Category: Wildman Journey (Page 44 of 85)

Recently at the conclusion of a Sunday morning service in our church I closed the service with prayer.  I had a picture of  people  standing by a door, wondering if they should cross the threshold.  Thresholds can be  important markers, helping us  interpret our progress on the  spiritual journey.  John O’Donohue asks,  “At which threshold am I now standing?  At this time in my life, what am I leaving?  Where am I about to enter?  What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold?  ……  A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms, and atmospheres?”  There comes a time in a man’s journey, when He must face to need to embrace the feminine compliment  of his masculine soul  – intuition, feeling, meaning and response.

In a poem entitled  “At the Threshold of manhood,” O’Donohue challenges men to “receive your manhood with grace and mindful ease.”   “May you awaken confidently to the feminine within you, and learn to integrate the beauty of intuition and feeling so that your sensitivity kindles and your heart is trusted.  That you may slowly grow to trust the silence of the masculine as the home of your stillness.”  He ends with, “Beyond your work and action, remain faithful to your heart, for you to deepen and grow into a man of dignity and nobility.”  These words speak to the need for men to embrace their tender side.  Remember a wild man is both tough and tender.

Recently I read about Warrior Week, a boot camp for men, who participated in, ” a regimen of physical torture and mental preparation that involves being punched in the face, hiking while holding logs, and reciting the poem ‘Invictus.”  This in not the kind of  threshold experience most men need  to become a better men.   It only  reinforces the “Rambo” image, the tough side of the masculine.   But it can be appealing when men feel emasculated, being told, for example,  after the recent London terror attack, “more sorrow and grief at the hands of madmen in London.  Men and religion are worthless.”

I worry about two responses from men: The passive depressed state of a soft male or the angry mucho man. This blog is committed to helping men not only know the true masculine, but the  balance of the complimentary feminine.  Each man will have a unique integration  of both.   Richard Rohr has observed that men are easily identified because they live in the control tower of their minds. My burden is in helping men cross over the threshold so as to embrace the feminine.  Men are reluctant to do so because it means surrendering control and not being about to rationally understand.

The poem challenges us to “slowing grow  to trust the silence of the masculine as the home of your stillness.”  Beneath our hurried, insecure masculine consciousness, which tries so hard to make sense of true maleness in our present culture, there is a deeper self,  the mystery of Christ hidden within us (Col 1:27).  We are challenged by O’Donohue to, “remain faithful to your heart, for you to deepen and grow into a man of dignity and nobility.”

Being faithful to our hearts, becomes a matter of listening and being attentive to how the Lord desires to form us.  We learn to move beyond the circumference of life to the center.  We have few male mentors who point us to the center.  Men, don’t let either the radical feminist or the angry male voice determine the contours of our soul.  Find wholeness with Jesus, in quietness and rest (Is. 30:15).  Let Jesus form you are as a man.

Be warned men, you will be afflicted by  the “Noonday Devil” on your journey to wholeness in Christ.  This is the term given to the sin of spiritual sloth and  discouragement, known as” acedia.”   The desert fathers of the fourth century called acedia, the noonday devil –  “destruction that wastes at noonday” (Ps. 91:6), because during the hottest part of the day, the monks would  be tempted  give up on the work of the spirit, leave the desert and return their former way of  life. Through painful introspection, the monks would criticize themselves for not being fit for the journey.  The noonday devil would then attack them with acedia, the distain and distaste for the rigors of the spiritual journey due to spiritual warfare.

Today it can be seen in Christian men, who seem to drop out of the race, lack commitment and energy, become careless,  while displaying a passive indifference to the way of Jesus. Some even become passive aggressive.   Their self talk becomes focused on not being worthy or spiritual enough, simply feeling as though they can’t measure up to the standard they feel is the norm for a man of God. These men become  spiritual causality in the spiritual battle that is getting more intense in our day.  They are the “wounded soldiers” that need to be rescued from the noonday devil, who is intent on taken out a lot of sincere men who don’t understand the subtle way of the Devil.  “The Devil is poised to pounce and would like nothing more better than to catch you napping” (I Peter 5:8) – Message).

“The other demons are like the rising or setting sun in that they are found in only a part of the soul,” observed Eavgrius, one the early leaders of the monastic movement. But, “The noonday demon….. is accustomed to embrace the entire soul and oppress the spirit.” The combination of sadness and lethargy cause acedia to be expressed  as despair, crippling the spiritual energy of a man.   It is like a spiritual blanket of darkness that falls over the soul.

Years ago, Fernando Ortega recorded  a song entitled, “Noonday Devil.”  As I  listened for the first time, being under attack by the noonday devil, I was despondent with my spiritual progress. I was turned in on myself, deep in the “disease of introspection,” feeling sorry for myself as a husband, father and pastor.  I could feel myself losing energy for the journey, while beating myself up because of my indifference.  The words, “In my hour of hopelessness/In my deep despair/The noonday devil whispers in my ear” spoke to my condition.

But it has been only years later that I came to understand the meaning of the refrain, “Oh Lord, make me angry/ Oh Lord, make me cry/Oh, Lord break my cold, dark heart/So I can know your love inside/ Your love inside.”  I now see the refrain was encouraging me to be honest.  I was angry and I wanted to cry.  But I could not admit I had a cold heart.  The key over the years has been the discovering of the love of God in my own heart.  I have come to realize,”There is nothing to ‘get’ in the spiritual life because I already have it.  I simply need to become aware of what I already have”( Albert Haase) and  “Things are not what they seem to be” (Haase).

Men the words of the Psalmist can be very helpful when battling with the noonday devil.  “Your face, Lord, I will seek” (Ps 27:8).  It is not your spiritual heroics that will get you through, but rather your awareness, trust and surrender to the loving presence of God within ( Rom 5:5).

I am preparing a sermon on Habakkuk.   Eugene Peterson says this  about Habakkuk. “That God-followers don’t get preferential treatment in life always comes as a surprise.  But it’s also a surprise to find that there are few men and women within the Bible who show up alongside us as such moments….Most prophets, most of the time, speak God’s Word to us………[But] Habakkuk speaks our word to God……The prophet realized that God was going to use the godless military machine of Babylon to bring God’s judgment on God’s own people….It didn’t make sense and Habakkuk was quick and bold to say so.”

So what can we learn from Habakkuk.  First, its OK to bring your complaints to God.  “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do no listen?” (Hab. 1:2)      The prophet had been praying for some time about the unjust, violent conditions in Judah.  He brought his complaints to God, rather then complaining about the cultural conditions.  Men, don’t  vent before others about how difficult life has become,  rather bring your grievances to the Lord.  Do your grieving in secret before the Lord.

Secondly,  God’s answer.  “Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed…..I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own.” (1:5-6).  Babylon was not yet a super power, but God was preparing them to bring judgment on his people.  Men, don’t allow  preconceived notions of God, prevent you from seeing what God is doing in the earth.  He is not inactive, but is in control of human events. Be attentive to his voice, then secondarily to the latest new cycle.

Thirdly, Habakkuk’s response.  He did not understand, but he trusted God.  “O Lord, are you not from everlasting?  My God, my Holy One, we will not die” (1:12).  He was ready to face the crisis, even though he was perplexed.  He would wait. “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint” (2:1).  Men, our most important activity in these trying days is  watchful prayer, helping us to respond in a godly manner.

Fourthly, God’s command.  God asks Habakkuk to write down His answer so other understand that justice will prevail.  “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it….Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay” (2:2-3).  God helped Habakkuk to see the difference between the ungodly and the faithful.  “Look at that man, bloated by self-importance – full of himself but soul-empty.  But the person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive” (2:2 – Message).  Through a  series of five woes, God shows how judgment will come.  Men, justice will prevail for those in right standing before God.

Fifthly, Habakkuk’s prayer.  Habakkuk started asking God to  “do something” and ends up praying for God to show mercy.  “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.  Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” (3:2).  He trusted in God.
“Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us” (3:16b), while he was praising God, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (3:19).  Men, in the midst of the cultural chaos, cry out for mercy as you worship God.  It will change our perspective.

“We live in a world full of males who have prolonged their adolescence.  They are neither boys nor men. They live, suspended as it were, between childhood and adulthood, between growing up and being grownups.  Let’s call this kind of male Ban, a hybrid of both boy and man (Darrin Patrick).”  “The Peter Pan Syndrome” or “failure to launch” gives expression to the same phenomenon.  Former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse noted that Titter has turned the noun “adult” into a verb. “#Adulting” is what young people post on social media to congratulate themselves for the rather ordinary feats of paying the bills, finishing the laundry, or just getting to work on time.

Adulting became so universally recognized that the American Dialect Society nominated it for the most creative word of 2015. “To a growing number of Americans,” wrote Sasse, “acting like a grown-up seems like a kind of role-playing, a mode of behavior requiring humorous detachment.”  We are witnessing something like “perpetual adolescence” among young men. John Stonestreet wonders if “isolation in peer groups of the same age, widespread complacency toward history and ethics, unbridled consumerism, and even those infamous participation trophies have all contributed to this crisis.

Adulting is evident in young men frowning at doing physical work. Instead of accepting responsibility to be working, it has become an act of obligation, something – like adulting – to be avoided. This is simply being lazy. Proverbs equates lazy people with fools. Their lack of productivity leads to poverty.  The Proverbs seem to poke fun at lazy people: “Just as a door turns on its hinges, so a lazybones turns back over in bed” (Prov. 26:15 – Message).  “The loafer says, ‘There’s a lion on the loose!  If I go out, I’ll be eaten alive” (Prov. 22:13 – Message).

As senior citizen living in the woods, I have learned to embrace physical work. I don’t have to go to a fitness center. I simply go out and cut wood. As a self-proclaimed “monk” living in my small monastery with my “nun” (my wife), I find focus for my life by identifying with the Cistercian monastic tradition. Cistercians valued the importance of work, along with prayer and study. Chapter 48 of the rule of Benedict states, “Idleness is the enemy of the soul.  Therefore all the community must be occupied at definite times in manual labour and at other times in lectio divina (prayer).”  The prayer of the monks is called the Opus Dei, “the Work of God.” “This prayer of praise to God throughout the day and night was considered the chief work of the monk, as well as the place where God worked on them.”

So out in the woods, I am talking with God as I sweat and labor.  All the while, God is working on me.   I listen, intercede, and cry out to Him. Working with my hands, exerting myself, is good for both body and soul.  Why do I mention the monastic tradition?  Because they give us men an example of how to include physical labor in the rhythm of our life as believers.  I know many of you are deeply involved with business and family life.  This blog is a reminder to include some physical labor in your routine, so it can be witnessed, especially by your sons. Don’t have the attitude of “adulting” when you do physical work.  Embrace physical labor as a man. Remember: “God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order” (Gen 2:15 – Message).

Stu Weber in his book “The heart of the tender warrior” observes that a man’s greatest strength is “staying power.”  This is  particularly seen  in men being able to make promises and then keeping them.  He quotes Lewis Smedes, “When a man make a promise, he creates an island of certainty in a heaving ocean of uncertainty….when you make a promise you have created a small sanctuary of trust within the jungle of unpredictability.”  Those words have stuck with me, I suppose, because I grew up in a home where  my dad was not good at keeping his promises.  I have many memories of  disappointment. As a result, I was motivated to be a  “promise keeper.”

I’ve learned that to be consistent as a promise keeper, I needed to keep VIM in mind.  VIM is an acronym from Dallas Willard standing for Vision, Intention and Mission. Trust in  Jesus’ unconditional love for me (vision), has helped me to be a more faithful promise keeper (intention) in doing what Jesus called me to do (mission).  Remember the large “Promise Keeper” rallies.  I attended two  in the old Metrodome in the Twin Cities with over 60,oo0 men.  It was quite a movement.  I wonder what happened to all those promise keepers and their promises, especially in regards to their families? Have they learned to  trust Jesus in keeping  promises?  “Perhaps the hardest thing for sincere Christians to come to grips with is the level of real unbelief in there own lives” (Willard).

Peter was a committed promise keeper who failed his Lord. This was not his intention.  Peter’s promised early on to be faithful.  “Master, to whom would we go?  You have the words of real life, eternal life.  We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69 – Message). Later he confessed openly before the other disciples, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God” (Matt 16:16).  Then in Jesus’ last hours, Peter declares “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will” (Matt 26:33).  But Jesus knew he would fail to keep his promises (Matt 26:35).

Peter thought he could be faithful in  his promises.  His intentions were  right, but in his denial of Jesus he failed miserably.  Jesus had warned of a spiritual crisis. He told Peter and the others that “Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat,” implying they could be tested regarding their intentions. The intention of the heart is the key to  keeping our promises.  “If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me.  If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself.  But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me” (Matt 10: 38-39 – Message).  Through Perer’s sifting he came to a deeper trust in  Jesus.

Jesus reminded  Peter, “I’ve prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out.  When you have come through the time of testing, turn to our companions and give them a fresh start” Luke 22:32 – Message).  Men, if you have been inconsistent in your intention to follow Jesus, and have failed as a promise keeper, take heart from these words to Peter.  Peter denied his Lord, because he didn’t fully trust Jesus.  Through his failure, Peter came to a greater awareness of Jesus’ unconditional love for him.  With this  awareness planted in his heart, he became a faithful promise keeper.  Men, allow your inconsistency to draw you to Jesus, allowing  him the change your heart.  Promise keeping, begins on the inside, with a changed heart.

Anthony Esolen in his new book, “Out of the ashes” gives the reader a “trigger warning” regarding a quote from Henry James’ novel, The Bostonians, in which the character, Basil Ransom expresses his desire to save men from the most “damnable feminization.”  I have often used the term “feminizing” in my blogs.  The quote expresses the changing climate  of the culture with the passing of “The masculine tone.”  I have some misgivings with the last statement, but it strikes me as almost a necessary consequence as men struggle to express their true masculine voice.  There will be stiff opposition.  Here is the quote:

“The whole generation is womanized; the masculine tone is passing out of the world; it’s a feminine, a nervous, hysterical, chattering, canting age of hollow phrase and false delicacy and exaggerated solicitudes and coddled sensibilities, which, if we don’t look out, will usher in the reign of mediocrity, of the feeblest and flattest and the most pretentious that has ever been.  The masculine character, the ability to dare and to endure, to know and yet not fear reality, to look the world in the face and take it for what it is – a very queer and partly very base mixture – that is what I want to preserve, or rather, as I may say, to recover; and I must tell you that I don’t in the least care what becomes of you ladies while I make the attempt!”

Could it be that the masculine tone is being drowned out by the ascending, demanding and unapologetic voice of the feminine, which wants to demean the masculine.  For example, why do we need female reporters in men’s locker rooms after the game or providing commentary during football games  played solely by men?  While the voice of the feminine has brought necessary correctives to gender equality, it seems to me that in many cases the feminine voice has lost the sense of equality and propriety that is necessary for the men and women to rightly relate to each other.  Men are left  confused and uncertain as to their God given role as men.  I wonder if all the rhetoric being absorbed by our culture, has not  brought a tone that is more nervous, hysterical, espousing coddled sensibilities, rather then robust debate, resolve and determination.

Could it be that this feminine tone is ushering in a “reign of mediocrity” in which the call to moral character and sacrifice of self is missing.  It seems we have become preoccupied with devaluing the natural order of creation rather than working together to bring harmony and balance to our cultural narrative.  I have never understood why we need “women warriors” deployed in the defense of our nation.  It is innate in the heart of man to protect and defend.  In the name of gender equality, we have dumbed down the requirements of a warrior.  Thus, “the reign of mediocrity,” even in the armed forces.

Could it be that “masculine character” is less apparent in the call for restoration of our nation.  I still appreciate Leanne Payne’s definition of masculinity. “At the heart of the true masculine is the power to honor the truth and to move forward in the truth, as it is spoken and lived out.” I admire greatly the man who speaks the truth, lives by the truth and will take “the heat” for speaking the truth.  “Christ has set us free to live a free life.  So take you stand!  Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you” (Gal. 5:1).  This includes the demands of radical feminism.

Recover

As one of the elders in our Evangelical Free church, I am committed  to supporting, encouraging  and working alongside our new pastor, who is a young man (34).  As his head elder, I am 75. I often think back to the days when I was young pastor.  Recently I was reflecting on the three years (age 32-35), when I was pastor of a 800 member Lutheran church in northern Minnesota.  It was my second call, following three years in the Twin City suburbs.  I was insecure, but zealous to have Lutherans to come to know the joy and freedom in living for Jesus.  It was in Babbitt, that I began to discern my style as a pastor and who I was as a man.

I was only beginning to come to grips with my “father wound.”  There was a hole in my soul, that would take years for me to understand and fill. This is why Woody Uppman is significant in my story.  Even as I write about Woody I get emotional.  You see, Woody became the loving, supporting and encouraging Father I never had. I loved hanging out with Woody.  Often I would go over to Woody in the afternoon on my day off (Monday).  I would just hang out with Woody. He  helped me learn how to do basic maintenance tasks on our two cars, we got into wood burning stoves together, did a little gardening and just had coffee together, taking  about life.  I felt at home over at Woody’s house.  We laughed a lot together.   Judy also knew it was feeding something in my soul.

Woody never talked a lot about the Lord, and seldom frequented the doors of our Lutheran church.  He was retired after years of working in the open pit iron ore mine.  He had little education, lived in a modest house with his wife, Edith, but he was my friend.  When I was with Woody I could just be me, not the pastor of the Lutheran church.  He accepted me for who I was as a young man.  I think Woody knew intuitively that I needed his unconditional acceptance as a young man.

I will forever be grateful for those few years with Woody. To that point in my journey, I had not hung out with an “old guy.”  I spend 10 years in school after high school, finally being ordained at 29 (1970).  My first three years were spent working with youth in a big suburban church in the Western suburbs of the twin cites (Edina).  So Babbitt, set the stage for my friendship with Woody.  He stirred in me a hunger and a longing to just be “an ordinary guy” not a pastor.  Woody didn’t realize what he was doing for me.  He just was my friend.  But he gave me “father energy” and “father nurture” that my soul desperately needed.  I just felt more whole after being with Woody for awhile

Why do I write about Woody?  Because there are men reading this blog who have a “father wound.”  You might be one of those men. Like me, you are not  able to identify the ache  you have in your  masculine soul.  You are driven to succeed and have people admire you.  You have no time for a relationship with an “old guy.”  But every once in a while you meet an “old guy” who is just ordinary, laid back and unassuming like Woody.  Something in you is drawn to that man.  Let me tell you, it is father hunger.  For the sake of your soul and your family, spend some time with that “old man” and let him feed your soul.

On Easter Sunday as I listened to my pastor’s sermon, I was struck by the words of Jesus in John 1o, declaring his authority to both lay his life down and take it up again.  Both the timing and events leading to his death were a choice  Jesus made because he rested in the love of His Father.  “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again.  No one can take my life from me.  I sacrifice it voluntarily.  For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.  For this is what my Father has commanded” (John 10:17-19 NLT).  “The Son’s death was voluntary.  Jesus was not a martyr or a victim. His decision to die was freely given in obedience and intimate relationship with his Father” (NLT Study Bible).

Do we as  men play the role of  victim because we are not secure in our Father’s love.   We think we have no choice, blaming others or the circumstances for our troubles. Jesus as the incarnate Son of God, under the authority of His Father never responded as a victim.  He freely choose his Father’s will.  While being one and equal with  God, the focus of his  ministry was to please His Father.  “The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing.  What the Father does, the Son does.  The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing (John 5:19-20 – Message). In wanting to please his Father, Jesus gives us an example of how to navigate our choices in life so we don’t end up playing the victim or martyr.

“We live,” notes Robert Mulholland, ” [in] an objectivizing culture,” in which the world is viewed, “as an object ‘out there’ to be grasped and controlled for our own purposes.”  We are the subjects who impose our will upon the world.  “Graspers” resist being grasped by God, “manipulators” reject being shaped by God, and “controllers” are not capable of surrendering control to God.  “Spiritual formation,” declares Mulholland, “is the great reversal: from being the subject who controls all other things to being a person who is shaped by the presence, purpose and power of God in all things.”

Over the years it has been helpful for me to remember that God is not an object “out there” to be manipulated,  nor to  think I am in control of my circumstances. Out of fear and insecurity I take over the reigns of my life. The “great reversal” requires the act of abandonment  or what the spiritual tradition calls “holy indifference.”   This means, “living from a place of interior freedom where one’ s heart is no longer constricted by egotistical demands,” notes Albert Haase.  “The great reversal”  is a life long struggle for men, who naturally want to control, manipulate and grasp.

Floating is a good analogy for remembering that we are not in control.  The more we struggle to maintain control – the more we will struggle and sink to the bottom.  Floating requires that we let go and give ourselves over to the flow of the water.  We need to trust the buoyance of the water.  Likewise, we need to let go and trust God.  Remembering the following  five truths should help in our contemplation of surrender:  1) Life is hard, 2) You are not that important, 3) Your life is not about you, 4) You are not in control and 5) You are going to die (Rohr).  Men, allow these truths to bring you to your knees, while crying, “Lord, have mercy on me.”

“The Red Pill” is the title of a documentary by feminist Cassie Jaye.  “When I decided to make a film on… men’s rights,” she confessed, “I never anticipated questioning my feminist views.  But the more MRA’s [men’s rights activists] I met, the more I felt compelled to remind myself why I was a feminist.”  The Red Pill metaphor comes from the movie The Matrix, in which Morpheus offers Neo the choice between a blue pill, which allows him to live in the comfortable fantasy world of the Matrix, or the red pill, which brings harsh reality.

After discovering the manner in which men are discriminated against in our culture (whether in family courts, workplace accidents, criminal violence, drug addiction, unemployment or suicide), Ms. Jaye could no longer call herself a feminist.  She concludes, “For society to accept anything being said on behalf of women’s rights and then to shame any dialogue about men’ rights and call it hate speech, is precisely the problem.”  Of course, vocal opposition came from other feminists, claiming that it was simply “misogynistic propaganda.”

Camilla Paliga warns of this radical feminist perspective when she states, “…Elite discourse about gender has become so nonsensical and removed from reality that rowdy outbreaks of resistance and rebellion are unsurprising.”  Men are feeling left behind, observes Owen Strachan: “They have been taught they have no innate call to leadership of home and church, and accordingly have lost the script for their lives.”  Men are realizing that politically correct culture constrains free thought and speech, so they opting out of it.  However, Strachan notes, “Men are disappearing, but they are not vanishing.  They are moving out of the mainstream, and into the shadow… many men are angry, flailing, and dangerously volatile today.”

Men, we are not to live as victims in the present political climate, but rather in our true masculinity.  We need to take the “red pill,” of harsh reality, joining the spiritual awakening among men, taking responsibility for our  inner story of pain and loss, thus allowing us to flourish in the gender wars.  Old school patriarchy is dead, but it certainly cannot be replaced by such a movement as #AllMenCan.  Why?  “When you try to prove you’re not a misogynist,” observed Denise C. McAllister, “you will become enslaved to women’s will and whims… You will never be able to do enough to prove that in the deep recesses of your heart you’re not what these women think you are – a sexist pig.”

I agree with Mark Walstrom that many men are angry, confused and depressed because they have lost their identities, resulting in the loss of soul. Instead of responding as victims in the gender wars, men are starting to come to grips with their own inner story, learning to deal with their soul life.  I share Walstrom’s perspective on  the  spiritual awakening among men, “The challenge many men are encountering on their path of spiritual awakening is how to integrate their more sensitive inner qualities into their way of living without losing touch with their masculine ‘warrior’ energy.  The goal, it seems, is not to become a sensitive, new-age guy but instead embrace one’s wholeness.”

Wholeness is found in our uniqueness as men.  We declare with the Psalmist, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it” (Ps. 139:14 NLT).  In being shaped uniquely as men, it is imperative that we become aware of what is “under the hood” – that is, in our soul life.  This calls for a new male sense of “consciousness” that is much more than skin deep.

MTD stand for “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.”  Christian Smith  came up with  MTD in describing a pseudo religion that is replacing biblical Christianity with a pseudo-Christianity.  MTD has five basic tenets: 1) A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth, 2) God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, 3) The goal of life is to be happy and feel good about oneself, 4) God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when he is needed to resolve a problem and 5) Good people go to heaven when they die.

The appeal of MTD one of improving one’s self-esteem and subjective happiness and getting along well with others. “America has lived a long time off its thin Christian veneer,” notes Smith, “[but] that is all finally being stripped away by the combination of mass consumer capitalism and liberal individualism.”  “Is the Christiainity we have been living…..a means of deeper conversion, or does it function as a vaccination against taking faith with the seriousness the Gospel demand,” wonders Rod Dreher.  MTD is dangerous to our spiritual health because it evades the necessity of Jesus’ substitutionary death for our sins.

The reality of  Good Friday, in stark contrast to MTD,  is vital in the soul care of men. We remember a God who suffered for us, freeing us from the bondages of our ingrained patterns of sin.  God enters our story and suffered.  As the prophet Isaiah foretold, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed (Is. 53:5).  We face the temptation of emptying the cross of its power in “the cozy cultural religiosity” of our day, worshipping, “a God without wrath [who] brought men with sin not a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of Christ without a Cross” (Niebuhr).

The necessity of the cross is  central to the healing of our masculine souls.  Our help is found at the foot of the cross, where in trust, we look up and see Jesus bearing all of our sin and shame in his body. We have a concrete place to go with our guilt.   In surrender, repentance and forgiveness we find healing in the shadow of the cross. I might not be very articulate in my passion in bringing healing to the souls of men,  but I can continually point men to the foot of the cross.

Paul reminds us, “The Message that points to Christ on the cross seem like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense.  This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out.  It’s written, I’ll turn conventional wisdom on it head, I’ll expose so-called expert as crackpot” (I Cor 1:18-19 – Message).  Against much cultural wisdom, soul care is done in the shadow of the cross.

Fleming Rutledge points to the  necessity  of the cross in these words, “Forgiveness is not enough.  Belief in redemption is not enough.  Wishful thinking about the intrinsic goodness of every human being is not enough.  Inclusion is not a sufficiently inclusive message, nor does it deliver real justice.  Only a power independent of this world can overcome the grip of the Enemy of God’s purposes for his creation. [Thus] Jesus Christ….offered himself to be the condemned and rejected Righteous One…At the historical time and place of his inhuman and godless crucifixion, all the demonic Powers loosed in the world convened in Jerusalem and unleashed their forces upon the incarnate Son of God.”