Biblical Masculinity, Part 2: 02-08-2011

The world's definition of masculine and the Bible's definition of masculine are near-polar opposites. Some vestiges of a Biblical man have remained, however: masculinity means protectiveness. The Bible agrees with this, as it says to treat women as a "weaker vessel". (1 Peter 3:7) What must we do to a weaker vessel but protect it? And yet, this verse also says to be "heirs together of the grace of life". Your wife or future-wife (to all you guys out there who haven't been corrected about the fallacy of "dating", I will do a study on that later) has just as much of a claim to God's kingdom as you do. Should she be treated as spiritually inferior? Certainly not.

The world also says that men should be tough. Toughness, however, has had its definition change quite a bit from Jesus' time to now. You see, toughness used to mean almost the same thing as protectiveness. Let's pretend for a moment that you are charged with guarding the world's most valuable (and breakable) object. You would not do anything to harm this object; in fact, you would be SO CAREFUL and gentle with it that no harm would come to it by your hand. Now, let's pretend that someone else wants to break this object. You would not only protect it, you would give your life to save it. This is the way God sees man's relationship with woman; we are to protect them, but also SERVE them and be graceful and gentle to them. The way men treat women today, even though it's "better" than in the 1800's is still WRONG.

To be fair, and to give credit where it is due, while doing a study of Biblical masculinity, I stumbled across a wonderful article at this address:
www.christinyou.net/pages/masculinity.html
Most of my verse references will come from there.

First, I would like to go into detail about what the WORLD thinks men should be like:

• Strong physically, burly, "hunkish", hairy, beards (I do not necessarily disagree with any of this; being in good physical shape is always good; but, I don't think you HAVE to be any of this to be manly)
• Dressed for the occasion; appropriately clothed for any situation (this, I agree with in a sense)
• Adventurous, thrill-seeking, competitive, push-it-to-the-limit type people (I wholeheartedly disagree with this; men should not seek danger, as they should not separate themselves from their family through their own stupidity and death)
• Loud, powerful, violent, destructive, willingness to get dirty (all of these are negative qualities and are not very genteel; men, while they are supposed to be tough, are not supposed to be violent. Don't take your "manliness" cues from Sylvester Stallone or Jason Statham, in other words)
• Drinking, smoking, drugs, intense sexual desires, sexual domination (you know what the Bible says about all of these, but I will still go into it later)

Not everything above is wrong in God's eyes; in fact, in the right context, a certain amount of muscle, objectivity, and aloofness must be applied to life to avoid sin and bad choices. However, these should be the exception, not the rule.

We must remember that the ultimate man was Jesus. Jesus was gentle, loving, and kind, but he was not afraid to confront the evil in men. He was not afraid to call out the evil in the Pharisees, nor to chastise his followers. Yet, he was also gentle, as shown when he rebuked Martha for her unBiblical view of women. Can you imagine? Rebuking a woman for her views on femininity! What would drive a man to such heights?

Jesus gave his life for everyone. Jesus was a SERVANT TO ALL (2 Timothy 2:24) and gave himself up for everyone. After all, John 15:13 tells us: "Greater love hath no man than this; that a man should lay down his life for his friends." Jesus gave his VERY LIFE; the ultimate sacrifice for his friends. For us.

We are to exemplify THAT man. THAT Man, whose name was Jesus the Christ, the Savior of all mankind; we are to be a man like Him.

In the next section, I go into depth on what the Bible says about masculinity.