Jesus: The Only Manly-Man

“Stop looking for the path of least resistance and start running down the path of greatest glory to God and good to others, because that's what Jesus, the Real Man, did.”  - Mark Driscoll

Men. Listen up. Sorry ladies, this post is primarily for the guys because it is dealing with being a man, but if you are a woman reading this I would encourage you to keep on reading because if you are planning to have a dude in your life someday this will be crucial in that process. So in saying that, men lets buckle up.

Manhood. What in the world does that mean? We as men hear so many things about what we should do and what we should be. Society and the world tells us that men have to have a ripped muscular physique in order to be considered "attractive." That we need to be chiseled from granite and have those six-pack abs. We need to do manly things! (insert grunt here) We need to be outdoors-men, grease-monkeys, or jocks. We need to treat woman like sexual objects, and in doing so saying things like "I'd tap that," as well as anything else. The world says we can't show our emotions. The only time a man cries is when he is in intense pain or by himself. Emotions are looked down upon. If you don't party you are looked down upon because you are labeled as "too good for it," which somehow gives you a bad image. You have to be competitive, and if you aren't then somehow your looked as less than the standard. For everyone of those examples, we as men are looked down upon if we don't meet those standards. So what do we believe?

It is a struggle. At least for me it is. I see some of those things up on that list and I think of my own life. I look at myself being a bigger guy as not attractive because I don't look like friggin' Patrick Dempsey or some ripped-guy like Thor or something. I see girls swooning over those guys, and it makes me want to be attractive like them. I struggle with treating woman with respect sometimes. I lust, and say things with other guys that don't reflect what Christ is, but what society says. It isn't a cake walk that is for dang sure. So, I ask again. What do we believe?

Look back up at that quote again. As Christian men we have the manliest example. That example is the one and the only Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life!  He came to this earth was beaten, mocked, and treated cruelly. He bore all of our sin on a cross! A CROSS! Wanna talk about being masculine? Uhhh sorry but you ain't got nothing on Jesus.

That is the example we follow. Not the easy, cop-out way of living that this world tells us to follow, but the way that brings glory, faith, love, and hope in God, our Father. We as men are not called to follow the world. Paul says this in Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Seriously though, I want to seriously call out all the guys reading this when I say this because I have felt really convicted lately when it comes to this. What are we doing?

Why do we continue to look to the world for our answers, and try to take the easy way? I want us to look in our hearts as Christian men, and look to the one we follow for our example. Jesus is the main man. He has been and always will be that for us, and let us FINALLY grasp that. Let us finally stop trying to follow society's standards, but instead look to Christ who not only broke these standards but also gave us new ones to follow. Heavenly ones.

Father, we love you. We come to you as your sons and daughters and ask that we start to examine our lives and our idea of being a man. That we don't have to be the guys with the hot bod because you created us the way we are in order to glorify you. We don't have to follow the standards of the world, Lord, but only the ones that you manifested in your Son. We pray for your daughters now Lord that they can find good men in this world that give them examples of what to look for in their future significant others, and may they not be entangled by what the world tells them is attractive but by what you say is attractive and that is godliness. May that same prayer be prayed for all the sons. That we can look for woman not based off of worldly attraction, but off of godliness. We all pray this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who is and always will be ultimate example for us all, man or woman, to follow. Amen.