chapter 6

manly men

Why does all of this matter? I know some will undoubtedly be asking this question because it is important.

We live in a culture of hook up, shack up, break up. Men are marrying later and staying married shorter than ever. The average dude is not a dude but just a boy who can shave. Many Christian men are enslaved to pornographic lust and live in silent shame, which hinders their growth in Christ and service in ministry. Meanwhile, the number of Christian leaders making headlines because of sexual sin further stains the reputation of Jesus and undermines the credibility of his church.

Nevertheless, in 1 Corinthians 11:7, we are told that God's men are the glory of God shining forth into a perverted and dark world. You, as God's man, are not to be led around by naked whores and stiff erections like the pagans who do not know God. You need to memorize these words, "A man . . . is the image and glory of God." The next time you are out hunting or camping and sitting around a fire, take a long stick and put one end of it in the fire. When that end gets hot and glowing red from glorying in the fire until its heat and light are transferred to it, take it out and look at it. Remind yourself that when the Bible says you are the glory of God, it means that you are like that stick and supposed to draw near to the pure and powerful God who is your Father and radiate his heat and light to the world.

  • You are not an animal. You are the glory of God.
  • You are not a pervert. You are the glory of God.
  • You are not an addict. You are the glory of God.
  • You are not a victim. You are the glory of God.
  • You are not a fool. You are the glory of God.

Jesus, the god-man who radiated the Father's glory perfectly, has made it possible for you to be the glory of God. Jesus your King, Warrior, and Lord hung upon his cross in your place to atone for all of your sins, including sexual perversion (Col. 2:13–15). If you repent of your sin, Jesus will forgive you for it and cleanse you from it, thereby taking away your guilt, shame, defeat, and filth (1 John 1:9; Zech. 3:1–9).

As God's man, you will then able to rise above your lusts, but not by works or self-willed deprivation. Instead, God's grace that alone saves you will also empower you to live life with Jesus and like Jesus. As Paul says in Titus 2:11–12, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."

This grace enables us not merely to hide our sin, diminish our sin, justify our sin, or accept it as inevitable. Rather, God's grace enables us to put to death our sin so that we live dead to sin and alive to Christ where we were previously alive to sin and dead to Christ (Rom. 8:13–14).

Indeed, our God is Lord over all of our lives and helpful for the practical matters of what to do with our mouth, hands, and genitals. As God's men, we do not pursue this redemption and holiness solely for ourselves but also for God's mission to save and redeem the sea of lost men around us who are their own god and sin with their mouth, hands, and genitals.

My desire as a Christian pastor is to see churches raised up as communities of grace ruled by Jesus and led by his gloriously masculine men who work their jobs, eat their meat, drink their beer, romance their wives, study their Bible, and raise their kids in glory and joy (Jer. 29:4–7; Eccl. 9:7–10). The countercultural nature of the church stands in condemnation of all other false gods who cannot save, bless, or liberate. First Peter 2:11–12 details this grand vision saying, "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

In 125 AD, Athenian philosopher Christian Aristides reported on the sexual practices of the Christian church to his king. He said, "They (Christians) do not commit adultery or immorality… Their wives, O king, are as pure as virgins, and their daughters are modest. Their men abstain from all unlawful sexual contact and from impurity, in the hopes of recompense that is to come in another world."

In our sick day we pray that the local newspapers would give the same report about God's men and their wives and daughters under their loving leadership. Why? Because what you do with your eyes and your penis is not simply your business. If you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ then there is urgent kingdom and gospel business for you to be about and neither time or money for you to waste while standing on the sidelines with your pants around your ankles looking for a bottle of lotion.