Father's Day Thoughts - Part 2 of 3: Be a Man in Your World

 

Be strong - Show yourself a man

When the time had come for King David to pass from this world into the next, he challenged his son to “be strong and show yourself a man” [II Kings 1:1-2].  Be a man.  What does that look like?

 

So many men and boys in our culture are growing up unaware of what true masculinity is . . . the reason?  They have no one to show them; to bring them from childhood to manhood.

 

There is an epidemic of fatherlessness in our culture and we have a generation of men who don’t know what true manhood is all about.  That is not to say the mothers are unimportant or can’t instill within boys the character needed to be brought into true masculinity.  Many a single mother has struggled to fulfill this need – my mother was one of them and I’m forever thankful for her love and influence in my life.  But a strong, loving, engaged father (or father-figure) is vital to the process.

 

In part one, I focused on what it means to show yourself a man in your family.  In part two, let’s consider being a man in your world . . . Integrity and Purity.

 

BE A MAN IN YOUR WORLD

 

Integrity in your job . . .

 

After the pleasantries of introductions, 9 times out of 10, the first question one man will ask another is:  “So, what do you do for a living?”

 

Work is important to the character of men.  It is part of who we are as men . . . from the very beginning [Genesis 2:15] when God gave man the responsibility of laboring in and tending to the garden.  It does a man good to work and provide.  It seems hardwired into who we are as men.  So, as the man God calls me to be . . . what does that look like in a practical sense?  Colossians 3:22-24 and Ephesians 6:5-6 give us some guidance.
 

• Work at your job not to satisfy your boss, but to honor the Lord!
• Show up on time
• Don’t steal a few extra minutes on your break
• Complete the assigned task
• Go above and beyond the call of duty
• Know that your true reward comes from the Lord, not from man!

Integrity in the workplace is crucial and often rare.  But, as a man who is striving to be who God has called me to be, I know there is a higher standard.  Part of being strong and showing myself a man, is to step up and stand out.  The world is not my standard, but God's Word is.
 

Purity with your friends . . .

 

True friendship sometimes brings pain – Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.”  There may be times when you must show yourself a man by standing up for what you know is morally true.  There may be times, as difficult as they might be, that you must bring to the attention of a friend some area in their life where they have fallen short.  This may hurt, but remember:  “Faithful are the wounds of a friend . . . .”

 

God calls us to accountability.  Proverbs tell us that a true friend sticks closer than a brother even when we must call a close friend out.  Do so with a pure heart and a sincere love for your brother making sure to first “check” yourself for logs [Matthew7:1-5].

 

As we live in purity, we must watch our walk – I John 1:6 says,  “If we say that we have fellowship with Him [Christ] and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

 

More often than not, when we get around “the guys” – we go through this strange process of metamorphosis.  We profess to be Christ-like and yet when we hang out with the guys, we are anything but “Christ-like” – with the jokes we tell, the language we use, and the actions we take.  Are you really who you say you are?  Or, is all this Jesus business just a show?  We (and often others from the time we were children) give ourselves a pass by shrugging our shoulders and saying, "Boys will be boys."  I suppose maybe that's the issue . . . are we boys or are we men - most seem unsure. 

 

As you live in purity with your friends, be honest with yourself.  Know your limitations:  not your physical limitations (like how much you can bench or squat), but your spiritual limitations.  [See I Corinthians 10:12]  The Apostle Paul warns us about being spiritually prideful.  He writes:  “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”  It’s so easy to become overly confident in our spirituality.  That innocent lunch with that pretty co-worker can quickly escalate into a moral failure.

 

Be careful, be wise, be honest with yourself about your limitations.

 

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Be a man, be a “real” man . . . the world has all kinds of definitions of what masculinity is to look like . . . most of which are outward tests . . . from the ability to produce mass amounts of facial hair to the feminization of manliness . . . but God calls us to be men of integrity in every area – men with strong character – men of purity.  Psalm 101:2 has become somewhat of a life-verse for me as I strive to be the man that God has called me to be:

 

"I will give heed to the blameless way . . .

I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart."