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What is biblical manhood?
By Brandon M. Roberts
“Man up, Roberts! Let’s go! Get up!”
I can still hear the words of my drill sergeant from basic training
even now, years later. The night before, my platoon was instructed
to lighten our ruck sacks by half the weight and to expect a slightly
longer, slightly faster-paced march the following morning. Assuming
that I knew better than the battle-hardened, 10-year veteran drill
sergeant who had already done two tours in Iraq with the 82nd
Airborne, I opted for more sleep rather than adequate preparation.
The next day hit record high temperatures for June in Fort Sill, Okla.
That factor, coupled with the extra weight in my pack, landed me
face down in the dirt just shy of 8 miles into the march. Floating
somewhere between consciousness, black-out, and lucid dream; I
determined that our barracks were less than a quarter mile from
where I lay seemingly helpless. “Man up, Roberts!” I heard again.
Somehow, I struggled to my feet and staggered the remaining 400
meters to the barracks. I dropped my ruck, sat down, stared into
space, and felt the surface of my skin tingle. Was this heat
exhaustion? Heat stroke? I couldn’t be sure, and I honestly didn’t
care. I was just happy it was over.
There was another strange feeling welling up inside of me, though.
This was new. At first, I couldn’t quite place it. Then I realized. I was
overwhelmed by an incredible feeling of accomplishment. My drill
sergeant, who I had saw at that time as the very essence of all that
was masculine, had urged me to “man up” – to be a man, to be like
him. And I had. How sad that I would measure masculinity by such
standards for many years after that day!
The story I just shared describes what society calls a man. Men are
strong, bold, unbridled creatures who can call upon incredible inner
strength when necessary to complete the mission. Let me say that
we have been deceived. Moreover, we have been limited by such a
definition. While some of the qualities society attempts to attribute
to the ideal man are both admirable and desirable, scripture calls for
much more. The same society that says a man should be strong
and bold also says that it is perfectly acceptable for that man to
drink excessively, have minimal involvement in his children’s lives,
try out a marriage and then toss it aside if he doesn’t really like the
outcome, focus more time and attention on his career than on his
family, give his vow to his wife but his eyes to any other woman who
walks by in a miniskirt. Surely, I am not the only one who sees that
society’s definition of a man falls drastically short of what the Bible
calls us to. Surely, not every man must reach the level of failure I
have reached in my lifetime before realizing that scripture is the only
standard by which a man must be measured. We cannot allow
society to define for us what it means to be a man when it insists on
teaching us things completely contradictory to the Bible.
What is biblical manhood? Just how far short of that mark have we
been falling? In my life, I have fallen short as a single man. I’ve fallen
short as a married man. I’ve fallen short as a father. I’ve fallen short
of the biblical model of a man in all these areas and everything in
between. In short, I have fallen short as a follower of Christ. Am I
saying that men should not be strong or bold? Absolutely not! That
is exactly what we ought to be. But we’re called to be more. We are
called to be the prophet, priest, provider, and protector of our homes.
We are to love our wives as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:
25), to not provoke our children to wrath, to train them up in the
nurture and the admonition of the LORD, to always be ready to give
a defense for the hope that is in us. No matter what we find to do,
we must do it with our might. We must love our neighbors as
ourselves (Matthew 19:19), love our enemies (James 2:8), and above
all, love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul (Matthew
22:37). We must loving and caring, be biblically literate, strong,
dedicated, and above all we must desire God with everything that is
in us (Psalm 40:8).
To continue to follow any other model of manhood is to allow
ourselves to continue to be deceived. Striving to become what the
Bible has called us to be as men will give us the greatest sense of
accomplishment in our lives, a sense that will allow us to say that
we know nothing save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified!
By Brandon M. Roberts
“Man up, Roberts! Let’s go! Get up!”
I can still hear the words of my drill sergeant from basic training
even now, years later. The night before, my platoon was instructed
to lighten our ruck sacks by half the weight and to expect a slightly
longer, slightly faster-paced march the following morning. Assuming
that I knew better than the battle-hardened, 10-year veteran drill
sergeant who had already done two tours in Iraq with the 82nd
Airborne, I opted for more sleep rather than adequate preparation.
The next day hit record high temperatures for June in Fort Sill, Okla.
That factor, coupled with the extra weight in my pack, landed me
face down in the dirt just shy of 8 miles into the march. Floating
somewhere between consciousness, black-out, and lucid dream; I
determined that our barracks were less than a quarter mile from
where I lay seemingly helpless. “Man up, Roberts!” I heard again.
Somehow, I struggled to my feet and staggered the remaining 400
meters to the barracks. I dropped my ruck, sat down, stared into
space, and felt the surface of my skin tingle. Was this heat
exhaustion? Heat stroke? I couldn’t be sure, and I honestly didn’t
care. I was just happy it was over.
There was another strange feeling welling up inside of me, though.
This was new. At first, I couldn’t quite place it. Then I realized. I was
overwhelmed by an incredible feeling of accomplishment. My drill
sergeant, who I had saw at that time as the very essence of all that
was masculine, had urged me to “man up” – to be a man, to be like
him. And I had. How sad that I would measure masculinity by such
standards for many years after that day!
The story I just shared describes what society calls a man. Men are
strong, bold, unbridled creatures who can call upon incredible inner
strength when necessary to complete the mission. Let me say that
we have been deceived. Moreover, we have been limited by such a
definition. While some of the qualities society attempts to attribute
to the ideal man are both admirable and desirable, scripture calls for
much more. The same society that says a man should be strong
and bold also says that it is perfectly acceptable for that man to
drink excessively, have minimal involvement in his children’s lives,
try out a marriage and then toss it aside if he doesn’t really like the
outcome, focus more time and attention on his career than on his
family, give his vow to his wife but his eyes to any other woman who
walks by in a miniskirt. Surely, I am not the only one who sees that
society’s definition of a man falls drastically short of what the Bible
calls us to. Surely, not every man must reach the level of failure I
have reached in my lifetime before realizing that scripture is the only
standard by which a man must be measured. We cannot allow
society to define for us what it means to be a man when it insists on
teaching us things completely contradictory to the Bible.
What is biblical manhood? Just how far short of that mark have we
been falling? In my life, I have fallen short as a single man. I’ve fallen
short as a married man. I’ve fallen short as a father. I’ve fallen short
of the biblical model of a man in all these areas and everything in
between. In short, I have fallen short as a follower of Christ. Am I
saying that men should not be strong or bold? Absolutely not! That
is exactly what we ought to be. But we’re called to be more. We are
called to be the prophet, priest, provider, and protector of our homes.
We are to love our wives as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:
25), to not provoke our children to wrath, to train them up in the
nurture and the admonition of the LORD, to always be ready to give
a defense for the hope that is in us. No matter what we find to do,
we must do it with our might. We must love our neighbors as
ourselves (Matthew 19:19), love our enemies (James 2:8), and above
all, love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul (Matthew
22:37). We must loving and caring, be biblically literate, strong,
dedicated, and above all we must desire God with everything that is
in us (Psalm 40:8).
To continue to follow any other model of manhood is to allow
ourselves to continue to be deceived. Striving to become what the
Bible has called us to be as men will give us the greatest sense of
accomplishment in our lives, a sense that will allow us to say that
we know nothing save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified!
Brandon Roberts is currently
serving as a sergeant in the
United States Army. He is a native
of Port Neches, and currently
resides in Monterey, Calif., with his
1-year-old son, Landon. For
further comment, e-mail
brandon@daily-christian-walk.net
or visit his Web site,
www.daily-christian-walk.net.
serving as a sergeant in the
United States Army. He is a native
of Port Neches, and currently
resides in Monterey, Calif., with his
1-year-old son, Landon. For
further comment, e-mail
brandon@daily-christian-walk.net
or visit his Web site,
www.daily-christian-walk.net.
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