Mark Hancock, CEO of Trail Life USA, had a thought provoking article in The Daily Signal, about young men in America, observing, “America is waking up to the reality that the ‘Y’ matters.” Referring to men he points to the Y chromosome, “The ‘Y’ doesn’t just mark their biology – it point them to their purpose. The ‘Y’ give them their Why.”
He states bluntly, “The crisis began the moment the “Y” was dismissed…. Influential voices turned identity into a DIY project, erased the Y chromosome as a marker of manhood, blurred essential boundaries, and loosened every anchor that once helped boys grow. Time-tested anchors of family, faith, community, mentors, and clear expectations were discarded…….boys were told that male and female were interchangeable, that fathers were optional, and that masculinity was either threatening or foolish. We’re now living the consequences: Boys are faltering, and a generation is stalled on the road to manhood.”
The result is a generation of confused young men. Hancock warns, “confused boys become wounded boys.” They then become wounded men, who are associated with “toxic masculinity.” Instead masculinity should be seen as strength serving in love, and power that has a redemptive purpose. In the midst of this confusion, the void is filled with influencers who promise, “strength, belonging, answers, and initiation.”
The “Y” chromosome is not a cultural construction but rather God’s unique design for each man. Every man is born with a Y chromosome. “But only intentional formation give him his Why.” “Masculinity” states Hancock, “was God’s idea first, not a social disease that needs to be eradicated….. We need masculinity ordered toward courage, conviction, humility, and love.”
Hancock points to Jesus as exemplifying “rightly ordered” masculinity. Jesus is “the One who confronted hypocrisy and welcomed the broken, who overturned tables and washed feet, who carried the weight of the world not to dominate but to redeem.” Then he makes a statement that challenged me, as a member of the “silent generation.” “This is the standard that boys are starving for.” Boys are waiting…. “for men to step in with the clarity the culture refuses to give.”
Boys need men in their formation. They need father and mentor, “who teach them how to carry weight, how to honor women, how to master impulses, how to take responsibility, how to use strength for the good of others – strength that serves, not dominates.” Men need to walk with younger men. We need to model “strength ruled by love.” We need to show boys “how to build, protect, serve, and lead.”
A generation of young men is watching. Who will show them the way? “Masculinity doesn’t emerge by accident,” Hancock states. “It is shaped by steady hands, steady hearts, and steady men……Families need men who know who they are – and why they’re here.” The author pleads, “America needs masculinity right now.” “It will take restoring the principles that created the greatest generation to build a new generation that doesn’t just navigate this destructive tide but turns back the tide itself.” Hancock ends with this challenge, “the ‘boY’ matters, and boys are looking for men to follow.”
As an “old timer” I was convicted by the thought of young men watching, wanting to know the way. Dr John Seel writes about the importance of who men aspire to be. He notes that becoming fully male is “a verb not a noun: a state of being, an ongoing relationally and spiritually derived process.” This is a lifelong commitment to a direction, dependance and development, becoming the best version of our masculine self. I am committed to live for Jesus and be formed by him.
Recent Comments