In my lifetime, I have been called a bastard by the church twice. When I write, “by the church” I mean by church and not the Church. The first time was when my mother wanted to marry someone other than my father. Someone claiming to represent the church said her marriage to my father was not binding in the eyes of God. The second time was by a minister that said I was a bastard because I had not joined a congregation. Both times, they were wrong.

My father and mother were married when I was born. But even if they had not been, there is no scriptures that supports the title of bastard. Abraham had a child by his wife’s handmaid. The child was Ishmael. Did God call him a bastard? “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation” (Genesis 17:20). If you need more, read about the birth of the children of Israel. How many of the children were born to Israel’s two wives? How many were born outside of marriage? How many did God call bastards?

To the minister that claims I was a bastard until I joined a congregation, again I say there is no proof in scripture. The traditions of men do not constitute God’s word. The living Jesus is God’s Word. He always has been; so let’s ask Him. “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). Jesus does not ever refer to an evil man as a bastard, but gives him his due as the child of the devil. Of the saved Jesus stated, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Having the same Father as Jesus himself, how could I be a bastard? I cannot.

Was I a bastard because I had no pastor? Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). “‘You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 34:31). No! The Lord is my Pastor, I shall not want. Could it be that having Jesus for my Brother, Salvation, Righteousness and Pastor is not enough? Could it be that having the Father of Jesus as my Father is not enough?

The minister said, “Because you had no root.” A man is not a bastard because he does not have a root, but only if he does not know who his father is. But is it true that I had no root? “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10). It looks like the same One that is my Way to my Father is also the Root that I am attached to. So how can I be without root while I am attached to the Root that is a banner for His people. It appears that I was not a bastard at all, nor was I without root.

Too often people repeat things they have heard without proof. Too many times the traditions of men are passed on as God’s Word. God’s Word is my brother, but having a brother does not stop me from being an orphan. But God’s Word said He would not leave me an orphan and I believe Jesus. The Lord is my Pastor and the Way to return to my Father. The Lord is my Pastor and I shall not want for a Father. It is not that I did not have a Father, but that I was separated by my sins. God’s Word became flesh and redeemed me to my Father. The Son of God, that was always God’s Word, became the Son of man also and redeemed me to my Father. My Father was always my Father and I was always His son, rooted in the tree that produces the fruit of Love.

© 2005 Tim D. Coulter Sr.