Conversations
I normally do not like to engage in the “generational” blame game; and you should not read this as such. Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the privilege of being in conversations with some “young” men. I only use the modifier “young” to give a context to the participants in the conversations. These are really men, some Christian men, some not Christian. They think like men, they act like men, they have men type struggles and concerns. That sentence carries a ton of cultural, gender, and social-political baggage. So does this sentence: It takes one to know one, and these are men.
The Christian men in conversation have had a very profound impact on me. To a man, they are engaging their faith in a culture that is increasingly faithless. They have a keen desire to practice a godly life in their vocation: I respect their personal piety, I should like to incorporate some of their practices. They all, too, have echoed Elijah’s lament:
(Elijah) said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Armies, but the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life.”
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%2019&version=EHV>
Pray for these men.
The non-Christian men in conversation also are impactful, in such a different way. They are men in a culture that is increasingly cancelling men. They are lost, they know they need a path to follow, but hey, they are men and don’t ask for directions. I can very much relate with Jesus as he said (In King James English):
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2023&version=KJV>
Pray for these men.
History has a tendency to repeat itself. Psalm 78 gives a song history lesson about the Exodus, it is worth a reread. Here is a salient portion:
God’s Power Displayed in Canaan (Joshua)
Then he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountain which his right hand had taken.
He drove out nations before them.
He marked the boundaries of their inheritance,
and he settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
Rebellion in the Land (Judges)
But they tested him.
They rebelled against God Most High,
and they did not keep his testimonies.
Yes, they turned aside and were treacherous like their fathers.
They were as undependable as a crooked bow.
Then they angered him with their high places,
and they made him jealous with their idols.
Judgment in the Land
God heard, and he showed his anger.
He completely rejected Israel.
So he abandoned his dwelling in Shiloh,
the tent where he dwelled among people.
So he sent the symbol of his strength away into captivity.
He gave his splendor into the hand of the foe.
He also handed over his people to the sword,
and he showed his anger against his possession.
Fire consumed their best young men,
so their virgins were not praised in wedding songs.
Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows did not weep.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2078&version=EHV>
Men have been in the wilderness. I am not sure, it does look like we are in a similar time as the book of Judges with one of the saddest themes in the Bible: “Every man did whatever was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)
Isaiah proclaimed the Good News about Jesus:
He is the one who gives strength to the weak,
and he increases the strength of those who lack power.
Young men grow tired and become weary.
Even strong men stumble and fall.
But those who wait for the Lord will receive new strength.
They will lift up their wings and soar like eagles.
They will run and not become weary.
They will walk and not become tired.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2040%3A29%2D31&version=EHV>
This is not an appeal for “male power and dominance” to be thrust back into our culture. If that is what you read, you are probably not a man or have been badly damaged by someone who claimed to be a man. This is an appeal to follow Jesus and be the man God created. In Christ we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and the new strength (underlined above) is to serve in our vocations as a Christian man. How do we do this? Let’s start with a conversation!
All the men not named in this Family Table Devotion are completely fictious and they know who they are! (And in a cryptic note: nail clippers are included.) I am praying for you, and I hope to be like you when I grow up.
Trust the Promises,
Steve Skiver