I loved Paul Coughlin’s “No More Jellyfish, Chickens, or Wimps.” It should be read by all fathers and mothers. It deals with confronting the abuse and bullying of children in our society. We do need men who will take initiative and responsibility. We need men who will demonstrate the courage to confront destructive behaviors around them. (Of course, we need women who will do the same.) We need to motivate passive men to become good men. Otherwise, our families, churches, and communities suffer from passive and irresponsible men. To paraphrase Bill Cosby, “When a family has no father, it’s a difficulty. When a community has no fathers, it’s a tragedy.” Let’s encourage and help the men in our churches to be active and responsible men in their families, churches, and communities. (We don’t need to diminish women in order to do this.)

I like this one better:

You
by Edgar Guest

You are the fellow that has to decide
Whether you’ll do it or toss it aside.
You are the fellow who makes up your mind
Whether you’ll lead or will linger behind
Whether you’ll try for the goal that’s afar
Or just be contented to stay where you are.
Take it or leave it. Here’s something to do!
Just think it over — It’s all up to you!

What do you wish? To be known as a shirk,
Known as a good man who’s willing to work,
Scorned for a loafer or praised by your chief,
Rich man or poor man or beggar or thief?
Eager or earnest or dull through the day,
Honest or crooked? It’s you who must say!
You must decide in the face of the test
Whether you’ll shirk it or give it your best.

Nobody here will compel you to rise;
No one will force you to open your eyes;
No one will answer for you yes or no,
Whether to stay there or whether to go.
Life is a game, but it’s you who must say,
Whether as cheat or as sportsman you’ll play.
Fate may betray you, but you settle first
Whether to live to your best or your worst.

So, whatever it is you are wanting to be,
Remember, to fashion the choice you are free.
Kindly or selfish, or gentle or strong,
Keeping the right way or taking the wrong,
Careless of honor or guarding your pride,
All these are questions which you must decide.
Yours the selection, whichever you do;
The thing men call character’s all up to you!
__________________________________________________________
Edgar Guest wrote some other great stuff for you Real Men!
A Man
Answering Him
The Brethren

I thank the men of God who have character! Thank you for letting me see Jesus in you.

<, TN Lizzie

http://branthansen.typepad.com/letters_from_kamp_krusty/2008/03/more-excerpts-t.html

Royce - You’re spot-on in your first paragraph, but you get Mars Hill wrong in your second. Mars Hill is promoting a complementarian gender perspective to the max in a local and national culture that looks at them and scratches its collective head. (and not in the “what peculiar people … I want what they have” sort of way)

Most of this stems, in my opinion, from a tidal wave-like resurgence of Reformed Theology in Western Evangelicalism. John Piper is the elder statesman of the neo-Calvinist crew, and Driscoll his postmodern associate. Both of them — along with a slew of other nationally recognized writers, speakers, and pastors — have turned to fundamentalism as a reaction to an increasingly secular and unchurched West. (others, on the other end of the spectrum, have adopted a relativized Gospel of “whatever you want to believe”)

Driscoll’s comments, though masked with salty, provocative, relevant lingo, reflect nothing more than old fashioned fundamentalism and biblical literalism. Many of us know where that path leads…

“Gender equality” has become a hobby horse of sorts for the Mars Hill group. It is sort of a designer theology.

That being said. The whole masculinity movement is not all bunk. It’s not all about the “…the REAL Jesus — the Jesus who’d love to kick your butt.” A lot of it is about sucking it up and making hard decisions. A lot of it is about accountability versus passivity. Look, I don’t have to work on being passive, that comes natural. The fact is there are a lot of passive guys in church afraid to confront their kids, afraid to speak in public, afraid to share the gospel, afraid to disagree with their spouse, afraid to step up for themselves. Rare is the man who finds that perfect balance between a zeal for God, a genuine love of his neighbor, and a spirit of vigor mixed with humility. I can tell you as a man, I am drawn to them like a moth to a flame. Does that make me gay?

Brian Simmons wrote a great book about this:
Falling Away

Thanks for your response to my own. My intent was not to agree with his take (or even his insistence) of masculinity, but rather understand that he is obviously reaching a group of individuals that others (we/I) are not. My point was that even in trying to deny ourselves (thus taking on an attitude of no gender, no race, to politics, no etc. in the death to self) I find it interesting that we still attract and often seek out those who most resemble our past/current selves. Perhaps our tension with Driscoll (other than his tone/belief) is that he has pinpointed his target audience and has no qualms about it. While we promote, discuss, and even try to reach out to those different from ourselves, our tendency, for the most part is to simply remain homogenous in the way we look, sound, and act.

Right or wrong, Driscoll is a reminder to us that we are not prepared or often times willing to reach out or be what certain individuals want or need. Not that I am buying into Driscoll’s theology, but it is a reminder to me to ask hard questions of myself in relationship to Christ. To simply discount someone else’s theology in turn is asking them to do the same with mine.

I appreciate your questioning of my intentions here…

I guess for the dude who is so insecure about his own masculinity that he’s afraid to wear pink to church, for fear of being perceived as following a pansy Messiah, you’d have to expect him to create a completely imaginary Jesus with big honkin’ biceps and short hair - even though scripture doesn’t deign to describe Him physically in these ways at all.

It doesn’t work to redefine Jesus as just another Norse warrior-god, because you would never catch any of them pulling punches while cleansing the temple, or conveying self-worth to an adultress, or washing someone else’s stinky feet. He’s not a smorgasbord of character traits you can pick a choose from. He is Who He is: the Son of God.

Isn’t that enough for any of us?