Man Traps Series

TRAPS

“Man Traps”

There has been a bit of a debate for several years now around the topic of manhood and what a real man looks like. Well it depends on who you ask. If you go to the gym they might tell you that a real man works out 3-4 times every week.

If you go to the workplace/office they might tell you that a real man works 60-70 hours a week. Either way his manhood is defined by how much he works.

If he is married and you ask his wife I believe the answer would also be different. She might say that a real man is a good provider; kind, considerate.

If you ask his children they would have a different list as well.

All of this places a lot of pressure on men today and if we are honest many of our men would say that it is a struggle to meet all of these expectations. How do you know what a real man looks like?

You’ve heard these phrases before…

• Real men don’t eat quiche. Of course we don’t. We prefer bacon and eggs-that’s why we all have high cholesterol.

• Real men don’t ask directions. We’re too proud to do that. That’s of course why we get lost half the time.

• Real men don’t cry. We just hold it in.

• Real men don’t wear pink. However, Bubba Watson, the new winner of the Master’s tournament does and his drive by the way has been clocked at 194 mph. So maybe you could say he’s a real man.

Lots of opinions out there. Lots of disagreement.

From the very beginning of time Satan has set out to destroy men. You could even say that it has been a primary focal point. And to accomplish this task he designed several different kinds of traps to catch us and unfortunately in many cases they have worked. Look at them with me.

The first trap we see is the trap of irresponsibility. The first man we learn this from was Adam. In the beginning of the Bible in the book of Genesis chapter one, we find the creation of man and his name was Adam. God has created the heavens, earth, gave us light, created the animals and then on the 6th day the Bible tells us that the Lord formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And this man named Adam became our first role model. I can imagine that it was God’s intention that he would become a role model for the rest of us. But Adam was just the opposite.

There are in fact many things we could say that Adam did wrong. We could point to his disobedience. God told Adam clearly that he could eat from any tree in the garden.

Except one. It’s like that sign on a park bench that says wet paint, do not touch. God said don’t eat so he did. The sign says don’t touch so we do. We just have to know. He chose to disobey. The Bible tell us that he and his wife, Eve, then went and hid from God in the garden. You see if you hide then you don’t have to own up to your mistakes. You don’t have to admit you’re wrong. In other words you don’t have to take responsibility. And Adam was very good at not taking responsibility. In fact when God questioned Adam ….have you eaten fruit from the tree I warned you about? V.12 LB says yes, but it was the woman you gave me who brought it to me. It’s her fault. Not mine. It was the woman that YOU gave me. This is what I call the trap of irresponsibility … it is a very easy trap to fall into because it makes everything easier. Every man has to face this. This trap seems so harmless that we don’t realize that once we fall in, it can be very hard to get out of.

Now what do we do when we fall in? First of all let me say this…you will fall in. At one time or another, write it down, put it on your calendar, it will happen.

Adam thought he could hide from God. You don’t want to play hide and go seek with God because you will lose every time. He always wins because He always knows where we are. Physically, spiritually, He always knows. Adam may have been the first man who tried to hide from God but it is certainly not the last. We should learn from these mistakes instead of repeating them. Real men accept responsibility for their actions.

Now let’s look at another man in the scripture. His name was Samson. Samson falls into the trap of power. I am going to guess that all of us know something about Samson and it is probably the thing he was known for the most….his strength. If you Google his name you get pictures like this. Early in his adult life he had gone out to look for a wife when a lion came charging at him and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands. On one occasion 3000 men from Judah came and took Samson captive. They took two ropes and tied him up. Again the spirit of God came upon him and the Bible says that he snapped the ropes as though they were thread He then grabbed the fresh jawbone of a donkey and struck down 1000 men with it. Our temptation at that point is to wow you’re the man Samson. I wanna be like that.