Men as Husbands

Men, whether you’re single or married, you need to listen to this sermon.

The sermon, “Men as Husbands,” was posted on Facebook by one of my students back in November, but I finally got around to listening to it recently (it’s actually over ten years old). What a great sermon! I am now going through the entire Proverbs sermon series (podcast link for iTunes here). It will probably take me over three years (about two months per sermon) to get through the entire series. Three down. Eighteen to go.

Mark Driscoll is the Christian Man’s Man (cf: “Driscoll Kicks Own [Butt]“). I don’t know what it is, but when a man hears Driscoll’s sermons, they feel manlier. So, when he takes a “non-manly” subject like loving your wife, you don’t know what to expect. Don’t get me wrong. In all truth, there is nothing manlier than loving your wife. When I refer to the subject as “non-manly,” I mean . . . as viewed by a corrupt world filled with chauvinism. With that said, I have a long ways to go to becoming the man that God wants me to be for my wife. I imagine for many young men, hearing this message from the Man’s Man will give the lessons much weight and will challenge them even more and on a deeper level.

Some of you may have heard me say that there’s almost nothing more important in the church right now than for men to stand up and take more responsibility for the sake of the life and health of the church today. The absence of men in the pews not only translates to an absence of strong leadership among the members but a noticeable absence of hands serving the body. I understand that some men hate going to church now (see: Why Do Men Hate Going to Church?). The church needs to work on this. At the same time, men need to get past their personal issues with the church and become the strong pillars of the church that they were meant to be. I believe their personal issues have less to do with anything unbiblical taking place in the church and among its leadership (e.g., pastors, elders, deacons) and more of being caught up by a consumer mentality.

I think part of the problem is confused gender roles. Young men no longer have a biblical perspective on how to be men. The reason they are lacking in this area is two-fold. First, with divorce rates at an all-time high and a general lack of maturity among many fathers, most young men just don’t have adequate role models in their lives. If boys do not have strong men intimately involved in their lives, they will remain boys well into their adulthood.

The second reason young men are in want of a biblical perspective on masculinity is that, in an effort to be politically correct, the church has also fallen short  and no longer trains boys spiritually to become godly men. It makes me sad to make such an indictment against the church, but I will be the first to admit that I myself have not done enough to rectify this matter. I am laboring in small part for the sake of this effort and I pray that others will partner with me.

Did not the apostle Paul exhort Timothy to have the men of the church (elders and deacons) set an example and teach the younger men how to be godly men? At the same time, was there not also instruction to younger men to heed the instruction of the older men? I do not see this in the church today. I do not see older men going out of their way to mentor young men. I do not see younger men, in humility, turning to the older men for guidance.

Bottom line: men need to step it up and stand firm for the church. Women, I humbly ask you to pray for us.