Michael W Smith challenges Church to ‘wake up’ to ‘crisis’ of fatherlessness, discusses new music By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Christian Post Reporter
Grammy Award-winning artist Michael W. Smith is challenging the Church to “wake up” to the crisis of fatherlessness and reflect God’s heart for His children by serving as mentors and “surrogate dads” to the fatherless.
In an interview with The Christian Post, the 63-year-old singer-songwriter commented on the tragic effects of fathers’ absence in their children’s lives — from drug and alcohol addiction to teen suicide. Studies show that a staggering 39% of students in the first through 12th grade are fatherless.
“We need a lot of surrogate dads. We have thousands of young men who need mentors, and I don’t think that’s the government’s job. I think it’s the Church’s job to mentor,” Smith said.
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“It’s a crisis that we need to wake up to, realize that we’ve got to be a part of the solution, and we have the tools to be a solution and help. Let the Church rise up, and I’m pointing the finger right at me too,” he added.
As a father of five and grandfather of 16, fatherhood is a topic close to Smith’s heart. And it was the love, patience and sacrifice of his own father, Paul Smith, he said, that transformed his life and taught him about the character of God.
“My dad taught me what God is like on a lot of levels,” the “Above All” singer said of his father, who died in 2015. “He was there for me my whole life. He loved me. He had so many attributes of God, and his glass was always half full. He was upbeat, he smiled and laughed every day. He fed the homeless, and he loved my mom well.”
Now, Smith is honoring his father’s legacy in his newly-released book,The Way of the Father: Lessons from My Dad, Truths about God. In it, he shares heartwarming stories from his father’s life and how his character reflected that of God’s, from loving unconditionally to triumphing in the face of tragedy.
