“Faith, fatherhood, and masculinity” was the title of a panel at the recent National Religious Broadcasters convention. The focus was on the needs of families in today’s increasingly hostile culture.  In her remarks, Mary Eberstadt summarized the 20th century in six words, “Men are at war with God.”  She contended, “Men and women are at war with God over the first question in history, which is ‘Who gets to direct creation?'” 

She believes the major social issues of our day can be traced back to the sexual revolution.  “It loosened the bonds of family, the bonds of community, patriotism and love of community.”  As a result, Eberstadt contends we have three “crises of paternity.”  They are: “1) The crisis involving our Supernatural Father, and our relationship to Him.  2) The crisis involving our earthly fathers.  3) The crisis involving patriotism, our love of country.  She maintains, “If we understand that these three crises are interrelated, we’ll have taken one step towards starting to address them.”

Also on the panel was Nancy Pearcey, author of “The toxic war on Masculinity.” “Certainly one of the tragedies of our day is the way fathers are ridiculed and mocked in the media today,” Pearcey noted.  She gave several examples including an article in The New York Times, which said in part, “One of the most frustrating problems in evolutionary biology is the male, specifically, why doesn’t he just go away?”  Another from The Atlantic – “The bad news for dad: There is nothing objectively essential about his contribution.”

Pearcey counters such widely held sentiment regarding the masculine,  by referring to examples in modern research and data that disprove the toxic masculinity point of view.  First, she cited anthropologist David Gilmore.  He found that all cultures affirm that good men do three things: provide, protect and procreate.  Secondly, Pearcy cited research that shows, “Christian men who are authentically committed, and attend church regularly, are actually the most loving and engaging husbands and fathers.”  

Thirdly, Pearcy cited Brad Wilcox, author of “Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization,” who found that, “the happiest of all wives in America are religious conservatives.  73% of women who hold conservative gender values, and attend church regularly with their husbands, have high-quality marriages.”  Lastly, Pearcey noted that contrary to popular claims, fatherhood is not a “social invention.”  Psychologists have found what they call, “the dad brain.”  “There is a nest of neurons that are activated when a man becomes a father….. God has literally given men a biochemical boost to bond with their children.  So, the facts are in, men are wired for fatherhood.  It’s not a cultural invention.  God has designed the neurochemistry of men to be engaged and loving fathers.”  

This is all “good news” for embattled fathers (and grandfathers like myself).  Here is reinforcement for men both young and old to stand as exemplars of a godly father in an age of tragic fatherlessness.  In Psalm 10, the Psalmist asks why do the wicked succeed? Although God may seem to be hidden at times, we can be assured that he is aware of every injustice.  He sees the plight of the fatherless.  “The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless” (Ps. 10:14).  As men we can pray, “You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that men, who is of the earth, may terrify no more” (vv. 17-18).

 “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families (Ps 68:5-6).

Aaron Renn has written an important book, “Life in the Negative World.” It is meant for evangelicals learning to live in a culture where a biblical faith is seen as a negative influence on others. In a recent blog, Renn noted “About a quarter of the book is an updated and expanded version of my diagnosis of what’s happening in evangelicalism and its relationship with society at large.  But three quarters of it is about how evangelicals should start living in this new era I’ve called the ‘Negative World.'” 

I have been following Renn on line for sometime.  I regard his insights  worthy of serious reflection and discussion.  In his blog he wanted to “highlight four themes that you can use as a guide in thinking through the ideas I share in the book.”  I believe they are worthy of our attention as men who want to follow Jesus.

First, a posture of exploration.  In the world as well as the church are in a time of rapid change and uncertainty. We all are experiencing significant change.  Renn believe this should lead us into “adopting a posture of exploration.”  “Today’s world is much more like a ‘zero to one’ startup.  We are in the unknown territory and have to get more comfortable walking by faith rather than sight.”  Using the Israelites crossing the Jordan River into the promised land as an example, he suggests, “They had known only the wilderness, which was their comfort zone.   Now they had to venture into the unknown, following the ark because they had not been this way before.” 

Second, increased focus on being a counterculture.  Renn believes, “the evangelical church needs to spend much more time self-consciously and intentionally stewarding the strength and health of its own community.”  He sees evangelicalism as internally weak.  He suggests there should be more of an internal focus rather then that of an external focus.  The image of building an ark to survive the flood would be a good image for the church to adopt

Thirdly, a minority mindset.  We are no longer a “moral majority” representing the cultural mainstream of America. “This means,” according to Renn, “that evangelicals need to learn to act like other minorities have always acted. We have to create our own institutions and practices that demarcate and sustain community life and be less reliant on the mainstream institutions of society.  Evangelicals do not need to take responsibility for or invest in mainstream institutions.” 

Fourthly, raising the bar on church.  When Christianity was the de facto national religion, most people were members and attended.  The bar was rather low; discipleship and belief were seen as artificial barriers to membership.  But Renn maintains, “As evangelicalism becomes more of a minority faith that requires an unpopular choice to embrace, this gives evangelical churches the opportunity to raise the bar for what they expect out of their members.  Raising this bar will be crucial to having stronger churches as well.”

These four suggestions can work effectively for any gathering of men, wanting to combat the effects of the shrill voices regarding toxic masculinity.  Men, the culture is not going to give us the guidance, encouragement and support to be a godly man.  We must be more creative in building communities of men who are about to build an ark, so as to rescue especially younger men.  We will need to accept the status of minorities, while calling men to whole hearted allegiance to the Lord.  I am thankful for the godly men in my life.  Jesus said, “Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self” (Mark 8:36 – Message).