The eyes of the world are no doubt influencing the definition of a “good Christian.” The world and many shepherds seem to believe Christians have to be accommodating, quick to apologize, and terrified of offending anyone. The worlds’ goal is to make Christian men look ridiculous, harmless, and socially and spiritually emasculated. This fallacy is drawn by our enemies, supported by many clergy and praised by the very culture that hates Christ. Sadly, this is how many Christian men have learned to view themselves. Many shepherds have compromised their preaching, pushing politeness for piety and cowardice for kindness enabling the fear of offending someone to be the “trump card” stopping the speaking of the bold truth of Christ. The result, many have built man-made guardrails around Christ’s truth that keep Disciples from speaking the bold truth into evil (Ephesians 5:11,13). Many Christian men, because of our culture and the lack of manly influence, have accepted this pathetic inversion of masculinity. When the unapologetic truth is the world-confronting faith in Jesus the Christ. His spoken truth is the foundational power of the New Testament through which God’s providence created America.
This degenerate contemptable culture surrounding us is enraged when they hear bold Christian men who love others more than themselves exposing evil by boldly speaking the truth. Everything God has ordered of His followers from Adam and Eve to the end of the Book of Revelation demands courageous believers to honor God’s commands. In Proverbs 28 – God advises His people are to be Righteous and as Bold as a Lion. John the Baptist in the four gospels was the first man in the New Testament to take on the bold speaking mantel. He criticized the multitudes, calling them a “brood of vipers” (Luke 3:7) and boldly told the world of the coming of Christ. In the Book of Acts where the church is created there are ten scriptures where believers saw the Disciple’s boldness, witnessed them praying for boldness, speaking the word with grace and boldness, preaching boldly and grew bold as the Holy Spirit of truth empowered them with bold guidance (See Acts 4:13,23,29,31-9:27,29-13:46-14:3-18:26-19:6). This is Christ’s standard of behavior for men!
Then how do Christian men and their clergy today grow passive, inert and many seemingly gravitate to a spiritual fetal position? Maybe Church leadership does not know how to address the difference between men and women. Many unknowingly align themselves with the feminine ideals, because it is easier. It’s easier to the tenth degree to teach people to be loving than to teach men to be boldly assertive with grace and willing to sacrifice themselves for Christ.
When men show up at church they may ask “What do you do here at this church?” The answer is “Well we read a lot, you can join the choir, help park cars or be a greeter? We also sit in circles and talk about our feelings and pray for each other.” The truth is, clergy want men to sit and to be preached to and behave, because they seem to have no realization that men need tangible substance they can hold on to. The men are thinking, “Well if that is what it is, then I don’t think I’m going to do that. I have worked hard all week, and would rather play golf, watch football or do anything productively rewarding.”
Why doesn’t clergy recognize they are missing the mark with men? Do they believe all men are like them, because they like to pray, sit, and listen but forget they are doing something productively rewarding? Focus on the Family did a study years ago and reported that 80% of the men attending church are bored. Another nationwide study revealed most Shepherds today teach a feminine brand of the Gospel, when no such gospel exist. These sermons are usually all about love, love, love that never do anything and the men are setting there thinking they are watching a noon day soap opera. Can these lukewarm mis-defined truths become reality in the rationalized state of man’s sinful nature? Can biblical preferences be in the natural, versus the spiritual, as clergy wrongly believe they are the example to follow, other than our courageous Savior? Does the gravitational pull caused by whitewashing Christ truth, enable the men in the body of Christ to believe there is little for them inside the four walls of the church? Are the clergy today like the Pogo comic? “We have found the enemy and he are us.”
There is no doubt the result of this type of teaching is what we have today. This is producing wimpy male Disciples who cannot meet biblical reality face to face. They have been taught to be harmless pew bench warmers who cannot stand for Christ outside in the public square. Their passive imagine of biblical teachings now dominates and controls their lives and many are lost in this cloud of misconception.
The opportunities to fortify men with bible truths are endless. Clergy need to sponsor teaching men to be men, to be the watchmen on the wall, to stand firm and be strong against evil while they emulate Christ. Men are the key to Christ’s sacrificial love, so teach them to pray for boldness, and read and study scriptures that beseech them to be courageous and righteous. Then on Christ’s bold courageous side, men are enabled to confidently emulate the word who became flesh and brought grace and truth. They will know they are filled with the most powerful offensive weapon known to mankind “…the sword of the spirit, the word of God.” Now knowing they are commanded by God to boldly act and speak Christ’s truth into every form of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-20&5:11) as Christ’s ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18). They will display a faith in active grace and truth that will stand in the gap before God on behalf of the land (Ezekiel 22:30), filled with the Holy Spirit that is alive, righteous and bold as a lion. Clergy, this is only the tip of the iceberg of the foundational biblical principles Christ wants men to be!
“When Jesus told us, “…Go therefore and make Disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20) He was not pussyfooting around. Jesus gave this command to men, and many men and their leaders today don’t understand there is no opt out provision. God spoke the world into existence and now verbally commanded all believers to go and make Disciples. This comes from the unlimited power of God speaking a new reality into existence and this cannot be diluted or changed by man. God gave us the power to complete our obligation when Jesus said, “…you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me, …to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This is not a suggestion; this is a command to men from the Son of God!
Christ knew it would take bold courage to be a Disciple of Christ. He also knew passive men, without guile and courage fail at what God commands. Adam was the first guileless passive man in the bible and in Genesis he damned the preposition of all masculinity when he took and ate the fruit Eve gave him. Sitting next to her he witnessed Satan convince her to rebel against God’s command. Adam may have been loving, caring, passive, and benevolent but he failed at the time of testing. His behavior is the opposite of the last Adam, Christ (1 Cor 15:45). Christ had unlimited courage as He was the most valiant ‘Medal of Honor Winner’ who died for all mankind. Christ is our example of boldness that every devout man is to emulate, while putting on the full armor of God, and speaking boldly as we ought to speak as men (Ephesians 6:10-20). Amen
David Howard, Foxhole Ministry
Please note: this article is from the front lines of the cultural and spiritual war. We are committed to speaking these hard truths without compromise, but this is not free. Please partner with Foxhole Ministry to insure our radio program, The Voice of Truth’s Wake-Up Call, is spoken on the public airways across America.