*Inspired by 3 books: The Resolution for Men, Radical, and Sun Stand Still*
Because of men’s irresponsibility and lack of maturity, they have caused their wife to carry not only the weight of being the mother, the helper, but also being the “dad”, the senior leader. Our culture promotes men not to be the leaders of their homes. It gives off a stench of under responsibility as if to say the man can’t do it because they’re not really men, but more like boys. But God’s word commands men to be the leaders of their homes. To be loving husbands and fathers. To walk in integrity and God like character as they model the life of Christ in their homes to their families. So could this since of unachievable responsibility be the result of men simply being so passive that they don’t care who has the responsibility as long as things are being taken care of or could it be that men really just don’t know what their roles are as husbands and fathers and community role models?
For me, I think it was a combination of both. I didn’t understand the role of a godly earthly father because I never had one. I watched my mom take care of everything. On the other hand though, after I got married, it still never really set in. I still had a very unclear, distorted interpretation of authentic manhood. Knowing that, I also never chose to pursue trying to figure out what authentic manhood really was. Instead, I sat by and watched as my wife would very intentionally tell me what she expected of me as a man, but I would ignore it thinking she was just nagging at me. After a couple of years of this happening I made a decision to “do better.” To really learn what authentic manhood was. I have to say that my spiritual, mental, emotional, and marital growth has increased over the last couple of years, but I would say even more so in the last 8 months, since October 2011.
So if we, as men, made a decision to take on the responsibilities we have been ordained by God to take on, then what is stopping us from doing just that? Here is the thing, if we really want to be the Godly men God has called us to be, then isn’t about time to take a look at the person we are supposed to model after, Jesus? A man who had 12 other men devoted to him. 12 men learning his ways. 12 men following him around serving people in the communities they were in. 12 men watching his every move so they could learn to be more like him. In my opinion and experience, I think we should whole heartedly go after Jesus in this same eager, nothing left to do mentality that screams, “I want to be like you.” How much cooler would you be to your wife and kids if they could say you’re like Jesus? More importantly, how much cooler would Jesus be to your wife and kids if they noticed him through you?
I’m convinced that I, as a man, can pursue Jesus with the utmost urgency and through His example and my unique character, raise up just a few members of my immediate family to be the “disciples” that are just as eager to be go after Jesus with all they have and reach out to others as they feel and experience the love of God and his never-ending forgiveness. I believe that, through Christ’s example, we can love our family unconditionally and lead them by example in our actions by allowing them to watch us read the bible, spend time in prayer, serve the poor, etc. If our actions can show a similar life of Jesus, then I believe we can expose our families to what it really means to be the Godly men, fathers, husbands, God has called us to be.
It’s my belief that God doesn’t have a plan B. We are it. The men that God has placed in each family are the men he expects to raise up that family and point them toward Christ in everything they do. We have to take on a role of more than just “faith.” Faith isn’t a get out of hell free card. It’s a call to action, it’s a challenge from God to do everything we can to bring glory to his name and how we can we bring glory to his name on a regular meaningful basis if we can’t even get our family to go toward Him? It won’t work. Faith without action is dead and so to will your family be if, we as men, don’t start taking our roles as men more seriously. We can’t idly stand by while the filth of this world steals the hearts and minds of our family away. We are the children of God! We serve a God who already won the victory! What are we waiting for? Why are we still standing here looking into oblivion trying to figure it out?
Here it is. This is what I believe we have to do. We have to resolve to radically pursue Jesus as if it were the only thing left to do and audaciously live a life of Godly character, loving others unconditionally and being a bridge that connects lost and broken people to love and hope of Jesus Christ.
