I’ve recently discovered that we have our own endangered species within the body of Christ. real MEN! For those who don’t know, I’ve been working on this idea of Biblical Manhood. This idea of manhood has always been vague in my life and I’ve been struggling to be God’s man. I’ve encountered all sorts of ideas on what it means to be a man. Everything from puberty, losing your virginity, being completely fearless, being disciplined & stoic, living large: driving sports cars, drinking, smoking, chasing women and fighting. So after going through all this stuff… I’ll share a little bit on what I think it means to be God’s man in my little world.
Men have muscles. We work long and hard to train these muscles. They allow us to run faster, move furniture, carry on longer, and both build & destroy. Jesus was a carpenter… back then… you grabbed a tool and you provided the power. I’m not sure how many of you have tried using a hand saw, but it takes some power, precision and perseverance. But how come the bible doesn’t really talk about this? Jesus surely wasn’t a puny-little, pasty-faced little twerp. (Yes, I’m fed up with Sunday-school-white-washed-clean-and-sanitary Jesus.) I’m fairly certain Jesus could twist me into a pretzel without breaking a sweat. But you don’t see Jesus striking a “Hercules” pose to impress the ladies. “How you doin’?” Instead the bible makes lots of references to Jesus waking up early & staying up late… to pray alone. The dude is wack, eh? Most of the time, I tend to see prayer as a waste of time… but I’m beginning to see it as more of a training regimen. Jesus was pumping the spiritual iron so to speak. In Gethsemane, we see a crisp image of why he spent all that time praying. He was looking for the strength to persevere no matter what trials & temptations came His way as He followed in God’s will. To be sacrificed in a torturous death as an innocent man. Where else can we find the power to be altruistic and to make loving people, even our enemies, above taking care of ourselves?
- Stop being a retard, spiritual muscles aren’t for flexing.
- We are to use them for God’s glory, not our own. To love our enemies. To lay down our lives for a friend.
- To lay our dreams down and say to God: “Yes, your way is much better. I am your servant, do as you will.”
Jesus calls us a city on a hill. I think we fail to remember that our entire lives are being watched by others. There’s no place to hide when you’re at the top of a hill. We are an example that others will follow. We call ourselves Christians, but are we truly striving & struggling to follow in Christ’s footsteps? Christ is not here, but he left with a job for us… to show God’s glory to the world. To show Christ to our friends, in the words we speak and the way we live our lives. When the darkness comes and it will come, are you shining? Not to say that you can’t shine during sunny times, but I think Christ is characterized by how He shined during the darkest hours. When your friend is going through their darkest hour, where are you? When the sun disappears… the rain & storms roll in, are you that lighthouse upon the rocks?
- Learn how to shine in darkness
- Experience personally your own walk with God
To the fans of Emily Post, Miss Manners, Dear Prudence & the like… Feel free to stop reading. Consider yourself warned.
I’ve found this mysterious “law” that seems to undercut the foundation beneath men. It is not enough that a man is to be sensitive and considerate to a woman. Evidently, a man needs to buy a book and memorize a set of rules on how to relate properly to women. I have to admit that it is good to be considerate of a woman, but there is a line somewhere between being a man’s man and becoming an emasculated-shell-of-a-man who caters to a women’s needs. I’d argue that we don’t need a book on manners… We need to learn how to love the women in our lives properly. Ultimately, I don’t believe any woman wants politeness. She wants love, romance, affection, passion, & all the other related trappings. Politeness is like the icing on the cake. Nowhere in my reading about Jesus do I detect even a thin veneer of politeness… I see love… I see consideration. I see wisdom. Say it the way it is (with love.) A woman doesn’t need a boytoy or something for her to play with when she’s bored. She needs a real man. She is attracted by the wildness & bit of craziness within men’s hearts. The kind of heart that is willing to serve whole-heartedly and bleed for them. Servant of the most high. Follower of Christ.
- Forget politeness. Aim for TRUTH with LOVE!
- Be considerate of the women God has placed in your life.
Ahhhhhhh! I LOVE this entry. I, for one, was a young man who aspired to have many many powerful muscles, but for the wrong motives. Since then, i’ve changed my ways, but I have a long way to go. the image of a crazy cut and strong Jesus… oh man. Truly a paradigm shift.
Yes… I must say I really like this entry as well. I’m sending it to all my guy friends.
word
:wave:
i’m not a man, but i really like that post. wise words.
ouch, sorry about my site causing your eyes so painful. when i get a chance, i gotta change the background.
I need to go to my spirtual gym more..and build some muscles :reader:
Wow, I can see you have your struggles with manhood and all that. I personally define myself as, you know, me. All those qualities that you have mentioned are in my opinion a result of the presence of women (or girls). So the fact that you are having trouble or are uncomfortable with manly character and all might suggest that you are still exploring your sexuality… Yes, you guessed right, this conversation is leading to 12th and locust street in Philadelphia! Give it a shot man! :headbanger: :cheekygrin:
I liked the first part and of course you knew there would come a comment on the 2nd part from me…I would say yes and no. Women want a man who is polite because being polite is really just another way of saying being considerate. Or putting others ahead of yourself. Yes, I dont’ subscribe to old-fashioned “rules” (you know I don’t), I expect a woman and a friend to open the doors for me if they seeing me carrying 4 bags of groceries just as I would my guy friends. Do I need him to measure everything he does out – no, but I do want to see the measure of his heart and his ability and willingness to care for others ;)…hahaha 🙂
John eldredge’s book… hahaa, I don’t know if I should recommend it or not to you… I just read some reviews on his other books at http://www.charlies.com and I found that what the reviewer wrote was kinda true.. Like I said, there was a couple things that I kinda questioned.. but then again, he made a couple important points. I’m still ambivalent right now..
Btw, I’m just wondering, do you have any suggestion for good books to do for sunday school teaching for high school kids??..
-gRaCe-
Thumbs up!
What I see lacking is godly mentorship. It has to start at home, be it church or the family.
And as for what women want, that depends on the woman :cheekygrin:.
well, I just wanted to get it on my xanga.. I dont think it needs to go on Google. :). thanks though.
1st part – i think this could be applicable to women as well. women need to pray, use their “muscles” for God’s glory, agree that God’s plan it right, etc. (btw, you mispelled “glory” on your second bullet point)
2nd part – i like the emphasis on being a “light”…this is something i’ve been struggling hard with. i feel extremely selfish most of the time and the scary part of it is i don’t even realize it.
3rd part – “Politeness is like the icing on the cake.” i couldn’t have said it better myseld. It is indeed something extra which stems from love, consideration, and what not.
A real man humbles himself before the Lord. Any man who loves God as much as God loves him, is a true man!
good post. I’m glad you reminded me to read it ‘cos I was really blessed by it.:lol:
Hello back…
Some good thoughts in your post! I agree with simp1e_song that the first part is applicable to men and women. I just had 1 issue with the wording at the end of that part though – I don’t think Jesus put loving others above taking care of himself, I think he put loving others above putting himself first. The reason I say that is because if we’re called to be like Jesus, I don’t think God calls us not to take care of ourselves, but I think He does call us to put His interests and others’ interests above our own selfish interests. (like that J-O-Y acronym)
But otherwise, well done… it’s awesome that you think about stuff like that… what bugs me the most is people (guys or gals) who think they’re fine the way they are (which is true, God accepts us as we are) and that they don’t need to change a thing (which is not true, God calls us to take off our old selves and put on our new selves).