What is a (Christian) Man?
By: Jon Rendall, FBB Speaker
For young men, summer camp can become the ultimate place to prove one’s manliness, what with sleeping in the wilderness, fighting the elements, cooking over a fire, and eating copious amounts of sugar before and after every meal. Well, maybe not that last part. I worked at a camp on Vancouver Island for many years, and one thing came up over and over again amongst our older campers and teen staff—the need to prove yourself as a man.
One summer I helped lead Woodsman camp for our Leaders In Training program. We would take forty teens, male and female, to an offsite location with no bathrooms, no running water, no electricity, and no cell coverage. Everyone slept on large canvas tent platforms and all the food and supplies were hauled in daily. It was primitive—and a ton of fun.
However, for some of our teen campers (and by “some teen campers” I mean some teen male campers), the camp was not nearly rustic enough. Every year at least a few would conjure up some variation of what they called “the man challenge.” That meant leaving behind what few comforts were available, including sleeping bags, clothes, shoes, and all hygiene products, and facing the elements as MEN! The goal was to survive Woodsman camp with only a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.
Unfortunately, the survivor aspirations never seemed to pan out. Every year we had Leaders In Training who shivered sleeplessly through the nights, who were forced to wrap duct tape around their injured feet, and who inevitably became ill due to the aforementioned cold and sleep deprivation. To add insult to injury, when we actually needed them for training or work projects around the camp they were too sick or injured to contribute. By whatever metric the man challenge could be measured, it never accomplished its purpose.
Ball Of Confusion
Although this story is humorous and the events were harmless, mostly, it illustrates a very real dilemma within our culture, and even in our churches. There is deep confusion among young and old, male and female, about what it means to be a man. How did we get this way? Well, to begin with, most Canadians have no cultural rituals to help young males understand the passage from boyhood to manhood, or even from childhood to adulthood. Conversations around masculinity become focused on all sorts of externalities. Manliness becomes a question of clothing and dress, activities and interests, accomplishments and career aspirations. No wonder young boys are so confused. In the absence of grand narratives concerning identity and meaning, youth are left to build their identity through name brands and consumerism. Young boys emulate internet celebrities, athletes, and musicians as role models in an attempt to define themselves as men.
To add to the confusion, church leaders and pastors get lost in the weeds, bickering about the proper length of hair or clothing choices. In the midst of cultural confusion, aggressive young pastors can gain a following by proclaiming that being a man is about hunting wild game and eating meat, fixing cars and getting your hands dirty. Often, this appears to work. Some Christian men receive these concepts in a desperate attempt to find an identity, and others feel there is no place for them within the narrow surface-level concepts of masculinity presented.
Of Christ and Men
As Christians, we must reject the pop culture’s message on what it means to be a man—or, for that matter, a woman. It’s not just the modern messages that need to go, but even the messages that go way back, whether we’re talking about 1950s America, Victorian England or the Roman Empire. Every culture has ideas about masculinity and men, and I’m not saying they’re completely wrong, but I am saying that we must define manliness through the lens of Scripture. What is God’s will for men? How should Christian men live?
In Scripture, we have the example of Jesus, the ultimate man. Yes, Jesus worked with his hands and went on some dangerous fishing trips, but his example of being a man was more than that. Jesus' life on earth was lived in full submission to the will of his Father. Philippians 2:8 says “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
In other words, Jesus suffered in obedience to his Father. For our sake, he endured hatred and ridicule. Jesus never repaid evil for evil. Instead, he taught, prayed, healed, fed, and cared for people. Jesus fulfilled what the original man, Adam, had been called to do. God placed Adam in the garden to care for His creation. Jesus fulfilled that calling and more. Jesus never gave in to selfish aggression or selfish passivity. He was never confused about his identity or his mission.
Mission and identity must be the internal focus of every Christian man, a mission and identity wholly centred on obedience to Jesus. From there, it does not matter if you bake cakes or build houses. It does not matter whether your hair is long like Samson and John the Baptist, or short like so many of us follicly challenged folks in Apologetics ministry. What matters is that Jesus is kept the centre of your life and the focus of your masculine identity, that each man is a man created by God, reconciled to Him through Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Constructing Men
So what does this mean, practically? First, we need to acknowledge that young Christian men are shaped by the churches they attend. In other words, in developing their ideas of manliness, they are inevitably influenced by the community of Christ. Thus, church communities have a responsibility to participate in the process of reorienting men toward their true identity and mission. If a young man were to walk into your church today, would he find anyone focused on helping him develop his quest to become a Christian man? Is there a path towards mentorship? Are there ways for him to serve Jesus apart from music and children’s ministry? We tell him that God has uniquely gifted and wired him to benefit the church body? Do we have a plan to help him discover what that means?
Church, like school, is often designed around sitting still and listening for long periods of time. But I can testify that this does not suit the predisposition of most young men! Of course, there are times when young men should control themselves and pay attention, but they need more than that. They need to participate in things that challenge them. Their boundless energy and endless potential need to be employed for the kingdom. In a culture deeply confused about masculinity, we as the church need to be a shining beacon of hope calling young men to find their identity in Jesus and His mission to build the kingdom. Instead of mocking and deriding young men, we need to inspire and empower them. We need to call them to greatness, not defined by culture, but according to God’s standards.
Conclusion
One of the most interesting things about the “man challenge” was how these young men felt a need to create new challenges and problems to test themselves. From my perspective, the world is filled with enough problems and challenges, why invent new ones? Let’s harness our energy toward the problems and challenges we already have! I’m grateful these young men had an opportunity to spend an entire summer at camp, to learn practical skills, receive biblical instruction, and invest in God’s kingdom. All hope is not lost, God has a plan for men despite a confused culture. Pray for the young men in your life and in your church. Consider how you and your church can lead and develop them to be Christ-centred men. Blessings!
Spence, K. (2022, June 14). Unreached & Under-equipped. Faith Beyond Belief. Retrieved June 20, 2022, from https://www.faithbeyondbelief.ca/blog/unreached-and-under-equipped
Rosenke, R. (2022, March 28). Habit or heart. Faith Beyond Belief. Retrieved June 20, 2022, from https://www.faithbeyondbelief.ca/blog/habit-or-heart
McKerracher, I. (2022, March 22). Christians should not apologize for true Christianity - be ready breakout speaker Basil McLaren. Faith Beyond Belief. Retrieved June 20, 2022, from https://www.faithbeyondbelief.ca/podcast/christians-should-not-apologize-for-true-christianity-be-ready-breakout-speaker-basil-mclaren