Just a few years ago (January 15, 2019), Gillette launched an ad as part of a campaign to address a range of male misbehaviors. The two-minute spot, entitled “We Believe,” addresses bullying and sexual harassment, leveraging Gillette’s longtime slogan in encouraging men to be the best they can be. Take a look. (Show video: We Believe—the Best Men Can Be, www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0&t=104s).
The film starts by asking, “Is this the best a man can get?” Then it depicts men involved in sexual harassment, toxic aggression, and bullying. People excuse such activity, saying, “Boys will be boys.”
“But something finally changed,” the narrator intones, “and there will be no going back, because we believe in the best in men to say the right thing, to act in the right way.” Then the ad depicts men, intervening to stop the bullying and sexual harassment. They take a stand for what is right, as the narrator reminds men, “The boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow.” The video closes with these words flashed across the screen: “The best a man can get. It’s only by challenging ourselves to do more that we can get closer to our best” (We Believe—the Best Men Can Be, www.youtube.com/watch?v= koPmuEyP3a0&t=104s).
Many commentators praised the ad; but in less than a week, the ad’s YouTube link also had over a million dislikes. There is a lot of confusion these days about masculinity. But I like what David French said in the National Review:
“We do our sons no favors when we tell them that they don’t have to answer that voice inside them that tells them to be strong, to be brave, and to lead… When it comes to the crisis besetting our young men, ‘traditional masculinity’ [rightly understood] isn’t the problem; it can be part of the cure” (David French, “Grown Men Are the Solution, Not the Problem,” National Review, January 7, 2019).
Amen! When a man acts like a man, he becomes part of the cure to a confused world in chaos.
The question is: What does it mean to “act like a man?” How can a man behave in order to display the way God made him? And what is it about a man that allows him to be part of the cure to our society’s ills? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 16, 1 Corinthians 16, where the Bible describes what it means to “act like men.”
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 (ESV).
There are four commands here that describe the middle command, “Act like men.” What does that mean? Well, first it means…
STAY AWAKE.
Watch out for the dangers and opportunities around you. Keep your eyes open. Stay alert to what’s going on.
To begin, watch out for the dangers. Like a night watchman, stay awake to those who might want to break in and steal your children’s minds and all that you value.
Steve Green, who sang six years with Bill and Gloria Gaither, talks about getting to know some of the work crews in the large auditoriums where their concerts were held. The Gaithers prefer concerts-in-the-round, which means extra work for the "riggers," who walk the four-inch rafter beams—often a hundred feet above the concrete floor—to hang sound speakers and spotlights. For such work, understandably, they are very well paid.
Green say, “The fellows I talked to weren't bothered by the sight of looking down a hundred feet. What they didn't like, they said, were jobs in buildings that had false ceilings—acoustical tile slung just a couple of feet below the rafters. They were still high in the air, and if they slipped, their weight would smash right through the flimsy tile. But their minds seemed to play tricks on them, lulling them into carelessness” (Leadership, Vol. 6, no.1; www.PreachingToday.com).
Avoid being lulled into carelessness. Know what your children are learning in school or what they’re watching on their electronic devices. Keep an eye out for the destructive forces that ruin people’s lives. That’s your job as a man—to protect your family, so watch out for the dangers.
But not only that, watch out for the opportunities. Stay alert to those game-changing occasions.
Paul “Bear” Bryant is one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. Bryant's record in 38 years at Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Alabama included 323 wins. He also took 29 teams to bowl games and led 15 of his teams to conference championships. In the 1960s and 1970s, no school won more games than Alabama (193-32-5). As one of his colleagues said, “He wasn't just a coach; he was the coach.”
John Croyle, an All-American defensive end on the 1973 national championship team, played for the Bear, who impacted him deeply. John described one of Coach Bryant's pregame speeches.
Coach Bryant paced in front of his assembled team as the band played for the capacity crowd waiting outside in the stadium. He made eye contact with each player as he spoke the following words:
In this game, there are going to be four or five plays that will determine the outcome of this contest. Four or five plays that will swing the momentum toward us, or away from us. I don't know which plays these will be. You don't know which plays these will be. All you can do is go out there and give all that you have on each and every play. If you are doing that on one of those crucial plays, and you catch your opponent giving less, that play will swing things in our direction. And if we rise to the occasion like that, on those four or five plays, we are gonna leave here today a winner (Dave Bolin, Gadsden, Alabama; Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.).
Your life works the same way. It is made up of a series of moments, and a few of those moments will change your life and the lives of others forever. However, you don’t know which moments will be the “game-changers.” So, stay awake in every moment. Avoid slacking off and give all you can on each and every play of your life.
That’s what it means to act like men, who are part of the cure. Second, it means…
STAND IN THE FAITH.
Be resolute in your commitment to Christ. Remain steadfast in the gospel. Persevere in the good news of life in Christ, who died for you and rose again.
Here’s the reality. Acting like a real man is impossible without Christ. You must surrender to Him. You must live your life in dependence upon Him if you want to be all that God has called you to be as a man.
Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). However, the Bible also says, “With God nothing is impossible” (Luke 1:37). So rely upon Him and stand in the faith that you have in Christ.
When the Japanese captured General Jonathan Wainwright during World War II, they put him in a concentration camp. There, they treated him cruelly, and he became “a broken, crushed, hopeless, and starving man.” Then the Japanese surrendered, and the war ended. The US military sent an army colonel to the camp, where he personally announced to the general that the allies had defeated Japan and that he was free and in command.
After Wainwright heard the news, he returned to his quarters and was confronted by some guards who began to mistreat him as they had done in the past. Wainwright, however, with the news of the allied victory still fresh in his mind, declared with authority, “No, I am in command here! These are my orders.” From that moment on, General Wainwright was in control (Frederick Huegel, Forever Triumphant, Bethany House, 1967; www. PreacingToday.com).
The good news of the enemy’s defeat and his freedom made all the difference in the world. It turned a broken and hopeless man into a whole and complete man. In the same way, when you realize that Christ defeated Satan on the cross and set you free, you can be all that God called you to be as a man. So stand firm in that knowledge and change your world instead of letting it change you.
31 years ago (1991), William Willimon, described the state of the church in his day, which still applies today. He said:
Because we have been so willing to accommodate the message of the Bible to the limitations of contemporary culture, the modern world does not regard the church as a threat; I suspect that it regards us as merely boring. We are giving the modern world less and less in which to disbelieve because it senses no difference between what the church is saying and what is being said by a variety of secular voices. Thus, the modern world is not called up actively to decide for or against the church, because it sees so little against which to take a stand. The world which once imprisoned our ancestors now responds to an utterly enculturated church with mere indifference (William H. Willimon, “Shaped by the Bible,” Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 13, November 11, 1991).
Stand in the faith and so stand against the world. Refuse to bore the world. Instead, make a difference in the world as you depend on Christ.
That’s what it means to act like men, who are part of the cure. 1st, Stay awake. 2nd, Stand in the faith. Third…
BE STRONG.
Be mentally tough to dominate the forces of evil.
In Ephesians 3, Paul prays that God would grant His people “to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in [their] inner being…” (Ephesians 3:16). And in Ephesians 6, Paul exhorts, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10), so you can “stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11) and wrestle “against the cosmic powers over this present darkness” (Ephesians 6:12).
Men, we’re in a battle against spiritual forces of evil. Now is not the time to be passive and run from the battle. Now is the time to charge forward in the strength the Lord provides through His Holy Spirit.
Based on a true story of an army commander in Vietnam, We Were Soldiers tells the story of Lt. Col. Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) leading his troops into one of the bloodiest battles in American history.
At the beginning of the movie, Moore gives a stirring speech to his troops. Take a look (Show: We Were Soldiers—Moore’s Speech).
“Let us understand the situation. We are going into battle against a tough and determined enemy. I can't promise you that I'll bring you all home alive. But this I swear before you and before Almighty God: that when we go into battle I will be the first to set foot on the field and the last to step off. And I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together, so help me God” (We Were Soldiers, 0:33:57 to 0:35:00).
Not long after Moore is on the battlefield, Army headquarters realizes they've made a mistake by attacking an enemy that's far too strong for them. As intensifying enemy fire eliminates air support, the officers back at the base decide to send in one last helicopter to evacuate Moore, leaving his men behind to be overrun by the enemy.
When headquarters radios the orders for Moore to take this last helicopter back from the front line, he is outraged. He grabs the radio and barks into it, “I am in a fight! I object to this order! I will not leave my men!” Then he slams down the radio and returns to the battle.
Moore takes his remaining men on a daring charge deeper into enemy territory. It turns the tide of the battle and leads to a dramatic victory (We Were Soldiers, Paramount, 2002, 01:46:10 to 01:46:30).
Moore had the mental toughness to stay with his men and take the battle to his enemy.
Men, as you depend on the Lord, develop the mental toughness to stay with your men, your brothers in Christ, and take the battle to the enemy of your soul, the devil himself. Don’t give into temptation. Rather, with the help of God and your brothers, resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
That’s what it means to act like men, who are part of the cure. 1st, Stay awake. 2nd, Stand in the faith. 3rd, Be strong. And finally…
DO EVERYTHING WITH LOVE.
Let undying compassion motivate all you do. Show loyal, unconditional love in all your actions.
Phillips Brooks once said, “Duty makes us do things well; but love makes us do them beautifully (Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 2; www.PreachingToday.com). Men, don’t just do things well. Do things beautifully, because you really care.
Auburn Sandstrom, professor of writing from the University of Akron, once found herself curled in a fetal position on a filthy carpet in a cluttered apartment. She was in horrible withdrawal from a drug addiction with a little piece of paper in her hand. It was dilapidated because she had been folding it and unfolding it. But she could still make out the phone number on it.
She was in a state of bald terror. Her husband had gone out, trying to get ahold of some drugs, but right behind her, sleeping in the bedroom, was her baby boy. At the age of 29, she was failing at a lot of things. So, she decided to get clean. She was soon going to lose the most precious thing she’d ever had in her life—that baby boy.
She was so desperate at that moment that she wanted to make use of that phone number. Her mother had sent it to her with a message: “This is a Christian counselor, maybe sometime you could call this person.”
It was 2 in the morning, but she punched in the numbers. She heard a man say, “Hello.”
And she said, “Hi, I got this number from my mother. Uh, do you think you could maybe talk to me?”
He said, “Yes, yes, of course. What’s going on?”
She told him she was scared, and that her marriage had gotten pretty bad. Before long, she started telling him other truths, like she might have a drug problem.
And this man just sat with her and listened with kindness and a gentleness. “Tell me more … Oh, that must hurt very much.” And he stayed up with her the whole night, just being there until the sun rose. By then she was feeling calm. The raw panic had passed. She was feeling OK.
She was very grateful to him, so she said, “I really appreciate you and what you’ve done for me tonight. How long have you been a Christian counselor?”
There was a long pause. He said, “Auburn, please don’t hang up. I’m so afraid to tell you this…” He paused again. “You got the wrong number. I’m not a therapist, but I’ve really enjoyed talking with you.”
She didn’t hang up on him. She never got his name. She never spoke to him again. But the next day she felt joy. She discovered that there was this completely random love in the universe. That it could be unconditional. And that some of it was for her.
Her recovery took some time, but that phone call made it possible for her to get some help. It also became possible for her, as a teetotaling, single parent, to raise up that precious baby boy into a magnificent young scholar and athlete, who graduated from Princeton in 2013 with honors.
Auburn says, “In the deepest, blackest night of despair, if you can get just one pinhole of light… all of grace rushes in” (Auburn Sandstrom, “One Phone Call Changed This Drug Addict’s Life,” The Healthy, August 5, 2020; www.PreachingToday.com).
Men, be that pinhole of light for others, and let God’s grace flow though you. You don’t have to be an expert. You just have to care.
That’s what it means to act like men, who are part of the cure. 1st, Stay awake. 2nd, Stand in the faith. 3rd, Be strong. And finally, do everything with love.
Carl Sandburg, a famous American poet, wrote a biography of Abraham Lincoln. In that biography, he wrote, “Not often in the story of mankind does a man arrive on earth who is both steel and velvet, who is as hard as rock and soft as drifting fog, who holds in his heart and mind the paradox of terrible storm and peace unspeakable and perfect.”
Lincoln possessed both a will of iron and a heart of tenderness. Nothing deterred the president during the American Civil War from his “noble” cause, and few persons have ever endured more criticism and detractors than Lincoln. Yet with all that steel, he was also a man of velvet.
When General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army, Lincoln sent an unexpected message to the enemy commander. “Tell your men they may keep their horses; they'll need them for plowing,” said the president. Then this: “Tell your men they may keep their rifles; they'll need them for hunting.” When Lee read those words, he wept. (Steve Goodier, www.appleseeds.org/Goodier_Lincoln.htm).
Tough and tender, resolve and compassion, velvet and steel—be that kind of man.
Now, only one man in all history achieved that perfect balance between strength and gentleness, power and compassion. That man is Jesus Christ.
Bill Crowder, in Our Daily Bread, recently wrote about the day religious leaders confronted Jesus, urging Him to condemn a guilty woman (John 8). On that day, Jesus showed steel by withstanding the demands of a bloodthirsty mob, turning their critical eyes upon themselves. He said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Then Jesus modeled the velvet of compassion by telling the woman, “Neither do I condemn you… Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11) —Bill Crowder, Our Daily Bread, October 19, 2019.
More than anybody else, Jesus modeled what God calls every man to be—a man of steel and velvet. One day, He lets a little child sit on his knee. Another day He is overturning tables in the temple. One day He lets a woman to pour expensive perfume on His feet. Another day, He stares down the forces of evil on the cross, dying for everyone’s sin and defeating Satan once and for all.
If you want to be that kind of man, surrender your life to Jesus, and let Him live His life through you.
