There is a movement happening. Can you feel it? It is a movement of men. Men that are “manning up.” Maybe you have experienced it. Maybe you are even a part of it. A few years ago, I wrote a blog titled “Man Up!” For some people, that statement triggers them. It may trigger them because they know they should man up and they aren’t, or they may get triggered because they don’t think that men and women should have different roles, or they may not even think there is such a thing as men and women.
Regardless of what of you think of this ‘man up movement,’ it is happening, and it is attracting millions of young men. It is led by men like Andrew Tate, Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, Bedros Keuilian, and Alex Hormozi. These men have millions and millions and followers with the majority being young men. Young men today are lost. They are being told that it is toxic to behave like a man. These young men are looking for permission to act like a man should and these leaders are showing them that it is not wrong!
The Wrong Movement
A lot of what these men are saying is true. I listen to many of them and recently just read Bedros Keuilian’s book with the title “Man Up.” As I mentioned before, I even wrote a blog that men need to man up… so how can it be the wrong movement?
In that article I wrote calling men to man up, I shared Robert Lewis’ definition of manhood. He said that men should live by this definition. They should:
- Reject passivity
- Accept responsibility
- Live courageously
- Expect the greater reward
The men leading this movement are calling men to reject passivity, accept responsibility, and live courageously. This is good. They encourage men that this is how we were created. This is true masculinity. They state that there is no such thing as toxic masculinity. Either you are toxic because you are not doing these things or you are behaving like a man, which is true masculinity.
Unfortunately, most of them spend little time talking about the last definition of men, which is to live for the greater reward that is eternal and not of this world. They are men like we see in the movie “300.” They are strong, they protect, they are attractive, they are successful, they are wealthy, and of course, they attract all the women. Left without the eternal purpose of men, unfortunately, this movement will just lead us back to a time when men ruled and oppressed all others.
The Lion and the Lamb
All the major religions of the world acknowledge that a man named Jesus walked on the face of this earth, in fact many atheists would agree that a man named Jesus existed. As Christians we believe that Jesus was more than just a man but God himself came in the flesh and brought us eternal life by dying on the cross and coming back to life.
Who you think Jesus was/is does not change the fact that Jesus was the most influential person that ever lived on this earth. By His actions, through the accounts of His life, and through the people who knew Jesus and were led by Jesus, we know how Jesus lived. He was an example on how all of us should live and taught us the roles of men and women.
Jesus was called the Lion and the Lamb. He was a lamb when he needed to be and a lion when necessary. Ultimately, He became the sacrificial lamb for all of us! The men’s movement today is calling men to be lions but spending little time talking about being a lamb when necessary.
The Right Movement
Because Jesus is God, He has the answers on how we should all behave. Unfortunately, it is quite common for mankind to try to figure out a solution to our problems by leaving God out of the equation. That is the man up movement that is going on today. It will not work. The solution; look at God’s word to see what He calls men to act like:
- Grow up – When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 1 Corinthians 13:11
- Be loving – Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
- Trust in God – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
- Delight in God – The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him. Psalms 37:23
- Use the gifts God gave you – Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. Proverbs 22:29
- Be on guard – Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5:8-9
- Pray with faith – But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:6-8
- Husbands submit to God – But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. —1 Corinthians 11:3
- Husbands love and sacrifice for your wife – Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. –Ephesians 5:25-30
- Provide – But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Tim. 5:8
- Protect and take care of God’s creation – The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15
If we look specifically at the life of Jesus, He showed us how everyone should live. He called us to:
- Repent: Matthew 4:17
- Let Your Light Shine: Matthew 5:16
- Be Righteous: Matthew 5:20
- Be Reconciled: Matthew 5:23 – 24
- Settle Matters Quickly: Matthew 5:25
- Don’t Lust: Matthew 5:28
- Don’t Divorce Except for Infidelity: Matthew 5:31 – 32
- Keep Your Word: Matthew 5:37
- Turn the Other Cheek: Matthew 5:39
- Go the Extra Mile: Matthew 5:40 – 42
- Love Your Enemies; Pray for Those Who Persecute You: Matthew 5:44
- Be Perfect: Matthew 5:48
- Practice Secret Disciplines: Matthew 6:1
- Pray: Matthew 6:5 – 8
- Forgive: Matthew 6:14 – 15
- Fast: Matthew 6:16 – 18
- Store up Treasures in Heaven: Matthew 6:19 – 24
- Don’t Worry: Matthew 6:28
- Seek His Kingdom First: Matthew 6:33
- Don’t Judge: Matthew 7:1- 2
- Don’t Cast Pearls: Matthew 7:6
- Live the Golden Rule: Matthew 7:12
- Enter Through the Narrow Gate: Matthew 7:13 – 14
- Watch Out for False Teachers: Matthew 7:15
- Pray for Workers: Matthew 9:37
- Be Shrewd: Matthew 10:16
- Be Afraid About the Right Things: Matthew 10:28
- Hear God’s Voice: Matthew 11:15
- Take Jesus’ Yoke: Matthew 11:28 – 30
- Honor Your Parents: Matthew 15:4
- Don’t Despise Children: Matthew 18:10
- Honor Marriage: Matthew 19:4 – 6
- Be a Servant: Matthew 20:26 – 28
- Be a House of Prayer: Matthew 21:13
- Ask in Faith: Matthew 21:21 – 22
- Render to Caesar: Matthew 22:21
- Love God: Matthew 22:37 – 38
- Love Your Neighbor: Matthew 22:39
- Be Ready: Matthew 24:42 – 44
- Take, Eat and Drink: Matthew 26:26 – 28
- Make Disciples: Matthew 28:19 – 20
- Baptize: Matthew 28:19 – 20
- Teach What Jesus Taught: Matthew 28:19 – 20
- Deny Yourself: Luke 9:23 – 24
- Don’t be Greedy: Luke 12:15
- Be Born Again: John 3:5 – 7
- Keep Jesus’ Commandments: John 14:15
Many of the problems that we see in our world today can be attributed to men. The solution is not to get rid of men but for men to step up and act the way that God created men to behave. The solution is to surrender to the King of kings and Lord of lords. To live for eternal rewards and not what the world has to offer.
