A Challenge to Ekklesia521 (Especially the Boys)
by: John Park, August 25th, 2010
(image from www.marshillchurch.org)
Last month, Mars Hill Church in Seattle, put out a bunch of short blogposts on what the Bible says regarding biblical manhood.
From what I’ve noticed not only in my own life, but also through the lives of other men (and I would say especially so in Korean-American men), most guys fall into either one of two categories: (1) cowardly, whereby they constantly passively abdicate their responsibility to even take responsibility (you know who you are) or (2) chauvinistic, always trying to prove their masculinity by being an oppressive meathead (you know who you are).
The Bible defines biblical masculinity (or manhood) as embodying neither of these two options, but rather, it is one in which, in view of what Christ did for us – namely, taking responsibility for our sins – we take on responsibility not only for ourselves, but also for those we love. In the words of Mark Driscoll:
The key is to understand the Gospel. The perfect man is Jesus. The man who we were supposed to be like is Jesus. Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, comes into human history to live life as the perfect man—God-man to be sure, but perfect man nonetheless.
Men, you and I need to take our cue for masculinity from Jesus. The key to masculinity is this: Jesus takes responsibility for himself (he works a job), and he also takes responsibility for me. The cross is where Jesus substituted himself and died in my place for my sins. My sins are my fault—not Jesus’ fault—but Jesus has made them his responsibility.
This is the essence of the Gospel. If you understand this, it will change how you view masculinity.
Here is a list of links to the 29 short blog posts on the subject. My challenge to all of those in Ekklesia521 – guys (in particular) and girls (in order that you may know what to look for in a future husband) – is to read and reflect on one blogpost a day for the next month.
- We opened with The Identity of a Biblical Man, from Pastor Mark’s Trial sermon series.
- We next spent some quality times with the Four Chauvinists (No Sissy Stuff Sam, Success and Status Stewart, Give ‘em Hell Hank, and I’m the Boss Bob) and the Four Cowards (Little Boy Larry, Sturdy Oak Owen, Hyper-Active Henry, and Good Time Gary) from the Marriage & Men sermon.
- A lot of people wanted to know Why Men Are Cultivators, Warriors, and Sages, from Pastor Mark’s Proverbs series.
- Men I’ve Learned From: Joshua, Pastor Bill Simmonds showed us that what God asked of Joshua is analogous to what he asks of men today.
- What Women Think of Mars Hill Men, Part 1 and Part 2. (Hint: they think very highly of them.)
- Men I’ve Learned From: George Whitefield, Pastor Samuel, who also helpfully added what not to learn from the storied colonial preacher.
- A story about guys who have questions about Jesus, sex, and dinosaurs: What It’s Like Being “the Christian Guy” on the Job Site.
- Then, we talked about sex Curt and Luke.
- Esquire magazine subtitled one issue “How to be a Man”, and then proceeded to say that there were in fact no guides to manhood. Subsequently, Deacon Nick didn’t learn much about manhood from Esquire.
- Pastor James wrote about 4 Inadvertent Examples of a Man in Pop Culture, and Tom Cruise was mentioned twice on the MH blog in a span of four days.
- Balancing Christ and Confucius, plus the follow-up, 10 Questions for the Asian Christian Man, both by Pastor Samuel
- The Rise of the Omega Male, Deacon Nick. True, no one was arguing that characters in Judd Apatow movies were any paragons of manhood in the first place.
- How Andy dates Naomi.
- Song Against Sex Outside of Marriage. Deacon Anthony on why sex with your spouse is glorious and why you, inherently, are not.
- There was one tongue-in-cheek post we tagged with biblical manhood that confused some people. Word to the wise: Cupcakes are not mentioned in the Bible, so any mention of them on the blog would necessarily not be serious.
- How to Partner with a Woman. In which Deacon Dustin puts down the Xbox controller and serves his wife.
- Pastor Dave grew up in a home “filled with guns and smelling like bacon.” Now he’s a father to four girls. Here’s what he’s learned.
- I found my pants. Now what? by Deacon Preston. This piece was semi-autobiographical.
- The world is filled with boys who can shave, Pastor Mark. And men are the glory of God.
- What I’ve Learned About Being a Man in Christ. The West Seattle men are all about identity, community, submitting to authority, riding bikes to tell people about Jesus in the late ’60s, and Bible stories about fish.
Again, here’s the link to the page of all the links.
No, I’m not married… yet. But that wedding is coming up soon, as well (23 days!). No… the marriage I’m referring to is my marriage to Christ. Now, when describing my relationship with Christ, the word husband is the last thing that comes to mind. Savior, King, Lord, Redeemer – now, these titles I can wrap my head around. But husband?! Uh… no.
