Scripture Reading:
“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Cor. 16:13-14)
What is a man? In some cultures, boys go with men to the woods, bang on logs, whoop and holler, hear traditional stories, endure painful stuff, and come back men for life with all its rights, privileges, and responsibilities.
Generally, not so in our culture. It seems more of a blur, like a camera that hasn’t found a sharp focus. I even wondered at times, age 30 with a wife and two small children, “Am I a man yet?” (Now I’m a recovering parent of teenagers—20 years after; and yes, I’ve long been a man.) At some point, boys want to be regarded, treated, and respected as men.
In today’s culture, though, being a guy can be tough. Men are routinely dissed and kicked to the curb. Boys are “trouble” in school. Some people focus on guys through a tiny coffee straw looking for the worst behavior. There’s that, no doubt. All men are sinners; some sin beyond all limits. But a wider view also finds men of noble character—wise, intelligent, courageous, strong, kind, gentle, loving, trustworthy, protectors of the weak, advocates for the innocent, second chance givers, “no nonsense” disciplinarians, mentors—in short, the kind of men that women, children, and other men need. If you look hard enough for something, you’ll find it, some say. It’s true.
In February, scores of men spent most of a Saturday at The Point VA’s first Men’s Conference. We guys are sinners saved by God’s grace. Rather than denying, hiding, or making excuses for sinful, even shameful behavior, some guys stood before all the rest and shared their amazing testimonies of transformation—how God made them new creatures in Christ—turning them from sinful, hurtful behavior to becoming men that others can respect and admire, men to whom others can point and say to their sons, “I want you to be like them, to become what they’ve become.”
The Corinthian church was rife with problems. “Paul the man” made a permanent, God-inspired record of those problems as he tackled them in apostolic fashion. In the closing chapter, he exhorts, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” If history and current events teach men anything, they teach us not to take our cues from contemporary culture. Scripture abounds with timeless qualities of God’s man. Why not put these two verses to memory and make it your habit to find, remember, and practice qualities of character and descriptors of thought and behavior that can be discovered by any man seeking them?
Prayer
“Dear Father, thank You for making me a man and assigning me days to live on Your earth for Your good purpose and glory. Please open my eyes to see what it means to be a man of God, empower me by your Spirit to become that man, and grant me the wisdom, strength, and courage to be that man all my remaining days. Amen.”