Only You Can Call Me Daddy

Our daughter, Clara, is learning how to speak. She’s been communicating for a while already through mumbles and motions, but now she’s starting to pronounce full words. Some of her favourites are “noodles,” “happy,” and “puffs.” Of course she mastered the word “no” very early on. And as is often the case, her first word was “mama,” with “dada” following shortly after.

Clara recently caught on to the fact that our names are not actually “mama” and “dada,” but that other people call us “Jess” and “Moses.” A few weeks ago, she started saying my first name. With a bit of prompting, she was also able to say “Jessica.” It was pretty cute.

One day a few weeks ago, as I was changing her diaper, I wanted to see if she could say our names without repeating them after me. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey Clara, do you know my name?
Clara: Daddy!
Me: Yes, you’re right. But do you know my actual name?
Clara: Daddy!
Me: But do you know that I have more names? Do you know my real name?
Clara: Daddy!

I wasn’t getting anywhere, but then I came up with a sure way to ask the question.

Me: Yes, Clara. That’s what you call me. But what do other people call me?
Clara: Daddy!

She clearly didn’t understand completely, but that’s okay. And in order to make sure she didn’t think everyone calls me “Daddy,” I told her “only you can call me Daddy.”

As soon as I said it, I paused. It hit me in a way it hadn’t before - Clara is the only one who can call me “Daddy.” It won’t be that way for long, but right now she’s the only child I have. That she can call me “Daddy” says something about the relationship we have as father and daughter, and that no other person on Earth has the same kind of relationship with me as she does. 

It’s a pretty exclusive club. But whenever and however we decide to welcome new kids into our family, there will eventually be others who will also be able to call me “Daddy.” The vast majority of people never will because they have their own parents and are part of their own families.

However many there ends up being, my children will have certain rights because they belong to my family. They are heirs to the names, history, and legacy that I will pass on - just as I’ve inherited those things from generations before me. They will also carry on the blessings and the baggage that I leave behind. Aside from that and any material inheritance there might be, my children will always have the right to call me “Daddy.” Our relationship of parent and child will never change.

As I thought of this, I was reminded of what John says in the opening chapter of his gospel. 

John 1:9-13
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Familial language is often used to talk about God in the Bible. God is like a parent to us. To say that God is our Father or Mother says nothing about gender (since God is not confined to gender), but rather it says something about the quality of relationship that we can have with God. When we choose to believe in Jesus, the Light of the World, we are given the right to be God’s children.

After the experience with Clara, God’s invitation to us seems all the more extraordinary to me. To be able to call God our parent is to be welcomed into God’s family, with all the rights and responsibilities thereof. As Paul says in his letter to the Romans: 

Romans 15:15-17
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

“Abba” is the Aramaic word for “father.” Even though Romans was written in Greek, this word was kept in Aramaic because that was the common language that many of the early believers would have spoken. “Abba” is likely the very word Jesus would have used when praying to His heavenly Father. And because we have been adopted into God’s family, we too can call God “Abba.” 

To be in God’s family means that we are co-heirs with Christ. Unwrapping what that means can take a long time, but in short, we will share with Christ in what is to come. And what is to come? Resurrection! When we are adopted into God’s family, we share in the work of redemption, reconciliation, and new creation that Jesus came to bring. These things, as well as our right to call God “Daddy” are assured to us.

What’s most amazing is the inclusive nature of this invitation. It’s open to all, regardless of our family background, culture, experience, or ability. God longs for us all to accept the invitation to be God’s children, thereby becoming siblings and co-participants in what God is doing in the world. Anyone, anywhere, has this right when they believe in Jesus. Unlike my saying to Clara, “Only you can call me daddy,” God says to us “Even you can call me Daddy.”