That is a question that has been rattling around my head for a few weeks now. Mark Driscoll banged a drum. I went to a seminar by Don Carson which was on a similar theme. Everyone seems to agree that there is a crisis in masculinity, but what's the answer?
With this in mind I came across an interesting reflection on the US Presidential campaign on a BBC News site - Why rednecks may rule the world. The article says that 'rednecks' in America may be key in deciding the outcome. What struck me was the list of things that define redneck values. Here's one:
- A love of guns and tremendous respect for the warrior ideal. Along with this comes a strong sense of fealty and loyalty. Fealty to wartime leaders, whether it be FDR or George Bush.
The implication behind that scares me. Let's not be reactionary here. If one danger is that we let modern Australian society (influenced by feminism) determine what it means to be 'men', then the other danger is that we retreat into reactionary right-wing politics.
We do need men to 'front up'. We do need to recapture that 'warrior ideal' and sense of fealty and loyalty. But I also feel the burden of the stereotype that comes with the 'redneck' image - namely big guns, monster trucks and steak for dessert ... Rambo without the culture.
Instead let's build a new generation of Christian men - ones who are leaders, faithful and loyal - but who don't all look the same.
5 comments:
We need deep, manly voices...
Mmm... The Dude in "The Big Lebowski" answers that question but that answer is even less helpful. :-)
About 12 months ago, I listened to a sermon series by John Piper, "Biblical Manhood and Womanhood". It might be time for me to revisit it because I can't remember it all.
I'm often visited by the same Jehovah's Witness every few weeks because I invited them in and want to talk to them about Jesus, our God. Sadly, the JW hogs the conversation and he is like a broken record player. It's inevitably a diatribe:
* against the Catholics for their relationship with the Nazis during WWII
* against the Protestant church on issues such as participation in WWII and that they are the one true church because they are pacifists.
Do you think that when Paul talks about a husband providing for his family in 1 Tim 5:8, he also means physical protection from threats.
PS
In between hiking in 2 weeks, will you have time to take a breath to discuss such things? :-)
i'm buying myself a big hilux with 20 inch wheels, 6L engine, V12 and a pump-action shotgun.
jesus... pffff...what a wimp, i mean, which 30 year-old REAL MAN honestly cries, isn't married and talks to girls.
he probably does cross-stitches too.
on a more serious note, I found James KA Smith's critique of John Eldridge's self-help + pseudo-Jungian + pop-archetypes in 'Wild at Heart' helpful as a reminder not to be reactionary and hanker for a perceived 'golden age' of masculinity.
A quote from that review:
"Eldredge's argument, though couched as counter-cultural, actually sustains a flawed caricature that ultimately inhibits men from fully realizing who they are in Christ. Perhaps most perilously, Wild at Heart both implicitly and explicitly minimizes the consequences of sin and the fall. To argue that there are separate "secrets" for men and women in finding spiritual contentment suggests a kind of "selfhelp" strategy that ignores the deep reality--and necessity--of grace.
Instead, we ought to hear the gospel's call to men and women as a call to a deeply countercultural identity: while appreciating our differences, together (Gal. 3:28) we are to find our identity in the Crucified One who did not assert his own interests (Phil. 2:1-11).
To be a peculiar people of peace and love, a holy nation distinguished by kindness and gentleness--that is the Gospel's truly counter-cultural calling to both men and women who are disciples of Jesus."
word up!
(avail. from Reformed Church in America journal: http://www.rca.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=3382&srcid=3467)
Hmm. I think the issue is really seeking God's lead in all of this and looking at the examples provided in the Bible - being bold and trying them out (and supporting each other in this).
Eldridge's book is scary. I read part of it to be supportive of a friend, but had to give up because it appeared in my brief reading to be blaming Christian women for the the current situation Christian men were finding themselves in. This book even hinted that boys needed to removed from the influence of women (including their mothers). The book was also partly about discovering the "warrior within". It is a concern if Christian men (and women) are being influenced by books like this rather than what the Bible says. I was also concerned by the attitude of blame rather than of accepting responsibility.
I think Remy is right about working out our own distinctively Godly response.
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