and avoid these obstacles. I accept that the only perfect father was God, and the only way I will break the cycles of those before me is through the wisdom which He reveals through books, examples, or even good ol’ divine intervention.
“Anchor Man” has served as a phenomenal stepping stone on my journey, but it is cognizantly incomplete. I am writing this review less for others to gain some sort of insight and more for myself as a reminder that I can only accomplish my goals through Christ as it states in Philippians 4:13. To those who took the time to read this, I could only hope my reflections might be of use to you, but primarily, I hope it reestablishes that the first priority of fatherhood is God and your obedience to Him. Becoming a great and honorable father comes by first following in the footsteps of the greatest and most honorable Father and embodying, through faith and action, the principles you importune to pass on in your children.