Biblical Manhood, Part One

It's a bit of a rainy morning, and I'm spending a few minutes inside, so I thought I would post some of the material I have been working on over the past few weeks. Last weekend I taught a workshop at a College student retreat called Deeper Life. My topic was "Biblical Manhood" AKA "Being A Godly Man."

This has become a subject of great interest for me. Perhaps it is because I see a decline in manliness. I don't mean machismo... but manliness. I look around the world and cultures, and even in the church there seems to be a common thread of unmanly, unmen. Today's men have had their masculinity removed and have been told its' something they must apologize for. Psychology has taught us that a man who has discovered his "feminine side" is caring and sharing, but our "masculine side" is aggressive, domineering, and territorial. We have been conditioned to see masculinity in a negative light. And I submit that it is all reactionary.

Whenever you discover a new problem in culture, usually all you have to do is go back a few years and you find the reason why the new problem has developed. Everything we experience in culture is a reaction from the previous culture. For instance, there was a day when men's and women's roles were clearly defined and distinct. You only need to go back about 50 years to find this truth.

Males had a particular role in society, while females had another. We lived with the false idea that a man should come home from work with a pregnant, barefoot wife working in the kitchen for his every need and desire. A male was seen as strong, the leaders, the providers... and the world was really seen as a man’s world.

Even if things appeared to be in order, great problems lived underneath. Men were often chauvinists; they used their power to look at women like second-class citizens. For example, American women were below the male only being allowed to vote in 1920, which passed Congress by one vote. For centuries, Anglo-American common law granted the husband the right as head of the household to beat his wife as long as he did not cause permanent damage. Domestic violence perpetrated by males accounts for more adult female emergency room visits than traffic accidents, muggings, and rape combined, and according to the U.S. surgeon general it is the greatest single cause of injury to American women. The U.S. Department of Justice reports that 30% of women who are murdered, are killed by their husbands, ex-husbands, or boyfriends.

These days are often looked upon with great nostalgia. But let me say with great assurance, we do not want to return to these past sins. We must learn from the errors our fathers and grandfathers made. It was these chauvinistic lazy sins of men that caused a great movement by women to rebel against the failure of men.

It was during the late 1960’s that the rebellion really started advancing mainstream. Women nationwide had become sick of men being in power, telling women how to live. Feminist organizations were founded to change society’s structures so that sexual distinctions might be minimized or overcome. At first feminists protested the Miss America pageant; they threw their dishcloths, girdles, false eyelashes, bras, and copies of Vogue, and the Ladies Home Journal into a “Freedom Trash Can”.

It wasn't until the 1970's that these ideas began to gain steam. Women realized that the change had to come from a position of power. To challenge this, feminists developed a woman-centered analysis of all culture. Every facet of human experience had to be challenged and redefined.

Language: Feminists maintained that a bias favoring males was present in language. Gender neutrality was brought forth.  “Stewardess” became “flight attendant”; no longer could you speak of mankind; even in marriage women began to keep their own last names.

Motherhood: Each individual woman must have the right to determine when, where, and how to become a mother. If she had an unwanted pregnancy, she must have the right to abort her child. Abortion numbers rose dramatically. If she chose to have a child, it was to be cared for by society as a whole so that the responsibility would not restrict her in any way. Daycares sprung up across the country.

Sexual Relationships: Following the sexual revolution of the 60s, feminists agreed that women should be free to have sex with whomever they wanted. However, up until this point, the matter of sexual relationships between women was not discussed in public. In the early 70s, a woman's choice of sexual partners became more than a personal choice; it became a political statement. This led to the rise of lesbianism and promiscuity.

As these changes became reality, a whole new generation of children were reared under these ideas, Women changed. Also, the next generatikon of men were changing.

You see what I mean by "reactionary". The culture we now understand and are forced to accept is a reaction of the bad things from the previous culture. In my pursuit of Godliness, and Biblical Manhood, I want to seek and find what God's original plan for man and woman was. And once we find that, pray for His strength and wisdom to live that out in today's warped world.

More to come on this subject. I have lots and lots of notes. I just wanted to give a little teaser right now. In the Fall of 2005 I plan to host a class for the men of Oasis and anyone else who wants to attend. Our goal will be this search and discovery I mentioned above.

Comments

[Josh Lynch]

Intawesting, Vewy Vewy Intawesting. So, can I telecommute to this class? :) Very refreshing. It is really hard for me to constantly find my cultural bearing in this postmodern world. Things morph and buck so swiftly. I have a difficult time defining myself as a follower of Christ and an American and as a male in this culture sometimes...and it really pisses me off. Its like everything we do and say has to be PC enough to be on the cover of a magazine. I buy into it too, though; I can't kid myself. What really kills me is when I hear statistics positively for single parent families who "do just as well" as a family with both parents at home. What a load of fooey. How do they measure that? By how successful the children of those parents are? How do you define success? Anyway, there's my rant. Back to my point, I guess, I've seen chauvenism used in the church in negative ways and have seen how it is destructive. A man's role as a Christ follower/American Male needs to be more clearly defined. Though trying to define a role in this culture will be as hard as trying to eat ice with a spoon. Or trying to catch a pig with hands greased with 10W-30. Its way to late. One of my concerns and ponderings is by doing such a profile of the postmodern american male/follower of Christ, is Chris, how close do we get to the truth before this definition becomes systematized? One blanket truth for all men in all places for all time. This is something I've been thinking about for a while. Sleepy time...