The wording is mine the overall thought belongs to Ed Welch. I am currently reading his book Running Scared. In one of the chapters he talks about God being the King and God being Father. This got me to thinking:

Our Father is the King.
The King is our Father.

Each statement says something different. "Our Father is the King" is a reminder that the gentle, loving, caring Father that is full of love is also full of power--he's the king. "The King is our Father" is a reminder that the all powerful, all knowing, sovereign head also has deep love and affections for his children.

Misunderstanding either of these statements leads to many problems. To deny that our Father is the King will potentially lead us to all sorts of wrong thinking and feeling. It can lead us to fear because our Father is not big enough to take care of it. It can lead us to loose living because we have the assumption that we have our doting Father wrapped around our fingers. It can lead us to bondage and helplessness in the face of deep sin. These are only a few.

To deny that the King is our Father can also lead us to wrong thinking and feeling. We can begin to view God as a cold dictator. We know that he is big and powerful but we wonder whether he really cares for us. It can create a distance and a performance based relationship--after all what can you do to please a King?

Which side do you err on? And what are the results?