Worship Like Men (Part 2 of Biblical Manhood Series)
Listen to this blog on The PRODCAST.
In many ways, we went from being a culture of excess to a nation of shortage. We have seen shortages in toilet paper, common sense, reality, leadership, shipping pods, supply lines, gas lines, trucker lines, and grocery lines. But, I am convinced that the most damaging shortage we face in this country is a shortage of Biblical masculinity.
A culture rises and falls on the backs of its Biblically faithful men. When the men in a nation are healthy and confident, when the Church trains them to be Biblical and to act like Jesus, and when they are faithful in all of their various spheres of responsibility, the nation itself will flourish and it will succeed. Why? Because those men will not only work hard, but they will love, care, and protect their wives, they will be present and loving fathers and grandfathers, and they will prepare the next generation well. The rising tide of Biblical masculinity will raise the entire nation, one state, one city, one community, and one family at a time.
Unfortunately, we live in a society that attacks its men at every possible level. Think about childhood. The more masculine boys are inculcated into a world of dumbbells, body image, heavy metal, sports, performance, womanizing, and porn, producing macho blowhards that look nothing like a Biblically masculine man. Boys with less testosterone are marketed and pushed towards feminine social norms, gender studies, sexual ambiguity, and depression, with big tech algorithms offering constant apologetics for the LGBTQ movement, turning these poor boys into confused, effeminate, drones.
And we wonder why our society is in decline? When you add on top of that the absent fatherhood crisis, critical race theory, feminism, our advertisements, media, entertainment, colleges, government, and woke corporations, you get a clear picture of how Satan has waged an all out war on manhood.
When you spend the last several decades training women and children to attack men as toxic, weak, stupid, and useless, and when you mobilize the government to step in as a surrogate father, should we really be surprised to see men checking out, throwing in the towel, taking their ball and going home?
At every turn, our nation is either ridiculing our men, mocking them, setting them up, castrating them, or trying to seduce them into becoming women. The ones who follow their own depravity to the extreme, and chop off appendages to be a mr. potato girl, do so because their deepest cravings as a man - to feel familial and societal honor - are finally being satisfied in the more perverted ways. All men want to be honored and revered. Some in their mental confusion obtain that through transgenderism, which our culture is happy to cheer for and subsidize.
Sadly, the Evangelical Church has not really been a hedge against the downfall of man in the West. By adopting the church growth strategies over the last several decades, that prioritize emotional worship experiences, introspective prayer times, “share your feelings small groups”, and a neutered vision of true masculinity, men obviously not feel comfortable or even care to participate. Doubt me? Then why are the majority of churches dominated by women and weak men. Because the Church, along with culture, hung the sign a long time ago: “Real men, not welcome!” With that, do we even have to wonder why males are not interested in the Church or true religion?
But it does not have to remain this way. Even though this PRODCAST is still young, new, and has a relatively modest audience, I want to spend the next several weeks doing all I can to encourage men! To see a renaissance in Biblical masculinity and today we will do that by looking at how real men worship!
WORSHIP LIKE A MAN
Now, in the weeks ahead, we will look at how a man is called to provide spiritual leadership for a family, his wife, and his children. But today, I simply want to focus on a man’s individual responsibility and call to worship before His God.
And that begins by worshiping like a man. And in case we are cloudy on what that looks like, we have plenty of general examples from Scripture. And what I mean by that is we have countless brothers, men of faith who worshiped God faithfully that we can look to!
For instance, we see our brother Abel, working, laboring, and offering the very best that He has back to God, so we offer God our best as well. We see our brother Enoch prioritizing his walk with God, so we prioritize that too. We see men like Noah resisting the whims and fancies of a godless culture and making great preparations for the Lord; in Christ, how much more shall we be like Noah, resisting the waves of secularism, standing against the winds of immorality, resting in Christ as our true ark for salvation! This is worship!
We see our father, Abraham, with courage and great faith dropping everything in order to follow this God; how much more shall we, in Christ, have the courage to believe the promises of God, hold to them with lifelong tenacity, offer up to God the things God requires, rest in the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the mountain, and follow God wherever He will lead. This is worship!
We see Joseph and Daniel, with skill and wisdom using the gifts God gave them to bring life and healing to the nations that they were called to. In much the same way, brothers, how much more in the Lord Jesus Christ, shall we work in our vocations, and in our nation, to bring about the benefits of Christ, to the pagan societies with which we live. This is worship!
We see men like Moses, ready to endure hardships for the people of God, giving his life in the service of God, and leading God’s people to know this holy God. How much more, brothers, shall we endure hardships with humility, serve the Lord with faithfulness, prioritize godliness and holiness, and lead the ones God has given us like Moses. This is worship!
Remember the final paragraph of Hebrews 11, which says:
32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (men of whom the world was not worthy)
And why were all of these men accounted as faithful? Because their life pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. They did not live by their own strength and masculinity… No. Their strength, their manhood, their masculinity were all pointing to the true man, the strong man, the God man Jesus Christ.
They not only act like men, which is what we learned last week, but they worship like men, which is what you and I must give ourselves to do. Our ultimate goal in life must not be jobs, cars, widgets, sex, cravings, savings, vacations, power, influence, retirement, entertainment or anything else. Our goal in life, as a godly man, must be to worship the Lord Jesus Christ! And there are several ways we can do that.
READ LIKE A MAN
For instance, look at David. He had the largest home, the most influence, doting women, obedient soldiers, a heaping pile of bodies he mamed and killed on the battlefield… By secular accounts, this man was a real man! But, Biblically speaking, these things were not what made him a man. In fact, these are the things that ruined and soiled his masculinity. What made David a real man, a vibrant man, a courageous man, and a man worth imitating was his love for the Word of God. Look at what it says in David’s first Psalm:
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.
A man meditates on God’s law, ponders His precepts, delights in His commands, and puts Himself in front of the Word of God, both day and night. A man patterned after the Biblical definitions of masculinity do not avoid the Word, and do not allow themselves to become spiritually lazy. Real men wake up, open their Bibles, read, study, meditate, and learn holy Scripture, and then pattern their lives around that!
Real men also pray like men!
PRAY LIKE A MAN
For instance, when Paul calls for the men to pray in 1 Timothy 2:8, he says:
Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.
Paul tells us that godly men pray. And not the kind of half hearted compensatory prayers any ogre can mutter. No. Sincere prayers. Ardent prayers. Holy prayers, where the men are fully submitted to God, with body and soul devoted to the Lord, and mind and heart committed to protect the unity among brothers. Men pray in such a way that blesses our God and blesses our community. Anything short of that is not manly praying.
The Bible also says that the prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Well gents… This means God has an expectation on you, that to be a man, you must be striving after righteousness and meeting your God in prayer. You cannot be a man, in the way God designed you, if you do not know and do this.
The Bible also calls on us, as men, to uphold truth, knowing that this is also an act of worship.
UPHOLD TRUTH LIKE A MAN
For instance, Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:7-8
7 But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; 8 for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Some will chide at this remark and call Paul a sexist. What we need to understand is that there is a fundamental difference in the way men and women think. God made our brains unique and different, and as men, we have not been called to think in feminine ways. We have been called to discipline our minds for the sake of godliness, which means subduing our thinking to be like Christ, because that is not only profitable for us but for everyone around us.
Notice how Paul elaborates on this in chapter 6:11-12
11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
We were not created to be spiritual daffodils or delicate lilies. We were made to pursue righteousness. Run after godliness. Aim at true faith. Capture Biblical love and pour it out onto those around us. We were made to fight our enemy with perseverance even while showing the ones within our tent the sincerest gentleness.
Do you see what this means? Half hearted and apathetic men cannot be considered godly men. Men with low drive, no motivation, and riddled with passivity are not manly or righteous. Far too many men are sitting on the sidelines in their sin, quiet and passive while their wives take the lead, living in rebellion against their own masculinity. That is not what God designed you to be brother! You have not been made to be weak, quiet, docile, and slothful! You were made to fight!
Heed the words of Paul, my brothers, become active in your faith, fight the fight of faith, take hold of eternal life that you have been given in Christ, and keep making the good confession of the Gospel in the company of many witnesses. Do not follow your father Adam into godless passivity. Follow Christ, who was the most deliberate, ardent, zealous, passionate, convicted, and active man who ever lived!
Live your faith intentionally, actively, and boldly men! Do not let Satan squalor you into silence. Rebel against that and be a man! Rebel against that and go to church.
GO TO CHURCH LIKE A MAN
As we have mentioned, churches have been abandoned by men, because they have prioritized women. So what? Grow a backbone, go to church, sing the songs, praise your God, marry a woman, raise a family, and contribute to the well being of the community. Do not think you are a man when you sit at home playing video games or avoiding your family to drink beer and watch football. That is not masculine, it is a joke.
Go to church! And if the Lord calls you to an office in the church, be bold about it. The Bible says that it is a noble aspiration for men to serve in the leadership of the church. So go to church. Go as often as you can. Adopt the attitude that vaccum bombs and nukes are about the only thing that will keep you from praising your God on His great day! Work for unity in the church. Serve in the church. And aspire to leadership in the church. This is what men do.
And as you are imitating Christ along with the faithful brothers from old… As you are giving yourself over to the Scriptures day and night in service to God… As you become a praying and righteous man, who upholds the truth, and works for the good of the Church… Remember that when you sin, you have an advocate who will always forgive you when you confess your sins to Him.
Do not imitate our father Adam who blame shifted and refused to take his licks. Stand up like Job, gird up your loins, keep silent while the Lord rebukes you, and walk away praising God! Better to be rebuked and chastened by a loving father than to go on living in your sin, right?
As we end our time today, I want to remind our men listening that being a man is not easy. But that does not mean it is complicated. In today’s episode, I have given you very basic things to do in order to be a man. Live like Jesus. Read your Bible. Pray. Uphold truth and righteousness. And be committed to the local church. These are not complicated concepts and even a child can understand them.
The real test of your masculinity is whether you will do it. Will you be the kind of man who hears the Word, repents, and walks in the fullness of life with Christ? Or will you be like the crazy person James describes, who sees their reflection in the mirror of God’s Word, and immediately walks away forgetting who they are.
My prayer is that you would have courage to obey God, conviction to live this way, commitment to the people around you, and if you will do that, you will see people thrive under your leadership. If you prioritize God, brother, everyone around you will thrive too. If you choose you. If you choose passivity, apathy, or some worthless idol to pursue… Well, you will bring nothing but misery upon yourself, your families, your friends, your neighbors, your vocation, and everything else.
Men were made to act like men. And men were made to worship like me. Join us again next week as we consider what it means to love like men.
Until next time, be blessed.
