Uber-Manly

S

(1 Corinthians 16:13,14) Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

O

When instructed to act like men, "men" is not the generic term anthropos, which connotes human and is inclusive of males and females. Instead, men (andrizomai) is from aner, which is specifically male or husband. So, a paraphrase of Paul's instruction the the entire Corinthian church could read: (1) be awake (gregoreuo), alert, and on prayerful guard-duty; (2) be stationary (stethos), pursevere in joining yourselves into the full benefits of relating to Jesus and all that His kingdom offers; (3) be an idealized version of men--like a good husband or father or brother in the best sense of that concept; (4) be people who grow stronger (krataioo) while invigorating and empowering others; and in summary, as if to make sure these Corinthians rise to the fullness of being sanctified and redeemed in Christ, (5) be guided and governed by God's love (agape), the Great Liberator.

A (Personal)

Reading these instructions is like becoming drunk with hope: could my life really be this good? Is this really how God sees me and how He has designed me to be? Are these words useable as directions for working out how I relate to people today and how I arrange my tasks? Is God' design for me really achievable? With practice in this godliness, that's exactly who I'm becoming. This is tremendous!

A (Psychological)

Elliott Rosen (contributing to Carter and McGolderick's book The Expanded Family Life Cycle, 1999) describes the earliest roots American "maleness" as typified in the "oedipal revolt of the Sons of Liberty against Father England." He said that American men have always had anxiety about gender, that our eighteenth century descriptor, "self-made man" was a primary category by which men try to define themselves. He even goes so far as to define homophobia not as a fear of homosexuals but a universal fear of other men. Instead, he says that men don't fear women but they fear being ashamed or humiliated in front of other men or being dominated by other men. This dilemma of male identity is greatly pronounced, he says, in the Black men, who, with their legacy of slavery and oppression, have been faced with the agonizing task of reclaiming manhood that was stolen from them as part of their initiation into America. This task, I suggest, is more universal than we might suspect (without diminishing the injustices that various subgroups of humanity have suffered). In Christ, we are all discovering the new creation that we can all become in Christ, liberated from the fear and oppression that sin-filled people have imposed on each other.

P

Lord, I know that in You there is neither male nor female, but the best of both (Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 1:22,23; 2 Corinthians 5:17). I know that "stationary and stand" suggest resistance to whom You want me to be, just as "strong" suggests habits of incompetence ... but I have so much to be thankful for. These thing also suggest the changes You are creating in me and the resources You've made available to bless me with. As I look, today, to enjoy loving and trusting You, help me to be alert to the opportunities You provide for me to be the new man that I am in You.