For many years I have had a passion and concern for the discipleship of men. Through my involvement in various men’s ministry activities, I have concluded that men are rarely discipled. Too often we mistake fellowship for discipleship. Perhaps this is why men can have a great time going to pep rallies and retreats, or playing golf and paint ball together, yet remain spiritually immature.
Last week I had a conversation with a nationally acclaimed author of books on masculinity and men’s issues. He shared the opinion that men don’t like going to church because they are autonomous by nature, and chafe when sitting under the authority of an institution. While I think this is an astute observation, I do not think that men despise authority. I think that most men thrive under the right kind of authority. When men are expected to be passive spectators at a religious performance it is no surprise when they become disinterested and drift away. But when they are called into a glorious cause for which they have been created, I believe many men of God will rise up and serve.
Recently I watched a couple of DVDs featuring the leadership of Civil War Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. These men achieved amazing things in battle, and the soldiers under their command served with radical devotion. Although the cause for which they fought was tainted by the sinful institution of slavery, the character and legendary skill of these generals is an inspiring example of masculine leadership.
Rise up, O men of God
Be done with lesser things
With heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of Kings
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor John Sleadd
The idea of taking up one’s cross to follow Christ in radical obedience seems foreign to the average guy in church. Too often churches treat men like individuals who are in need of therapeutic, male bonding. Too often churches emphasize personal fulfillment for men, rather than duty and commitment. Where is the call for men to be faithful husbands, fathers and sons who are called as spiritual warriors, servant leaders, and ambassadors of God’s Kingdom in the culture?
Last week I had a conversation with a nationally acclaimed author of books on masculinity and men’s issues. He shared the opinion that men don’t like going to church because they are autonomous by nature, and chafe when sitting under the authority of an institution. While I think this is an astute observation, I do not think that men despise authority. I think that most men thrive under the right kind of authority. When men are expected to be passive spectators at a religious performance it is no surprise when they become disinterested and drift away. But when they are called into a glorious cause for which they have been created, I believe many men of God will rise up and serve.
Recently I watched a couple of DVDs featuring the leadership of Civil War Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. These men achieved amazing things in battle, and the soldiers under their command served with radical devotion. Although the cause for which they fought was tainted by the sinful institution of slavery, the character and legendary skill of these generals is an inspiring example of masculine leadership.
Men today need an urgent call, a noble cause, and a Godly leader. Our Heavenly Commander In Chief, the Lord Jesus Christ, calls men to serve under his authority. He calls disciples into obedient commitment, into self-denying sacrifice, into risk and adventure. A cosmic war rages between the dominion of darkness and God’s Kingdom of Light, while churches across America are content to park men in pews and lead them in what one wry pastor calls “prom songs to Jesus.” It’s not authority that makes them chafe and bail. It’s passivity. It’s feminized leadership that makes them prefer sitting at home watching sports contests on Sundays.
“We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful.” - C.S. Lewis
Gentlemen, your God has summoned you to duty. Start at home. Keep your wedding vows, protect and serve your family. Train up your kids. It will cost you your life. The Lord has given His magnificent Word of Truth and He orders you to teach it to your children (Deuteronomy 6:7; Ephesians 6:4). Blessed is the man who fills his quiver full of them (Psalm 127).
“We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful.” - C.S. Lewis
Gentlemen, your God has summoned you to duty. Start at home. Keep your wedding vows, protect and serve your family. Train up your kids. It will cost you your life. The Lord has given His magnificent Word of Truth and He orders you to teach it to your children (Deuteronomy 6:7; Ephesians 6:4). Blessed is the man who fills his quiver full of them (Psalm 127).
Think twice before you drop your precious children off at a secular humanist institution where God's Word is forbidden, where the lordship of Christ is denied, where truth is relativized, and where immoral behavior is justified. This will shake up your lifestyle and it may cause you to adjust your standard of living downward. But better that a millstone be tied around the necks of those who cause the little ones who believe in Jesus to sin (Matthew 18:6). If you don't have children, then commit yourself to make disciples of young men who you call out of the world by the power of the Gospel.
Don't waste your life, gentelmen. Put aside the desires of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of possessions. You are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, so lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and run with endurance the race that is set before you, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).
I pray that the Holy Spirit will call you once more into active duty. After all, your very life is not your own. You were bought with the price of Jesus’ atoning blood. Offer back, then, to your Lord the life that is rightfully His.
Rise up, O men of God
Be done with lesser things
With heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of Kings
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor John Sleadd
