Monday, June 6, 2011
MANNING UP!
Monday Morning Musings
We thank God for His wonderful
grace that is put on display in the lives of people surrendered to Him! Yesterday, we had another wedding, and united
Nathan Prieto and Andrea Torres in marriage during our
Sunday morning service. All I can say is that it never gets old! When you mix two young people who have sought
to: 1) honor God in their lives 2)
honor their parents, and 3) honor one another in sexual purity before marriage,
it is a delightful brew! There is a tangible presence of God. I have to wonder if that’s heaven smiling on
the decisions of two faithful young people?!
I also fulfilled my promise that I made at our last wedding when I
preached on “The Wedding Planner II”
(which had a largely female-focus to it) that I would give the other side, the
“man version” at the next wedding; hence “Manning
Up.”
A major part of the cultural
debate today involves the whole issue of gender. Just consider the recent furor over the
Canadian couple’s ludicrous decision to raise a “genderless” baby, saying that a person’s gender is a personal project
and not subjecting people to societal expectations. Then there’s TIME magazine’s cover last
September, “Man Up” - the traditional
male is an endangered species. Oh,
and the mother who is raising what she calls her “princess boy” who want to dress like a girl. The mom not wanting to “crush his spirit” is
all-too appeasing, not to mention a bit exploitive, appearing on a number of
talk shows with her son, and writing a book about it?! So, the gender wars are hot and heavy. Whether it’s James Brown singing, “It’s A Man’s World” or Helen Reddy’s “I am woman (hear me roar),” it is part
of life in the 21st century.
To quote Bob Dylan, “Times They
Are ‘A Changin’”
WHERE HAVE THE GOOD MEN GONE?
The well-documented crisis today
that has an abundance of cultural observers and authors discussing it, is the
widespread problem in men of...delayed maturity: a generation of
young people who seem unwilling to grow up and assume adult
responsibilities. Here’s just a sampling
of some of the books: “Manning Up” - “The
Making of Modern Immaturity” - “Not Quite Adults” - “Guyland” - “Why There Are
No Good Men Left” (The Romantic Plight of the New Single Woman). -USE SLIDE FROM SERMON- Added to this
is a host of newspaper articles and blogs underscoring this phenomenon. There is even a whole vocabulary to describe
this condition: twixters, sensitive male,
metrosexuals, toddler-men, emo’s, adult-knapped, and now the child
man. Either way, whatever you
call it, they are all talking about men who have been “wait listed for adulthood,” putting off or delaying adult
responsibility. If the 20th
century brought us “adolescence” then
the 21st century has brought us the “pre-adult,” what social
scientists are saying is a whole new stage of life. Kay S.Hymowitz in her book, “Manning Up” wrote, “Not so long ago, the average American man in his 20's had achieved
most of the milestones of adulthood: a high-school diploma, financial
independence, marriage and children.
Today, most men in their 20's hang out in a novel sort of limbo, a
hybrid state of semi-hormonal adolescence and responsible self-reliance....a pre-adulthood.”
For instance, Adam Sandler (actor/comedian) has made a
name and career for himself in comedy films all about arrested development
in men. These films for or about child-men have made him one of the
biggest names in Hollywood, his films grossing about $2.5 billion
worldwide. The unspoken dilemma and
question that won’t go away where have
all the good men gone? The reason
for this is what has become obvious to legions of young women today, this
does not bring out the best in men! It doesn’t prepare them for what has been one
of the traditional ways manhood has been understood and defined, marriage and fatherhood. Do you hear that
sound? Yes, it’s the sound of women not laughing. All of this is enough to underscore that
we’re living in a confused generation, and one of the major contributors to
weakness in our nation, institutions, churches, and families is an anemic view of manhood.
THE CALL TO MENRERGY
This is one of my new favorite
words. It was coined by a NY times
reporter referring to men wanting to be real men, to exhibit menergy.
(1Cor.16:13,14)Wms says, “Be
always on your guard; stand firm in your faith; keep on acting like men; continue to grow in strength; let
everything be done in love.” God highlights here the traditional masculine virtues of strength, boldness,
courage, sacrifice, and risk-taking as very needful. The goal for men is not to get in touch with
our feminine side, but getting in touch with what’s supposed to be a true
masculine side. You see, gender is not
some socially-constructed reality, but it is a God-thing (Gen.1:27) “So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and
female he created them.” This tells
us some very powerful things: 1) we are created
(didn’t come about by chance) 2) we are made in the image of God (created with a soul) and 3) we were made male and female. Gender is an important, but purposeful part
of the Creator’s intent for mankind. ”
I like the CJB, Complete Jewish
Bible’s translation, “behave like a mensch, grow strong.” Mensch is a Yiddish word that means a “person of integrity.” A mensch is someone who is responsible, who
has a developed sense of right and wrong, and is the sort of person that other
people look up to. This is why menergy
plays a factor that spearheads revival in the last days (Mal.4:5,6) "Behold, I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to
their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and
strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." There is a critical initiative and work of God
that begins with men being real men.
HOW TO “MAN UP”
I have always remembered the
phrase, “Male by birth, man by
choice.” It recognizes that true
manhood involves the decisions and priorities we make about God and His
will. Paul declares this in (1Cor.13:11)
“When I was a child, I talked like a
child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I
put childish ways behind me. Our
text and the surrounding phrases in 1Corinthians 16 give us insight into God’s
grace and enabling in order to “man up.”
There are four:
-Moral
vigilance: “be always on your
guard”
-Vital
relationship with God: “stand
firm in your faith” (make it your #1 priority)
-Character
counts: “continue to grow in
strength” (not how much you can bench press, but your character)
-Sacrificial
love: “let everything be done in
love” (perfect blend of toughness and tenderness)
This is why I believe that Christlikeness and manhood are synonymous. True manhood is following and becoming more
like Jesus, our model and our enabler!
There is a real dynamic released in a man’s life when he responds to
Christ’s command, “follow Me” that
makes us what we could never be in ourselves, helping us to “man up.” Bill Hybels wrote in his book, “Every married woman longs to be loved by a
truly masculine man—not an emasculated man devoid of energy, spirit, and
confidence–or a macho cowboy who uses cheap bravado to prop up his male
insecurities, but a God-honoring man who is secure enough to be divinely
elastic. This brand of man can be both
strong and sensitive. Such men free
women to respond w/ respect and love.” Amen, may God help us all!
MONSTERS-IN-LAW
This was the title of Pastor
Fred Rubi’s message last night. I’m not
going to give you all the details, I’ll let him do that, but it was
outstanding. In 38 years of pastoring, I
don’t think I’ve ever heard a whole message on the subject of “in laws” so we
were blessed and truly “fed well!” It
made me thankful for my mother-in-law, Toni
Pena, who is a miracle of God’s grace herself, and prays for her “hijo” all the time. I’m grateful for that, big time!
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