Blue Collar Father?

Blue Collar Father

It is amazing how young I feel writing about white and blue collar stuff. Even as I go back and read some of my material I cringe slightly, knowing that this info is now available to the public. I feel a bit exposed. And at the same time, freedom comes as well with every word. So I’m going to keep going after it.

I was sitting with a friend yesterday at a coffee shop talking about this journey I’m on and I came to one realization. These thoughts, fears, desires, all reflect on how I see God s my Father. A father that provides, protects, guides, and cares.

As I read over my thoughts it really feels God-less.

In respect to provision, do I believe God gives and takes away? Do I believe God loves to bless His children? Do I really believe His heart is good for me? In Matthew 25 there is a quick story about a Master trusting his servants with “talents”. Most of you know the story. The verse that strikes me the most is verse 25.

24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

This sounds like me. I am the servant who believes that God is a hard man. I doubt His heart for me. I doubt He will provide. That it will be all up to me to make my way. My own gifts to network, find the right relationships, be clever in trying to make money easier than digging ditches every day. Doing all I can to avoid hardship. I am left on my own to figure it out on my own and in competition with every other man out there. It is more about my hard work then His power to provide how He wishes.

And so I wonder how this transfers to how White Collar men and Blue Collar men think about their Heavenly Father and how that Heavenly Father thinks of them. I would think that the writing above speaks a bit more to the blue collar point of view.

But as I have looked closer into my white collar friends I have found the same struggles but different reactions. Some healthy and some unhealthy.

I know we think entitlement is a bad word in most Christian circles. Yet, I wonder if there is some truth to the attitude of entitlement when it comes to our spiritual walks. Now of course it should be walked out with humility but as Children of God shouldn’t we feel a bit entitled? Considering the heart of the Father we find in scripture.


9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

As children shouldn’t we expect certain things from a good Father? It is like a son of a King. Shouldn’t things come with the title? With our position as children of God? In Jeremiah is says:

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

And David writes in the Psalms

2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

And so in my blue collar mind set I have been deceived. I have believed the assumption that I am on my own. Every material thing I will have to work for, and that my God is a hard man. With a heart that withholds first and blesses second. It really is a poverty mentality.

Yet these scriptures paint a different picture. They communicate a Father that is engaged, anticipating, protecting, and providing.

I am fully aware that my white collar brothers ask similar questions and take them to different assumptions but one thing I admire is their attitude of entitlement. Yes, it may be broken and unhealthy at times but they understand that they deserve something because of who they are and who they belong to.

One final thought. I continue to be convinced more and more of how we desperately need one another. I need my white collar brothers to challenge my blue collar assumptions and my white collar friends need groundedness and focus on the present. May we continue to see that need and respond by confessing it and striving to challenge each other unhealthy assumptions.

As some of you read this I would love to hear some feedback from some white collar guys out there about what they would want to learn from their blue collar brothers. So please email me and let me know your thoughts.