Good News Press - 7
Manhood Continued from Page 5
I see something in modern evangelicalism, a pattern among men: Excuses.
Can we please stop the obsession
with the word struggle?
Let me preface the rest of my thought
and tell you that I understand we are
all at different places in our walk.
There are differing levels of spiritual
maturity and growth. So I get it that a
man who has just been saved out of a
long life filled with alcohol, drug, pornography, or other addictions will
have a battle on his hands.
If it weren’t for the grace of God, I
would be right there wallowing in my
sins. Pride comes before a fall and it’s
not for any of us to brag that we stand
strong, lest we fall into rebellion and
sin. So please understand that I’m not
addressing personal trials and temptations because we all have them. It’s
what we do with them, our thought
lives, and ultimately our actions that
lead to sin.
We do need to support a brother when
he is genuinely in a struggle, in the
truest sense of the word. He needs
prayer, accountability, wise counsel,
and love from Christian brothers.
There are some who are truly struggling and we need to be there to pray
for and encourage those men. A
day often comes when a brother’s
struggle is replaced by a growing daily obedience to the Word of God and
the wonderful the fruits of the Spirit.
“Do not be conformed to this
world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing
you may discern what is the will of
God, what is good and acceptable and
perfect” (Romans 2:12).
What I’m addressing here is something totally different. What I am are
zeroing in on here are the guys who
just doesn’t want to keep his eyes off
of women who are not their wives or
put down the bottle, or take a sledgehammer to the computer where he
views porn. This type of guy isn’t struggling; he is living in blatant
rebellion of God’s Word.
Let’s see it for what it is—sin. I’ve
seen this pattern over and over again.
Brother (fill in the blank) makes a
profession of faith. He gets into men’s
ministry—a small group and becomes
a member at church. Before long, he
slips back into his old ways, cheats on
his wife, lives like he’s not a Christian, and is defiant in the process.
A man who is walking with Christ is
transformed by the renewing of his
mind. His life is marked by a steady
increase of Christ-likeness and holiness. The fruit of a life that has been
transformed by the Spirit of God he is
radically different.
That isn’t the case with a man who
claims to be a believer, but lives for
this world. I agree that we should be
equal parts truth and love because
that’s the model Jesus left for us. Unfortunately, and more often than not, I
see well-meaning Christians come
alongside this type of man and label
what he’s going through as
a struggle.
I have known elders instructing Christian men but are unwilling to confront
them with the biblical reality of blatant sin in their lives. That is not a
biblical approach. Showing fallen or
backslidden men love involves going
to a very hard place by risking the
friendship, unity, and peace at any
cost in order to rescue them. They
need Christian men in their lives to
love them enough to risk the relationship and lovingly be lovingly confronted. I would hope that a brother
would love my soul enough to get in
my face with biblical reality before I
destroy my marriage, family, and life.
“Better is open rebuke than hidden
love. Faithful are the wounds of a
friend; profuse are the kisses of an
enemy” (Proverbs 27:5-6).
“My brothers, if anyone among you
wanders from the truth and someone
brings him back, let him know that
whoever brings back a sinner from his
wandering will save his soul from
death and will cover a multitude of
sins” (James 5:19-20). Cont’d Pg. 8