In today’s world, we see the obvious attack on manhood from Nancy boys, leftists, and those who don’t know where to pee (but I repeat myself), even those touting the title of Christian behind those other titles (see side B theology). As a young man myself, there is a temptation for us to beat our chests, dig our heels in, and stand up for the God-given traits and characteristics that make one a manly man. That is all true and good. Commonly, the way I see ministries going about addressing this problem and bringing forward a solution is labeled “biblical masculinity”, but it oftentimes just throws a Bible verse or two over the sign on the good ol’ boys club door and shuts out the rest of the church in the process.
It is important in our righteous pursuit to preserve the crumbling foundation of modern manhood that we do not become a caricature out of a knee-jerk reaction to an obvious problem. Drinking whiskey and smoking cigars in your cowboy boots while making jerky is not “biblical masculinity”. Though there is no problem with those things, in their proper order under Christ, in wisdom (not violating the conscience of the weaker brother, Rom. 14:22-23, 1 Cor. 8:7), and in moderation, however, it is not the standard by which we measure what it is to be a man according to God. Why is it important for young men to be strong, courageous, not afraid to stand up to a dying world and tell them the truth, even when the world hates them? Because we are the heads of our families, and we are future leaders of our churches, but mostly, we are ambassadors of Christ.
So, What’s a Man to Do?
Men, especially those of you seeking a pastoral or ministerial role in your church, your church is not made up of Christian cowboys! The old woman in your future congregation neither cares nor knows anything about body armor, battle axes, or beard care products, and what will you do when the Lord sets you over her as her pastor with this as the basis of your Christian identity? The old man dying in the hospital who needs his pastor ministering to him before he meets his savior is way tougher and has done more living and has more masculinity in his pinky than you have in your body; you’re not going to impress him. He needs a man of God.
Again, I am all for having a drink with the boys, smoking a nice cigar, and, as a former Texan, I even think mullets and pit vipers look cool, but that’s not what it’s about. Those things certainly are not the plumb line by which we base our character and behavior as Christians. If we appeal to a cultural standard of manhood, why are we even bothering to use the term “biblical masculinity”? What makes us different than the world? Why should young men who see these same assaults on masculinity every day around them bother submitting themselves to Christ? They can be lumberjacks without Jesus. We must fight this fight and speak truth, all of the truth, lest we see more young men who recognize this problem fall away to the Christless conservatism of Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate because they offer them all those things as well with no boundaries of God’s word or law.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 reminds us to “act like men”. We cannot simply say, “See, it says, ‘act like men,’ and what a man is, is assumed by the Apostle and apparent to us all,” and then use culture as the means of that definition. This is not a proper hermeneutic. It is the same error that dispensationalists fall into by reading something in the Bible and then exegeting it through the lens of the world news. God tells us what a man is, not culture, though the traits and characteristics of manhood are apparent and good, and the Apostle also recognizes that. There is more to it for us, Christian men. Husbands, we are to love our wives “as Christ loves the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). Churchmen, “obey your leaders and submit to them” (1 Pet. 5:5). Young men, “do not rebuke an older man harshly” (1 Tim. 5:1). If your form of “biblical masculinity” finds you on the other side of both the gentle and rugged identity of a Christian man, it is not biblical.
In Conclusion
We must not embrace an unbiblical form of macho-man Christianity in a knee-jerk reaction to modern girly-man society. We can have these good things that God has placed in the characteristics of testosterone-laden image bearers, but they must not be the only thing we embrace, lest in the effort to pull ourselves out of one ditch (we can do that sort of thing with our big manly muscles), we fall off the narrow path into the ditch on the other side.
