Category: Wildman Journey (Page 9 of 85)

What does it mean to be a committed Christian man in a post-Christian world?  Are there times when you have felt all alone?  Are you worried about the coming days?  Do you sometimes want to hide your light under a bushel basket, consciously “slacking off” in a hostile environment where the name of Jesus is offensive?  Does it sometimes tempt you to give up living for the Lord?    

Remember the story of the prophet Elijah in I Kings 18-20.  He challenged 450 prophets of Baal to ask their god to bring down fire on their altar sacrifice.  Elijah did similarly.  But he believed that “the God who answers by fire – he is God”(I Kings 18:24).  He prayed,   “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again” (I Kings 18:37).  God sent fire upon Elijah’s sacrifice, but not on that of the 450 prophets.  The people fell prostate and cried, “The Lord – he is God” (I Kings 18:39).  

After this victory, however, Elijah was condemned by Queen Jezebel and ran for his life. “He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors'” (I Kings 19:4). “And the word of the Lord came to him: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’  He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty.  The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.  I am the only one left; now they are trying to kill me, too'” (I Kings 19:10).

Later, God declared to him in an gentle whisper, “I reserve seven thousand in Israel – all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him” (I Kings 19:18).  Much later, the apostle Paul used this incident to show that God had not rejected the Israelites from the New Covenant.  He used the word “remnant.”  “So too, there is a remnant at the present time chosen by grace.  And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:5-6).  

The Message puts it this way: “It’s the same today. There’s a fiercely loyal minority still – not many, perhaps, but probably more than you think. They’re holding on, not because of what they think they’re going to get out of it, but because they’re convinced of God’s grace and purpose in choosing them.  If they were only thinking of their own immediate self-interest, they would have left long ago” (Romans 11:5-6 – MSG). 

What can we learn from this incident in the prophet Elijah’s life?

First, God can still bring the fire and turn hearts back to the Lord. Pray, believing as Elijah did, “Let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command” (I Kings 18:36).   

Second, don’t let the strong cultural narrative regarding toxic masculinity or following Jesus intimate you.  Don’t go and brood under a broom tree.

Third, admit your discouragement, but don’t say like Elijah, “”I have had enough, Lord” ( I Kings 19:4).  Admit you are not a “super” hero; you desperately need God’s grace. 

Fourth, be open to the “gentle whisper” of the Lord.  God was not in the wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire. 

Fifthly, praise God for being part of his remnant.  It’s all of God’s work (grace) in your life.  There are others.  You are not alone.  

Jonathan Haidt, the well-respected social psychologist, wrote an article in The Free Press titled “I’m Worried About the Boys, Too.” In it he admits, “I am extremely concerned about what is happening to girls, and to boys as well … But the struggles of boys have received far less attention.  I hope that is now changing.  We can, and must, figure out how to help boys and men flourish, too.”

He acknowledges, “Back when I was focused on anxiety and depression as the dependent variables, the story of technology seemed to be … mostly about girls … For boys and young men, the key change has been the retreat from the real world since the 1970’s, when they began investing less effort in school, employment, dating, marriage, and parenting.”  

Haidt maintains, “Boys started to become more pessimistic around four decades ago, although the trend has accelerated in the years since everyone got a smartphone.”  The virtual world has been like a siren song that has been more sweeter to boys rather than girls.  Why?  It has to do with the psychological sex differences – “people vs. things.”  “Boys are more attracted to things, machines, and complex systems that can be manipulated, while girls are more attracted to people; they are more interested in what those people are thinking and feeling.”

The virtual world seems magical for many boys.  It has allowed them to interact with new gadgets, while providing a safe place to do the “sorts of things they find extremely exciting but not available in real life” – such as meeting a group of friends to play war games. Haidt points out, “Just as video games became more finely tuned to boys’ greater propensity for coalitional competition, the real world, and especially school got more frustrating for many boys: shorter recess, bans on rough and tumble play, and even more emphasis on sitting still and listening.”

To understand what’s happening to the mental health of boys, Haidt maintains that “we must use a “push-pull” analysis … what were the factors pushing them away from investing in real-world pursuits? And what were the factors pulling them into the virtual world?” Haidt warns, “The virtual world is becoming ever more immersive and addictive.  Every year it will pull harder and harder on boys, urging them to abandon the real world.”  Then he makes this obvious statement: “We’ve got to make the real world more appealing for them.” 

Haidt’s article cries out for godly men to “father” their sons.  Our culture can never replace a father’s godly example and instruction.  First and foremost, young men have only one father.  Men, our responsibility is to raise up godly younger men.  Prov. 4:20-23 tells us, “My son, pay attention to my words; listen closely to my sayings.  Don’t lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.  For they are life to those who find them, and health to one’s whole body” (CSB).  These words give a picture of intense, personal, and heartfelt passing on of Godly wisdom.

This involves men who: 1) walk the talk, 2) are deeply involved in the lives of our sons, 3) are passionate about life,  4) speak from personal experience, and 5) above all, attempt to be a living, humble exemplar.  Be encouraged by Paul words to young Timothy: “Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me – a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard to precious truth that has been entrusted to you” (NLT).  Remember, trust what has been deposited by your example in word and deed. 

As never before, we as a nation are being confronted by “the raging of the nations.”  There have been riots, violence, and protests in the past, but due to the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, “the rage” has begun to dominate the news cycle daily. We have to ask, “Who actually rules the world and whose purposes will in the end by accomplished?”  The nation of Judah was surrounded by larger nations seeking to dominate it.  But the prophet Isaiah declares it unnecessary to be frightened by the raging of the nations, for they will soon be gone. 

Chapters 13-23 of Isaiah declare God’s judgment on the surrounding nations. Judah was being constantly tempted to look for political and military alliances with surrounding nations for its security.  Isaiah reminds the people who really rules the world. In 17:1-11, the prophet warns his people of relying on the nations with their fortress cities (17:9).  They “will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.  And all will be desolation” (17:9). The people of Israel had forgotten to make the Lord their fortress. “You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress” (17:10). 

In words reminiscent of Psalm 46, the prophet compares the nations to “the raging sea.”  Isaiah reminds the people that the power of man is helpless before the Lord.  “Hear the roar of many people, roaring like the roaring seas! Hear the surge of mighty nations like the surge of many waters! They may roar like roaring waters, but the Lord has but to speak against them and they are scattered far and wide, driven like chaff before the wind on the mountains, swirling like dust before the storm – terrible to behold in the evening and gone without a trace in the morning!  Such is the fate of those who plunder our goods, such is the lot of those who steal our wealth!” (17:12-14).

This brings to mind Psalm 2, where God “laughs” at the arrogance of earthly rulers. The Psalmist asks, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” (Ps. 2:1).  He replies, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.  Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill'” (Ps. 2:6).  As the kings of Assyria consolidate more land and people, with their multi-national armies, the smaller nations such as Judah felt the threatening winds of the conquering armies.  Their agitation is compared to the roaring of waters.  In the Old Testament the image of social and religious chaos is often depicted as roaring waters (Ps. 18:16; 29:3; 32:6).  This is a vivid image of world history as we have come to know it. 

The roaring of the nations in Isaiah 17:12 is in marked contrast with verse 13 where the nations are driven away like chaff by the wind, swirling like the dust in a storm.  The Lord spoke against the nations with all their roaring.  “Woe to the peoples who roar – they roar like the roaring of great waters!” (17:12).  God’s rebuke blows away the tumultuous nations.  As the wind blew, the lighter chaff was blown away.  Chaff is a picture of a speedy and total dispersal involving swift judgment.  There is no hope for the victims.  God’s wind will treat the nations like dust, easily blown away and forgotten. 

God’s judgment comes quickly. It is “terrible to behold in the evening,” but will be” gone without a trace in the morning.” (Is 17:14). I take comfort in the contrast made by Isaiah.  There will be a time when all the rage of nations will be silenced by the Lord of Hosts.

In the coming days we will need to stand with fellow brothers in the Lord.  Denominational distinctions will become secondary.  Who will stand with us?  Paul exhorts us to stand firm:  “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Eph. 6:11).  There are many Catholic brothers who are standing bravely.  One is Ralph Martin, who recently said, “We need to wake up to the spiritual battle going on and recognize that it’s not just against flesh and blood, governmental powers, educational powers, or technological powers.  It’s against the evil one, and we need faith and prayer to resist that power.  Jesus is the only hope… He is the only one that can save us.”     

Recently, Naomi Wolf (a prominent liberal and outspoken critic of restrictions on religious faith) wrote, “I don’t think there’s any explanation for how quickly things have reversed in our society other than supernatural power.”  It is surprising to hear people from all walks of society reacting as biblical believers might.  How else can one explain the rapid change in our culture?  Men, we need to be spiritual alert in these days. Jesus warns us, “Watch out that no one deceives you” (Matt. 24:4).  He then goes on to say, “All these are the beginning of birth pains” (Matt. 24:8).  Men, we need to be listening to the watchman on the walls. 

After Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013, he attempted to identify during an interview the spiritual power at work in Western culture.  He said, “One hundred years ago, everyone would have considered it absurd to speak of a homosexual marriage.  Today, one is being excommunicated by society if one opposes it; one is being punished by society with excommunication.  The fear of this spiritual power of the Antichrist is then only more than natural and it really needs the help of prayers on the part of entire dioceses and of the universal church in order to resist it.” 

Archbishop Gomez, another Catholic leader, had this to say about the influence of woke culture: “An elite leadership class has risen in our countries that has little interest in religion and no real attachments to the nations or cultures.  This group, which is in charge of corporations, governments, universities, the media, and in the cultural and professional establishments, wants to establish what we might call a global civilization.  In fact, as they see it, religion – especially Christianity – only gets in the way of the society they hope to build.”

In these dangerous and uncertain times, here are some commitments to make as men:

First, give your mind and soul to the Lord – literally.  It is vital to think clearly, applying God’s Word to contemporary dialogue, while being wary of the idols hidden in our souls.  In Ezekiel 6:9 the Lord says, “How I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols.”  Keep a check on what’s happening in your soul.  Don’t become preoccupied with the preoccupations of our culture.

Second, realize that we are in a fierce spiritual battle.  Only spiritual weapons can defeat the prince of darkness.  Psalm 149 encourages us: “May the praise of God be in their mouths, and a double-edged sword in their hands.” (Ps. 149:6).  And our enemy knows his time is short: “He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” (Rev. 12:12).

Third, find a group of men who are willing to stand with you.  Spend time praying and learning to resist.  Make Jesus and his kingdom primary.

“Situationships” is “slang for relationships of an undefined nature. They solve some animalistic need for intimacy or companionship with potentially zero strings attached,” writes Andrea Mew of the Independent Women’s Forum.  Mew calls our attention to the selling of Sweethearts candies traditionally sold for Valentine’s Day.  She informs us that the Sweethearts candies with their cute sayings (though sometimes smudgy and illegible) have been reintroduced in a new marketing campaign.  Sweethearts are now being sold online as “Sweethearts Situationships,” and touted to display “messages as blurry as your relationship.” 

Mew tweeted, “This Valentine’s Day, feel reaffirmed by your holiday candy selection to ditch the commitment and romanticize having shallow, casual relationships that provide short-term satisfaction at best, and damaged attachment styles at worst!”  Situationships, she warns, are a “modern rebrand of ‘friends with benefits.”’  Sweethearts candies essentially capitalizes on a mediocre product by repackaging and rebranding it as “Situationships.”  Another tweet had this response: “Filled entirely with sweet, meaningless nothings and literal mixed messages, this special box of candies is blurry enough for any undefined relationship.” Mew warns us, “We’ve cheapened sexuality by erasing the mystery of promiscuity and destigmatized what was once a normal dose of taboo and shame.” 

In the end Mew ponders, “Is it any wonder why people seem so down on dating when they’re not really getting to know each other on an emotionally intimate level, there’s no consistency and expectations, and there’s no talk about a future together to look forward to?”  

When I read about “Situationships,” I thought of Paul’s words in I Thess. 4:3-5: “Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity.  Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God” (Message).  It is well known that the Gospel flourished in a culture that was every bit as promiscuous as ours.  The growing church brought about a significant cultural shift in how men and women related to each other.

As one who lived through the sexual revolution and has now been married for 58 years, I give testimony to the blessing of having been a “one woman man” all my life.  I identify with the words of Proverbs 5:18-19, “Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.  Rejoice in the wife of your youth.  She is a loving deer, a graceful doe.  Let her breasts satisfy you always.  May you always be captivated by her love” (NLV).  Having an unblurred 58-year relationship has been both a great blessing as well as a great commitment to savor.

I take issue with a candy company reinforcing the idea that an intimate male-female relationship can be “situational.” No – the relationship is holy, established by the Creator and meant to last for a lifetime.  God made man and woman in his image, and has given us the sacred relational gift of “marriage.”  It is meant to be a covenant relationship lived out in the presence of God. Jesus reminds us that “a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.  So they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Matt. 19:5-6). 

My advice is the same as I shared with students at Drake University in the mid-1980’s. The secret to a successful relationship is prayer, because three vital elements of relationship are then put in order.  First, the spiritual; second, the emotional; and lastly, the physical.  A blurred relationship messes up the order, with the physical being first, and thereby blurring what God intends to be holy.   

The journal Public Discourse celebrated its fifteenth anniversary by republishing an article by Mark Regnerus entitled “The Truth about Men, Women and Sex.”  In the article, Regnerus explains the fundamental differences between men and women, pertaining primarily to their differing sexualities.  The journal notes recent revelations about sexual harassment, assault, and abuse as underscoring the blunt realities about men, women, and sex. “How can we confront those realities in a way that leads to less sexual violence?”  Below are three blunt truths:

First, “men’s sex drives are, on average, stronger and less discriminating than women’s.”  The sex offender registry is populated mostly by men.  “Men,” notes Regnerus, “seem ready to jeopardize career, marriage, family, and reputation – all because of genital urges.”  Women’s sexual instincts are less impulsive and more selective.  This is true across all human cultures.  “This is why marriages tends to settle down the male libido and it is wives who do this because of their very different sexual drive and interests.

Second, “Men have the upper hand in the contemporary mating market, even as – and partly because – women are flourishing economically and educationally.”  Men feel freer to take the sexual satisfaction they desire, while women feel more pressured to give it because so many women have given up on expecting men to wait until marriage to gain full access to female sexuality.  This is the result of contemporary sexual economics.  In most civilized cultures, men must come to women to negotiate access to their sexuality.  But a “hook-up” culture has weakened this exchange.  The feminist movement has taught women to become more like men.  As a result, many women are lonely and unhappy.

Third, “Women are usually smaller and weaker than men” and therefore more vulnerable to male aggression.  As a result, “women are more prone to find themselves in situations of sexual risk with regard to men.”  Regnerus reminds us, “Women are due not just consent or respect.  They are owed actions and words that consistently uphold their bodily integrity, security, and dignity.”  But in our day, women are getting less of this kind of behavior as they seek to meet their male sexual partners on their own terms.  Women are becoming more objectified rather than honored and cherished because of their feminine power. 

In Regnerus’ opinion, “the more we ignore the differences between men and women in human sexuality, the worse this inequity and women’s declining happiness will get.”  I thought of the advice given to married men in Proverbs 5:15-17: “Drink water from your well – share your love only with your wife.  Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?  You should reserve it for yourselves.  Never share it with strangers” (NLT).  This scripture paints a picture of faithfulness in marriage, telling men to enjoy the spouse God has given them.  

Remember Paul’s advice to us who have a tiger in our tank of the need to be tamed: “But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (I Cor. 7:9).  Proverbs depicts the picture of a man enjoying a sexual relationship with his wife.  “Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.  Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is loving deer, a graceful doe.  Let her breasts satisfy you always.  May you always be captivated by her love” (Prov. 5:18-19). “God does not intend faithfulness in marriage to be boring, lifeless, pleasureless, or dull” (Application Bible). It can indeed be joyful, satisfying, enriching, pleasureful, and abundant.

I have been reading a book on prayer by Fr. Donald Haggerty. In a chapter entitled “the desert of deeper prayer” he shares a quote from Saint Augustine.  “Give me a man in love: he knows what I mean, give me one who yearn; give me one who is hungry; give me one far away in this desert, who is thirsty and sighs for the spring of the Eternal country.  Give me that sort of man: he knows what I mean.  But if I speak to a cold man, he just does not know what I am talking about.”  

This quote is both inspiring and convicting for me.  I confess there are times when my relationship with God as that of a “cold man“.  I am not sure about my love for God, I lack passion for the cause of Christ, my thirst  for God is not very apparent, and I go through the motions without the vital energy of the Spirit.  I still struggle with my sexual fantasies. I want to desire “one thing”; that is being a passionate lover of God.  Yes, Augustine, I am that man, thirsting in a dry and thirsty culture.

I am a man continually crying out to God,  “Have mercy on me a sinner.”  I am like blind Bartimaeus, sitting by the roadside begging, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:47).  He was desperate, knowing this was his only opportunity to connect with Jesus.  When Jesus called him, Bartimaeus responded. Without hesitation he  throw of his cloak, jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.  When Jesus asked what he wanted, he was honest,  “Rabbi, I want to see” (Mark 10:51).  Jesus tells him, “Go your faith has healed you” (Mark 10:52).

David cries out to God in a parched and weary land.  “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you.  My soul thirst for you; My whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is not water” (Ps. 63:1).  I can somewhat identify with David.  It has been a long, winding path in becoming a man who desires to be a lover of God – “a man in love.”  It has meant a lot of unlearning about what a man is, my past spiritual journey and my theological framework.  I finally can say, “I want to be a man in love with God.”

What has this meant for me?  I have had to become more honest about my spiritual condition. David was honest when he prayed, “Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me? (Ps 42:5).  First, it has meant becoming a soulful man. St. John of the Cross calls the soul, the region of deep caverns .  It is vast, unknown and deep.  I have to become willing to go deep. This in not introspection for Jesus is already there waiting for me.  

Secondly, I have to admit my need.  I am a beggar like Bartimaeus, who can’t fix himself spiritually.  David prayed, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Ps 51:17).  He admitted his great need. “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God” (Ps 42:2).  I come to God in all my nakedness and emptiness.

Thirdly, God will rescue me from myself.  “I sink in the miry depths where there is no foothold.  I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me” (Ps 69:2).  God will rescue me.  “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me” (Ps 18:19).  

Trevin Wax is becoming one of my favorite younger spiritual writers.  He writes about men, many of whom seem lost and lonely in our culture.  His recent blog titled “To Be a Holy Man” caught my attention: “Many today seem to view masculinity as a problem rather than a gift,” he notes.  “How does it make sense to push back against toxic expressions of masculinity without a clear picture of actual manliness, a positive vision that shatters the caricature.”  He then refers to an article by Jeremy Schurke listing 18 characteristic of a man who abides in Christ. 

“We are all acting as first responders,” observes Schurke, “to the scene of a masculinity crisis.”  Men are suffering from “ontological insecurity.”  Schurke believes we need exemplars: “As for the ideal man, I have been really interested in the concept of a Holy Man.”  He sees this as a “first step for a generation of men who are experiencing ontological insecurity.”  Below are Schurke’s descriptors of a Holy Man.  The list is rather long, but I trust you will find it stimulating.  Think of it as a “glorified” bull session on masculinity:

1. He possesses wild eyes.  He’s not satisfied with the status quo but takes initiative as a difference maker.  He’s a citizen of another world.
2. He moves mysteriously.  Dallas Willard talked about living  “in another time zone.”  This is the life of a practical mystic.
3. He revers the sacred everywhere.   He is an everyday mystic, seeing his life as a spiritual adventure.
4. He establishes rituals, disciplines, and traditions.  He recognizes how habits shape life and character.
5. He walks a spiritual pilgrimage.  Life is a growing relational process in which one never arrives.
6. He abides in God.  He desires a consistent and transformative friendship with God.
7. He seeks a spiritual father.  He chooses close friends and a mentor – for soul care.
8. He lives for a life mission.  He seeks to know God’s calling and walk in it.
9. He wants to leave a legacy.  He invests time, talent, and treasure in and for others, seeing life in the larger story of God’s kingdom.
10. He seeks kindred spirits, and knows he needs to be surrounded by men who will encourage him.
11. He belongs to a tribe, and realizes he cannot be a “lone ranger.” 
12. He is a savage servant.  A Holy Man is committed to the team concept of leadership, organization and mission.
13. He fosters emotional intelligence.  With others, he learns self-awareness, empathy, and interpersonal sensitivity.
14. He burns with the fire of a poet and walks with a limp.  Being honest about his failings, he leads from a place of love and suffering.
15. He is a perpetual student.  He is a student of scripture and other spiritual books so as to grow both in mind and heart.
16. He takes his body seriously.  He appreciates his body, being comfortable in his own skin.  He understands his own sexuality and is committed to the virtue of chastity.
17. He is consciously countercultural.  He appreciates the goodness of creation and mourns the distortion of sin.
18. He becomes a saint.  He is committed to a lifelong process of growth, formation, and development, while being consciously set apart for God as a poet, warrior and monk.  He visualizes becoming like Jesus by being Jesus’ apprentice – to walk in his ways and love as he loves.

This is a long list for a short blog.  But these suggestions cast a vision that resonates with my heart.  As Schurke notes, “These steps to being a Holy Man are not easy.  Each requires more thought and reflection to be able to apply them well.”  

Owen Strachan, a research professor of theology at Grace Bible Theology Seminary, speaks boldly about our culture when he implies, “At basically every level, men are disappearing … for every one woman who drops out of college, seven men drop out.  Men have left the workforce in almost unprecedented numbers … men have disappeared from many families … in the bleakest category there is, suicide rates, men kill themselves far more than women do, representing 80% of suicides today …”  Strachan calls this disappearing “ghosting” loved ones, the work environment and “this very world itself.” He insists that “feminism and wokeness have accomplished nothing less than the destabilization of civilization.” 

Strachan believes in such an anti-male climate few dare to speak for men.  But he challenges us to encourage and reengage men.  “The dire situation before us today requires us to fight for men, not against them, since men are disappearing and struggling.  We need to find men where they are – “in some cases, this will be a precipice.” Strachan envisions a  mission to “speak a different word than anti-male voices … No man is hopeless.  No man is too far gone for God to reach him, remake him, and put him to work.  [Many men] have lost all hope and will soon step off the ledge into the darkness, disappearing forever.”

Strachan sees four deficient categories of men who are struggling:

1) The “soft man” who yields to the strong woman and take cues from her.

2) The “exaggerated man,” similar to the  Andrew Tate-type who embraces a “cartoonish manhood.”

3) The “lost man” who leaves his family and opts out of “any meaningful involvement in society”; and 

4) The “angry man” who, as an “exercise in vengeance” perverts his God-given strength for evil uses, as in the case of a mass shooter.

What is needed are strong men – not in themselves but in Christ – to join the fight to rescue disappearing men.  Strong men who use their strength for the good of others.  “He is a man under discipline and a soldier under orders.  He lives not by his own creed, but the truth of God.” Jesus is the  model.  He was tough and tender.   “….That’s the kind of man we desperately need today.  But as long as the culture targets strong men, we’re only weakening ourselves, and putting everyone in jeopardy.  If you demonize strong men, eventually there are none left.”

I am motivated to rescue men on the edge of the precipice, gripped by discouragement and hopelessness, having caved to the relentless message that men are toxic.  Strachan warns, “We must reach them before it is too late, and the hour is indeed late in the West.”  I was reminded of this exhortation:  “And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.  Rescue others by snatching them for the flames of judgment.  Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives” (Jude 22).

Do a spiritual checkup:

1.  Are you strong in the Lord? “… When I am weak, then I am strong” (II Cor 12:10).
2.  Do you have a passion to reach other men, even if it means snatching them for the flames of judgment?  (Jude 22).
3.  Are you preparing yourself to be misunderstood in a culture that does not accept the scriptural mandate for Adam to “work and take care of the Garden of Eden” (Genesis 2:15). 
4.  Do you long, like Paul, for your kinsmen to know Christ? “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart” (Romans 9:2).
   

Lord, give us grace and strength to be the men of faith you have created and designed us to be. 

Aaron Renn wrote an op-ed recently in the Wall Street Journal wondering why men turn to online influencers instead of traditional institutions and authorities. He pointed out five ways this is taking place:

1. Online influencers (OI’s) are men speaking to men, whereas many (if not most) mainstream figures writing on men’s issues are women;
2. OI’s treat men as ends, not just means… viewing men as important in their own right;
3. They also provide an aspirational, appealing version of manhood in ways mainstream figures don’t;
4. OI’s give practical, actionable advice to help men improve and attain their goals;
5. They create community.

Renn believes traditional institutions can re-create the online influencers’ success: “They can have men talking to and about men.  They can acknowledge that men are important in themselves… They can craft an aspirational vision of manhood that includes elements of sacrifice and service.  They can build men up with practical insights and advice, even when the truth is unpopular.  And they can crystallize community around them.  None of these things are objectively hard to do.”

In my passion to speak to the masculine soul, I take to heart Renn’s comments that men are not merely a means to an end (godly husband and father) but also as an end in themselves (being a man of God).  It seems that many of the messages men get from the dominant media come primarily from women.  Men are told that their roles need to be “instrumentally good” and enable women to fulfill their life ambitions.  But what men sense is that “they don’t matter until they become a problem for somebody else that society actually cares about.”  Renn references Richard Reeves pointing out during the UN #HeForShe Summit that men’s issues (increasing suicide rates, educational underachievement, etc.) can easily end up in grievance politics.  Reeves stated that if problems like these are not addressed, “they can turn into grievances, and grievances are weaponized… We have a responsibility to take those problems seriously.”

My heart’s prayer with this blog is to speak to the masculine soul, treating manhood not just as a “means” but as an “end” as well.  When I started writing in 2009, I wrote a blog entitled “Themes for the Wildman Journey” and used Prov. 4:23 as a theme verse: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”  I wrote, “This simply means that wildmen have come to the point in their lives when they know they have to pay attention to their hearts (soul)… I can say with deep conviction that men need to band together to deal with their soul lives.”

On that note, is it possible that too many men have seen the media, online influencers, or maybe even their own mothers or wives unduly influence the nature of their masculine soul and shape it in an unhealthy way?  I believe along with Renn that men need to build community and let the Lord define who they are.  Men need “soul care” groups to find healing, support and encouragement from other men, where they can will look to Jesus for inspiration and courage as men trying to find their way in modern society.

My journey of wholeness as a man has been going for many years.  I’m continually inspired by Psalm 71:18, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.”  And I sincerely pray that this blog will provide “practical, actionable advice” from a man who cares about the “soul life” of men.