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December 13, 2006
Apparently godly men are supposed to cuss, carry swords and leave their wives and infants alone at home why they go out into the wilderness....to be a good leader!
I was pretty much over blogging about this issue for a while until I came across this article in the LA Times, Manliness is next to godliness.
Hey, do I think we might have wandered away from Jesus' message in the last couple of thousands of years and possibly have domesticated him in the process a little bit. If I need to agree on something I could agree on that. But this other stuff is just crazy. Just read some of the excerpts on what it means to be a godly man according to this article, highlighting Brad Stine and his revival meeting called "GodMen."
Excerpt #1:
In fact, men taking charge is a big theme of the GodMen revival. At what he hopes will be the first of many such conferences, in a warehouse-turned-nightclub in downtown Nashville, Stine asks the men: "Are you ready to grab your sword and say, 'OK, family, I'm going to lead you?' " He also distributes a list of a real man's rules for his woman. No. 1: "Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down."
Are you kidding me? Why don't you just put the toilet seat down yourself. We are talking about toilet seats here, but under the guise of humor is the idea that women need to be the ones submitting and not the man. What happened to mutal submission that Paul talks about in Ephesians 5.
Excerpt #2:
But some men at the conference run into trouble when they debut their new attitudes at home. Eric Miller, a construction worker, admits his wife is none too pleased when he takes off, alone, on a weekend camping trip a few weeks after the GodMen conference this fall.
"She was a little bit leery of it, as we have an infant," he reports. "She said, 'I need your help around here.'"
Miller, 26, refuses to yield: "I am supposed to be the leader of the family."
He's pretty sure his wife will come around once she recognizes he's modeling his life after Jesus', like a good Christian should. It'll just take a little explaining, because the Jesus he has in mind is the guy on the wanted poster: "confrontational and sarcastic when he needed to be," Miller says, and determined to use "whatever means was necessary to achieve his goal."
When was leaving your wife and infant at home alone so you can go out into the wilderness a from of modeling your life after Jesus and being a good leader. Seems more like avoiding the difficulties of life and the difficulties of laying one's life down for each other....just retreat into the woods instead. Sorry for sounding harsh, but I just think this is the wrong message to be sending to men.
You can read the rest of the article and find out that part of being a godly man is lacing your vocabulary with profanity as well.
I have had a lot of great male role models in my life. And none of them were or needed to be about this.
Posted by rhett at December 13, 2006 11:21 AM
Comments
Thank you! When I read the article, I found myself chuckling at the humor...but then I realized the implications of what I was finding humorous. I do think the church is a bit emasculating, but I think this group is just way too extreme in the opposite direction. Thank you for being a Christian man who doesn't have to resort to degrading his wife or using profanity.
Posted by: Amanda ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.rhettsmith.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 13, 2006 12:49 PM
As a Grudem-esque complimentarian, let me speak up and say, "Ugh!" to this stuff! I wanted to punch Eric "I don't help my wife with the kids" Miller in the mouth (not that that would be the right way to show my masculinity).
Posted by: ChrisG at December 13, 2006 04:07 PM
Hyperbole, indeed, with this group. Just has a discussion about this article on Tuesday!
I am on staff at a church and we read "Why Men Hate Church" which makes a great point that church does not appeal to the masculine and leans to the feminine and that reaching the real needs of men as well as addressing some things to relate better to men is greatly needed--and effective. I love this premise, but to go as far as the people in this article is just silly. I think this is obviously one of the new evangelical fads. Here today...
Posted by: Rich Kirkpatrick at December 13, 2006 07:05 PM
whoa, that's pushing the limits.
Posted by: SolShine7 at December 13, 2006 11:26 PM
Rhett I read this and laughed because I think I wrote some of the same phrases on my post "Jesus de Jour". I thought though that it probably has a little more power coming from a man...or maybe it just affirmed my heart knowing that guys I respect share my concern.
Posted by: Kristie Vosper at December 29, 2006 09:31 AM
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