Wing & a Prayer Productions

My Dad was recently made a Member of the British Empire in the Queen’s birthday honours. I’ve been wanting to write about my family for a while now and this seems a good excuse.

Obviously, I’m proud of my Dad for this (though, to be honest, I see the honour as belonging to both my parents. Their calling and work is intimately intertwined). Indeed, I’ve been very proud (though perhaps in the wrong sense) to belong to a family which has now received honours from the Crown for at least three centuries in a row.

And yet, what does it mean, really? So you get a title for doing something worthy. So what? I mean no disrespect to either my Dad or our forebears but, really, so what? There are many people who do incredibly selfless and serving things without recognition-is someone who gets a gong somehow worth more?

There is an argument for honours, I know, and if someone tried to abolish them I’m sure I’d come up with an argument for why they’re important. My Dad did ask me if I had any objection to him accepting the award and I couldn’t think of any. But, frankly, I don’t think any more of him for getting it.

Does this make me a terrible, disrespectful son? I might well be one of those but not for this. You see, I am proud of my Mum and Dad, fiercely proud (in a better sense). I could not ask for better parents.

My parents have lived through numerous war zones, they have been held hostage, they have had attempted terror attacks made against them, they have both battled serious life threatening diseases, they have been slandered, they have been accused of being spies, they have been accused of being power grabbing, they have been deported, threatened with execution and much more besides. Am I proud of them because of this? No. I’m proud because they could have avoided all of this (perhaps not the disease but the treatment might have been much easier) and yet, for the sake of others, they were willing to suffer.

And yet they make light of it all. My Mum said to me a couple of weeks ago ‘Panic isn’t known in this household’; and that’s absolutely true. My parents have got this wonderful ability to stay cool and laugh things off. It’s not because they don’t care. On the contrary, I’m humbled by how their hearts bleed for complete strangers. But there is a recognition that they cannot carry fears and worries with them, that they have to let them go.

I could go on about the qualities of my parents: their generosity, their patience, their encouragement, their hope, their joy, wisdom, self-control, humour. But the one thing I really want to highlight is their love of their Lord and God, Jesus Christ. They have poured themselves out for the sake of the broken and the hurting but all of that, ultimately, has been for Him. That is also, ultimately, why I’m proud to be part of this family with its heritage. Yes, it’s nice to be able to say that my great-great-grandfather was a knight (though I suppose it’s showing off to say that) but I’m far more proud of my relative who was clubbed to death in the South Pacific while trying to tell people that Jesus loved them.

Maybe that sounds strange to some people. But that is the true measure of character, being willing to die for the One you love. I’m very grateful for the fact that my parents have not had to go that far but there is no shadow of a doubt that they would be willing to make that sacrifice, as have so many of my family over at least the last two centuries.

As for me, I just want to bring honour to this family and, specifically, to my parents. I’m conscious that the things I do and achieve reflect on them, either to their shame or their glory. And I want to bring them glory.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel pressure or obligation from them on this. They have made clear that, if I never amounted to anything more than a bog cleaner, they would still love me completely. But I want to honour them in what I do.

But much more than that, I want to honour the One they honour. It’s ultimately for Him that I do everything-again, not out of duty but because He loves me no matter what and I want to do everything possible to show that I love Him. And I know that that is the best way that I can honour my parents.