Awhile back I read Dr. Tony Evans’ book "Kingdom Man". It was inspiring, and goes hand in hand with my last post. He writes about men reaching their potential, which is greatness. You see, men in the American church have been feminized*.
Just look at the volunteer openings in a typical church. Sunday school teachers. Care team. Meal-makers. Etc, etc. All more geared toward those who are gentle, sympathetic, soft, and caring. All more geared towards women**. Men often don’t go to church because they feel they have to check their masculinity at the door.
Where’s the destruction? Where's the guts? Where’s the glory?
Where’s the greatness?
Men desire challenge. That’s why we gravitate toward the movies we do. Impossible odds? Ha! Us against the world? They better have backups. Epic drawn out fight scenes with massive special effects? Another day in the life of a man movie.
But no, when we enter church we enter a realm that caters to women. We get an atmosphere that’s designed to draw out emotions and create a memorable experience. Great, but where’s the greatness?
Before Your Maker
God knows something about greatness. He just needs to look in a mirror to see it. And you know what? He desires for us to be great, also. Genesis 12:13:
The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (NIV)
Did you catch those phrases? “I will make YOU into a great nation”. “I will make YOUR name great”. “ALL peoples on earth will be blessed through YOU”.
I don’t know about you, but that gets the blood flowing. I look at those phrases and I get excited. Sure, I get nervous, but if God is with me no one can stop me***.
While those SPECIFIC words were for Abraham, the premise of this post is that men can do great things if we grab onto God’s will for us, not our culture’s.
We are not women. Most men are rough around the edges. Men tend not to be good listeners and worse sympathizers. We are stubborn and hard-headed.
But we desire greatness to a level women generally do not. No challenge is too great, no obstacle too hard. We demolish anything that gets in the way.
God has a few things for people like men to do.
Summary
So why did I write this post? Actually, my mind was all over the place. I was going to write about how the American church has followed American culture by falling to emotionalism (and therefore leaning towards women). I was going to write about specific problems men need to man-up with (such as fatherhood and treating women correctly). I was going to write about all the great things God wanted men to do in the Bible (and why men today can do great things)...
So I decided to do a little bit of everything. So here’s my summary: Women and men are different. Men desire greatness. This desire is marginalized in today’s church, to the church’s detriment. Men can desire to be great because there are Biblical precedents (I only gave one). Therefore, desire greatness.
*Scratch that, men in America have been feminized.
**Alright, here’s my mandatory disclaimer I have to give when I say things like this: I’m not saying that if certain men have these traits or do these things, they are feminine. I’m talking about GENERALITIES. Men GENERALLY aren’t the most personable, or sympathetic, or skilled in the kitchen. You get my point.
***Okay, here’s another disclaimer I have to give: By all this talk of greatness, I don’t mean self-glorification. I’m not talking about “look at me” pride, but “look at God” worship. The more great things men do the more praise God gets. If you notice in the verses I quoted, who is allowing Abraham to be great? “I will show you... I will make you... I will make your... I will bless...” etc. Only in God’s power can we be great, and by being great we glorify God.
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