In an age where our secular culture attacks any show of masculinity as ‘toxic,’ should the church settle for the feminized version of what it means to be a man?
I. Judges 8:18-21. Having overcome his fear and fully trusting in God, Gideon routs the armies attacking Israel and captures two of their leaders, who basically tell him to kill them himself if he were to be a man. Gideon does, but is it toxic masculinity or doing what has to be done–even if it’s hard? Fear almost always is the cause for most men to shrink back from being ‘men.’ Describing David as a man after God’s heart, God explains that he would do all of His will (Acts 13:22). So, to be a godly men, we must be a living sacrifice to know what God’s will is (Romans 12:1-2), choosing to do His will–even if it’s difficult.
II. Hebrews 5:7-9. Jesus was such a man, who suffered greatly in His obedience to His Father’s will, but became the source of salvation to all who obey Him. We are told to fix our eyes on Him as our example and for perseverance to obey because the way He endured the cross was “for the joy that was set before him” (Hebrews 12:1-4). Jesus fulfilled what it means to be a godly man in the fullest sense and then left us an example to follow (1 Peter 2:21-23), even forgiving from the cross (Luke 23:34).
III. Psalm 18:29-40. So, only in Jesus and walking as He did (1 John 2:6) are we able to be ‘men’ by God’s definition. “For as the man is, so is his strength,” Gideon was told. Since “the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25), how better to truly be a ‘man’ than through Him?
God made both men and women in His likeness. There’s no reason why the church must accept that there’s no difference or that gender is somehow fluid or subject to choice. Rather, both men and women must live out how they were intended to be in Him as outlined in His Word.