4-30-06
A verse in the last chapter of 1 Corinthians says, in the English
Standard Version, "Act like men!" An interesting command for
Christians. Many tend to think of Christ as very unmanly - sort of a
wimpy kind of guy - and so they also picture those who want to be
like Christ the same way. Because of that view, I really like the way
this translation puts this command. Even more, I like it because
many Christians also see Christian manhood more or less the same
way - if we are doing it right we will have to pretty much be sissies.
Most of us Christian men, then, desiring as much as most men to be
seen as truly manly reject acting like we think we are supposed to
act. This causes many of us problems, our idea that we are not right
because we just can't make ourselves do what we think is right. But,
thank God it is not right. We are supposed to act like men. Real men!
Of course, we absolutely cannot accept any definition of acting like
men that the fallen world comes up with. We have to act like REAL
men, and that means acting like Godly men. That means taking up
the cause of the widow, the orphan, and those who are being unjustly
treated. That means loving our wives supremely - being man enough
to look at no one else and to compare her to no one else (because we
are man enough to know that no one else can compare!).
It means giving our lives for our children and wives (and our brothers
in Christ, oh, and the lost world). It does mean being prepared to die
for all those, but even more it literally means giving our lives - the
living part before the dying part comes - to all those same people.
Maybe, being a sissy isn't such a bad thing. I don't know if we're men
enough to act like real men or even man enough to accept the true
definition!
Dale
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