Macho, Macho Man
Remember The Village People. They sang a song like this, "Macho, macho man, I've got to be a macho man." Just what is a "macho man?" I'm currently preparing a talk on what it means to be a godly man. I think the culture's idea of a man is one who's physically tough and prone to violence. (See USA Today August 1st on "Fight Clubs.") http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-07-31-violent-fight-clubs_x.htm
Add some abuse of alcohol (Mel Gibson you let me down) with both arms around some skinny women and you have a "cultural macho man!" The culture tries to squeeze teen boys and men into this mold and it succeeds! So what is a godly man like? First off, he recognizes the pull of the culture. Proverbs 1 through 7 talks directly about the culture's squeeze play. It's been the BIG 3 for thousands of years. But the godly man is not marked not just by what he doesn't do, but by what he does. God through Jesus Christ, and only through His divine power (this is not just some moralistic try to accomplish in your own power), gives us roles we are to perform. The following is what I think a godly man does...
*Provides-works to support self and family if married.
*Protects-spouse and family physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
*Paces-doesn't allow work to put life out of balance.
*Presence-is the visible representation of the Heavenly Father to family and others.
Well, that's some of my ideas. I think there's a lot of confusion on what a man really is. This is my attempt to bring clarity to what it means to be a man. What's your thots???
These are the days my friend!
Jim "Train"
Add some abuse of alcohol (Mel Gibson you let me down) with both arms around some skinny women and you have a "cultural macho man!" The culture tries to squeeze teen boys and men into this mold and it succeeds! So what is a godly man like? First off, he recognizes the pull of the culture. Proverbs 1 through 7 talks directly about the culture's squeeze play. It's been the BIG 3 for thousands of years. But the godly man is not marked not just by what he doesn't do, but by what he does. God through Jesus Christ, and only through His divine power (this is not just some moralistic try to accomplish in your own power), gives us roles we are to perform. The following is what I think a godly man does...
*Provides-works to support self and family if married.
*Protects-spouse and family physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
*Paces-doesn't allow work to put life out of balance.
*Presence-is the visible representation of the Heavenly Father to family and others.
Well, that's some of my ideas. I think there's a lot of confusion on what a man really is. This is my attempt to bring clarity to what it means to be a man. What's your thots???
These are the days my friend!
Jim "Train"
posted by Jim "Train" King at 3:19 PM
1 Comments:
This reminds me of a conversation I had with a young man today about the difference between straight edge, and bleeding edge, two ideals that exist within hardcore culture today.
Straight edge youth are youth that make a lifelong commitment that involves abstinence from tobacco, alcohol, and any recreational drug use. Some straight edgers also abstain from promiscuous sexual behavior and even caffeine. This ideal was inspired by the punk band Minor Threat, and ironically enough, at the inception of this ideal, when it was originally posed at a show, the challenge was given with cursing.
I am not implying that the straight edge lifestyle is bad, or even that Christians will be perfect and never curse, but from my experience with straight edge youth, this seems to typify the culture, which tends to allow for a pretty much anything that doesn’t fall in one of those categories.
Bleeding Edge is a term that was actually stolen from technology, and in fact I have only heard it once or twice, so I can't verify much of anything regarding its history, but it comes from a different perspective. Instead of looking at what you shouldn't do, it focuses on a relationship with the one who bled for us. As it was explained to me "there really are no rules with bleeding edge, that is to say, our rule book is the Bible, our minor thread is more of a major threat, and as he walked the earth he was called Yeshua or Jesus" (from an IM conversation with the young man who introduced this term to me).
Like you said, sometimes it isn't what you don't do, but what you do do. Do you read your Bible, are you active in a community of Jesus followers? Most importantly, are you spending time with God on a daily bases. Stop focusing on works and man up!... focus on your relationship, focus on God.
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