Canaan's Rest

“Confused Excuses” is the title Christopher Wright gives to Jeremiah 2:20-37.  I found it in the “Bible Speaks Today.”  Some self disclosure – I have made a commitment to understand the prophet Jeremiah, so that I might share some of what God has to say through the prophets for our day.  It is hard work.  But I want to be obedient to the Lord.  Jeremiah has been a real challenge for me to grasp both in its content and making application for our day. 

Anyway, as for Jer. 2:20-37,  Wright makes this observation regarding this passage. Jeremiah records seven direct quotations from the people.  In this way, Jeremiah “cleverly exposes how they swing back and forth between brazen denial of sin and abject acceptance of it.  Their words are simultaneously self-excusing and self-condemning.  The confusion is astonishing.  But it is simply what happens when people become so embroiled in sin that they can no longer think straight.”

In v. 20 the people reject God, “I will not serve you.”  But then in v. 23 they claim “I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals.”  But then in v. 25 they admit what they denied in v. 23, “It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.”   In v. 27 they seem to view the sexual symbols of fertility as both providers and protectors, “You are my father,” and “You gave me birth.”  But then in the same verse they cry out to God to save them, “Come and save us!” 

When reading v. 25, “It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them,” along with v. 35, “I am innocent; he is not angry with me” these comments reflect an addictive attitude. Wright notes, “their sin is compulsive, something over which they have no control.”  “These insights of Jeremiah,” contines Wright, “show that the psychology of addiction is not confined to individuals, but can come to characterize a whole community.” 

Wright then gives us God’s perspective.  “God’s response (v. 35) shows  that such a hollow defiance will simply not stand up in his court.”  God says to them, “But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.'” The Message translates verse 35 as follows: “Don’t look now, but judgment’s on the way, aimed at you who say, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.'” Could it be that God is judging our culture because of all the excuses we are making for our behavior?

A good question to ask ourselves, “Do we ever try to excuse or defend ourselves before God?”  In our day the rhetoric is usually tilled toward blame rather than responsibility.  Being even more introspective, do we consider how our excuses appear to God?  I have to ask myself, “Do I come before my heavenly Father as someone who is totally dependant on His mercy and grace or am I wanting help with my own ‘self-improvement’ projects?”  

Even more searching is the question, “How is addiction to sin demonstrated in people’s lives today?” A good thing can become an idol when it becomes the ultimate thing.  What is the focus of our time, talent and treasure? Is God the ultimate reality or one of the idols of our culture?  Earlier in Chapter 2, God asks, “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me?  They followed worthless idols and become worthless themselves” ( Jer. 2:5). 

Living as we do in a spiritual vacuum, our creator God is being replaced by a lot of other gods.  What becomes foremost in our hearts is our God.  Any worthless idol, will according to Jer 2:5 cause us to become worthless ourselves.  

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.