Being a Christlike Man

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MW Editor’s Note:  Mentoring Warriors welcomes back Landen Stevens. In this article, Landen points out the larger issues going on when we, as Christian men, go soft, allowing non-Christian society to squeeze us into its mold.

Words To Be Careful Of

In history and even today, non-Christians try to tell Christians how they should act. They try to use certain words that either don’t exist in the Bible or that they have twisted the meaning of. Being a biblical man is how we wield Christ’s sword. Society’s view of being a godly man has been tainted in the last two centuries. This has been spearheaded by principalities. The enemy wants to separate us from God. Our roles and duties are important when serving and glorifying the Lord. When we follow His instruction, we succeed at leading our future generations the way God intends. When we fall short in leading our families in His way, then our generations are given to the world. Harmful ideologies purposefully work to separate us from God in this fashion by making biblical living seem negative. This has happened by society demonizing men’s nature.

What Ways Do They Do This?

Non-Christians do this by using particular words, or by using particular scriptures to make men’s nature seem negative. They assume that because Jesus is loving, redeeming, just, and merciful, He is just a “nice guy” and that Christians are supposed to be the same. They scold Christian men when they show a convicting or aggressive nature. Non-Christians act shocked and assume we are supposed to be “nice” and ask us if Jesus would want us to act that way. The thing non-Christians don’t know is that the word “nice” does not exist in the Bible. When Christian men don’t tolerate evil or undesirable behavior, the non-Christians assume we are supposed to be tolerant because they assume Jesus was. However, “tolerant” is yet another word that doesn’t appear in the Bible. When Christian men aren’t empathetic towards evil or suffering, people assume that we should be. However, as followers, we are not capable of such a thing. We will never be able to feel what someone else feels, no matter how similar the situation. The word empathy only appears one time in the Bible, and it points out that Christ is the only one who is capable of such a thing because He knows us and our sufferings. The one thing that Christlike men are capable of is being sympathetic. This is shown by the servant David when he shows sympathy to someone whose father showed him kindness. What do these words mean? Why are semantics important?

Nice: adjective meaning pleasant, agreeable, or satisfactory, often used to describe enjoyable experiences or good-natured behavior.

Tolerant: the willingness to accept or respect opinions, beliefs, or behaviors that differ from one’s own, even if one disagrees with them.

Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person by imagining yourself in their situation.

Sympathy: a feeling of sincere concern, pity, or compassion for someone experiencing misfortune, pain, or difficulty.

The semantics of words matter especially when Christ uses them for us. When Christ instructs us to be loving, He is particular in His words.

Christ Instructs Love

The biggest misconception in our current culture is the idea of what love is. The thing people seem not to understand is that love is not always nice. Christ says that love is kind. Within the Bible, we notice that love consists of discipline, justice, mercy, and patience. Kind is an adjective that means generous, friendly, and caring. When you care about someone, you do not affirm the evil things the person does. Kindness consists of consideration within its definition; however, consideration does not mean compliance.

The Nice Guy

Do not be the “nice guy”. What do I mean by the nice guy? The nice guy is a man who is agreeable to all, and mostly to women, for the goal of attracting them. He will not put his foot down. He is scared to offend. He is easily subjected. In society, this type of man has been emasculated, feminized, and is considered weak. This will make him subject to feminism, self-worship, and other evil ideologies that rebel against God’s instruction for us.

Why does this matter regarding feminism? Feminism is an ideology that aims to deconstruct the patriarchy and establish egalitarianism. The importance here is that Christianity is patriarchal, and the Lord made male and female. While we are equal, we are not equivalent. We have separate duties, and as men, we are the enforcement arm of society.

Force doctrine is a reality in every society. Force doctrine holds that for people to have “rights,” those rights must be enforced. In objective reality, only men are capable of this. Whoever controls the majority of men controls the allowances in society. Why is this significant in this discussion? The type of men in your society dictates what evils are allowed. As men, it is our job to protect our family, community, and nation. In order to do this, men need to have conviction, discipline, and courage. It is okay to offend, cause discomfort, and push back against disordered thinking.

Elijah, in 1 Kings, was seen as troubling Israel because he was against the Baal and Asherah worshippers. Yet, he pointed out the evil of the people, causing discomfort, anger, and confronting their sin.

Duty

Duty is what keeps a society functional and continuous from generation to generation. As men, it is our duty to protect, provide, discipline, and enforce. When men uphold their duty, this shows love, respect, and servitude. Raising our generations to appreciate the Lord and the duty He put on us as men is the only way to keep society fruitful. It is important to defend our future generations from disordered thinking.

Warnings

In today’s time, people attempt to demonize the Christian family lifestyle. It is important as a man not to care what secular society thinks. Ultimately, a marriage where the husband and wife honor each other and have an agreement on how they will raise their children to know the Lord is what matters. A house divided cannot stand. Therefore, the husband and wife in agreement while following the commands of the Lord is what will lead the family to prosper generation to generation. The truth in regard to current society’s view on men will not be here in 30-50 years. However, if we neglect our duties, our culture will no longer be here either, or at least will not be in the majority.

Warrior On!