Mondays Are Man-days

Okay, so it's officially Tuesday instead of Monday, but who's counting? What will be my first post? It has to be about men, because, well, I'm a man. Manhood is an interesting thing. I can really feel how society is trying to take it away. Christianity has tried to do so even harder. One of my life goals is to restore "man-ity" in my little corner of the world, especially for myself.

So, I play church league basketball, and yeah, I'm the pastor. I'm also the mouthiest one on the team, complaining about every call that goes against us, chirpping at the other team a little bit. My language is clean, but I'm mouthy. I'm not that good, but I play hard and feel like I left a little something on the court if I don't get a few fouls a game. I'm pretty sure I'm the only pastor playing in the league. Tonight, at the end of the game, after flying around all game and chirpping in the ref's ear all night, the ref says to me, "And your supposed to be a minister?" What the heck does that mean? I tell you what it means. I think it means we've messed manhood up big time.

We've conditioned ourselves to understand that a pastor or a Christian man is supposed to be meek and mild, turning the other cheek, and basically being a doormat for people to step on and run over. I just can find that in the Bible. And I know that we are supposed to be humble (and, yes, we are commanded to turn the other cheek in some situations), but the great men of God that I read about are fighters. Now, that doesn't mean physical fighting, but they had a mental toughness. I don't feel my best when I'm run over. I feel my best about being who God created me to be when I man-up. Now, this is really tricky, because being a man isn't about being some testosterone-filled jerk. It is about meeting the challenges ahead of us full steam ahead. The problem is that we train ourselves to be nice, meek, and mild in sports or business and then, when it really matters, we get run over by the real problems in life like addictions, temptations, finances, and relationship problems. We LEARN to run and hide. I don't want my two sons to be that kind of man. I want my boys to take life by the horns and dominate it...because I believe that God believes in them. I believe that God believes in us, too, men.

It's funny, I left that game and spent some time with friends who aren't sure about church or God yet. I'm glad to know them. They need to know that they can be that kind of man, that they can meet the challenges of life head on. Yes, this is a fine line, and I cross it mistakenly all the time. Sometimes being a man means giving yourself up, taking one for the team, or dying to your own desires. Those are the times that it's toughest to be a real man. Dying to yourself takes real masculinity, not some fake machismo. So, that's the nuance. Being a man is not about talking back to referees, being a great athlete, or gaining power as a CEO. It is about victory...ultimately over yourself and all the lies we are told about ourselves. Every guy has a different personality. I'm a self-professed loud mouth in pretty much all areas of my life (which has it's positives and negatives). Some guys are quiet. Not every guy is competitive, but no one wants to lose at life. Every guy wants to win the war with themselves. To defeat the voice that says, "You're not good enough." "You're a loser." "You'll never amount to anything." "Just shut up and take it." "Accept your place in the world." Those are lies from the devil himself. Life is a beautiful thing, but the wear and tear of life beats us down. Well, I came looking for a fight. And I'm bringing my big, bad Creator of the Universe God with me. Take life by the horns men. Dominate it. Because you were made in the image of Almighty God.