A Masculine Crisis answered by a Masculine Calling
By Jay Wegter
I. The Crisis
Is “Crisis” too strong of a word for the leadership challenge facing the church?
Our churches today are filled with spiritually immature, weak, men who are not fulfilling their proper role in the Body. They have handed over their scriptural responsibilities to a professional minister. So, the very process of sanctification in the lives of our leading men is hindered. The hyper-structuralism (which accompanies professionalism) makes it hard for people to discover their gifts or to exercise loving service (Strauch, p. 9).
Perhaps the greatest weakness in the body of Christ today is that we have relinquished and surrendered our responsibility to discipline (disciple) one another (Prov 9:8) (Rom 15:14). (Hendrichsen, Disciples are made not Born, p. 74). While evangelical churches are filling up with spectators, they are emptying out of disciple-makers. Bill Hull (The Disciple-making Pastor) elaborates: “I believe the crisis of the church is one of product, the kind of people being produced.” What can we do to improve the quality of the product? “I propose the solution to be the obedience to Christ’s commission to ‘make disciples,’ to teach Christians to obey everything Christ commanded” (Mark Shaw, 10 Ideas, p. 135).
The church is painfully in need of leaders. The overriding need of the church is to discharge its obligation to the rising generation for a leadership that is authoritative, spiritual, and sacrificial. The natural or carnal view of leadership is often viewed as a product of natural endowments or traits of personality accompanied by intellectual capacity, force of will, and enthusiasm. Such talents and scholastic attainments may greatly enhance leadership, but those are not the factors of paramount importance in the spiritual leader.
Without personal training in practical theology (define), Christian men have little experience or practice in turning doctrine into life. What is most common is for men to aspire to a truncated form of masculinity defined solely by cultural standards. Thus, the most Christian men only measure their manhood by their ability to protect, to provide covering, shelter and so on—all the while abdicating their God-given calling to be spiritual influencers of others.
The consequences are immense. When men abandon that role of influencing others spiritually, the vacuum tends to be filled by women. The male abdication of that role of spiritual influencer sets up the church for a feminized spirituality in which women step into the void, assuming spiritual leadership (but, it is most commonly a spiritual leadership without theology). We see this problem in our churches—it has become pandemic. Without men engaged in theologizing, the church becomes weak and essentially harmless to the powers of darkness, and the sacrifices necessary to fulfill the Great Commission become scarce if not altogether absent.
There are inherent soul-destroying dangers to men who are living in a culture which has made a peace treaty with sin. Men have allowed patterns of unresolved sin, sustained guilt, and ruling lusts to slay their God-given ‘internal warriors’ of masculinity. The result is that we are seeing generations of cowed, subdued, passive males who are not paragons of righteousness. God intends that masculinity function in a thrusting, commanding way accompanied by servant leadership. He has given us internal warriors which are designed to carry out our masculine function in a strong and influential manner. But, for most Christian men, their internal warriors lie prostrate in a useless comatose condition.
The good news is that as we feed on doctrine and the love of the truth, our internal warriors are ‘resurrected’. As that takes place, all of the masculine aspects of godliness can come forth and be expressed. Then we will begin taking risks for the sake of Christ and making hard choices for the sake of the Kingdom. Godly manhood is essential if we are to be a defender of principle, contending earnestly for the Truth. Godly manhood makes us willing to speak into the lives of others in life on life soul care (and when necessary, also speak to those in the body who living in compromising with sin).
II. The Calling
How are we to call men to spiritual leadership?
One of the most critical needs in churches today is for more men to take seriously their God-ordained responsibility to lead and serve in the church (Strauch, Eldership, pp. 4-5). The call is to all believing men, not just pastors, but every believer needs this new perspective. Every believer needs to see his rightful role in the church. “I am gifted to be a spiritual blessing to my brethren. I will abandon the sidelines and risk entering the center of the fray, even if it costs me my pride and comfort.” “My brethren need the ministry that Christ died to accomplish through me.” To be willing to assume leadership in the church is a gender-specific command that is obligatory upon believing men.
Christ’s calling is upon ordinary working men: In Acts chapter 20 Luke writes that the Spirit of God placed ordinary working men in the local church as overseers to pastor the flock of God. If this God-given work is taken away from qualified men because of false ideas about ministry, then they will never take their rightful place in God’s program. Nor will they mature as they ought or bear their yoke of responsibility given by God, or enter the spiritual battle as they ought to enter (Strauch, p. 9).
Where are churches to find enough qualified shepherds? Every church is called to develop a ‘pool’ of spiritual leaders:
In the book of Acts we have the story or account of the birth, growth, and reduplication of the church at Antioch (Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-4; 14:21-28). It shows us how a church is transformed from being a mission field into a mission’s board. And that transformation hinges on two phases of the maturing church raising up a godly pool of men who are functioning pastors/shepherds out from whom God can send new missionaries. God uses men who are already serving in a church to be the well-attested representatives of that church in mission’s ventures. (Stabbert, pp. 63-64).
A call to all believing men to embrace the vision for spiritual leadership. It is a misinformed assumption to imagine every elder as a seminary graduate. So how can qualified elders/shepherds/lay pastors be obtained? It starts by envisioning indigenous leaders as the primary source for elders, then we begin to see the potential of discipling the men who are already in our churches. Such men have formerly never been taught or challenged to grow into the responsibilities of eldership (Stabbert, pp. 87-89).
The NT model is raising up indigenous shepherds—discipling men to be elders/lay shepherds. Remember, when men are discipled from the congregation there will be no need to ‘capture’ a number of seminary graduates. The church becomes in itself a training ground for future missionaries who in turn can be sent out by the Spirit form that place to serve elsewhere. Men can be prepared in their congregations for the ministry functions required of Timothy.
Remember elders were appointed after these congregations had existed only a very short time. It did not seem a liability to Paul that these men had not gone to seminary in Jerusalem before they were elders. Through Bible training and discipleship men can receive the tools which are requisite to the deepest Bible teaching.
Central to empowering men is casting the vision for mature godly manhood. Christian men must develop into champions of the Word, into ‘truth-brokers’.
Adam’s original calling was not only to subdue the earth and make it fruitful by bringing order to it; he also was to raise-up God-fearing communities by consistently proclaiming, and modeling obedience to God’s Word. So, a huge part of our masculine calling is turning theology into life. But, because this biblical vision is so often neglected, the majority of men in our churches today are only capable of a spiritual diet of milk. “Concerning him (Christ) we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Heb 5:11-14). (EX. Needed, spiritual/theology enzymes to digest meat.)
Men have a unique calling to be teachers in their homes and in their churches. There is no other way to have strong churches. Doing theology is a uniquely a masculine endeavor because theology is the life-transforming content of spiritual leadership. “Holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9). “But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). “Contend earnestly. . .” (Jude 3).
The real issue is that Christian men have a transcendent calling (a calling from God which transcends the temporal issues, cares, and responsibilities of life). We can refer to this transcendent cause as God’s call upon their lives to major in the divine truth so that that the Word of God is brought to bear on all of life. Thus, men are to be stewards of the great truths (entrusted with) by which we order our lives and by which we live wisely unto God.
This masculine transcendent calling is not private piety; it is to be public in every sense of the word.
Theology is the heart of worldview, and men (in their theologizing) are to be stewards of biblical worldview. God’s truth is to be pressed down upon the things which matter most so that one’s life and the lives of those around us are transformed by the principles of Scripture.
So, men, you need to study doctrine. You need to systematically study theology, because it is the power of doctrine applied that will empower you to take every thought captive (2 Cor 10:3-5). It is the power of doctrine spoken that will enable you to bring others closer to Christ. This is the only way our manhood is going to grow to that proper place of expression in our relationships. (Ex. DVP vs. HVP.)
So, as we apply ourselves to theology, our full-orbed godly masculinity increases. By reasoning our way through biblical doctrine, and applying that doctrine to life, we are theologizing—we are bringing big thoughts of God to the world around us. We are majoring in the ‘big picture’—and as a result our lives will possess an attraction which draws other men into this transcendent vision for life. This is what it means to fulfill our biblical calling as men. In the process, we become able to spiritually influence others for the sake of Christ.
III. The Cost
Who is the ‘faithful man’ spoken of in 2 Timothy 2:2? Every Christian man ought to aspire to being the kind of man who is a disciple and who shepherds.
The first quality of a faithful man is stewarding the sacred trust of Scripture. “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you” (2 Tim 1:13-14). This quality addresses your relationship to God through Scripture and your handling of the Word in your ministry. In this quality, there is an attitude of heart which ought to characterize every Christian man: “I cannot live without the Bible. I have to know what it means. I have committed myself to study it and understand it because I can’t live without it—my life is utterly dependent upon it.” That’s called building upon the Rock (Mt 7:24ff.). “My relationship to the Word is my lifeline in my walk with God. The Word feeds my faith and worship; the Word gets me to God in communion and fellowship.”
“I have to apply the Bible to my life and allow it to define and order every area of my life, prioritizing my world, and controlling my affections and decisions. I will walk by the Spirit so as to make it my ambition to be pleasing to the Lord (2 Cor 5:9). I will see myself as living in the presence of God, presenting myself back to Him daily because He bought me and I am not my own, He has taken possession of me” (Rom 6:11-13; 1 Cor 6:19-20).
As a man continues to grow, navigating by the Word of God, there will be countless course corrections. Thus, the godly man practices ongoing repentance as he frequently adjusts his heading to the imperatives of Scripture. He seeks the Lord in the Word and in prayer and he is constantly aware of the grace of God restoring, renewing, and rectifying his life. Out of gospel promises believed and lived, comes an ethical lifestyle of sanctification characterized by conformity to the truth and Christian service.
The second quality of a faithful man is to have a life that is dominated by Christ’s grace (gospel-driven, gospel-saturated). Paul commands Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 2:1). This is the foundation for an effective ministry. “Our sufficiency is of God” (2 Cor 3:5). We receive this ongoing grace through Christ from the throne of grace— we obtain mercy and find grace to help (Heb 4:16). The faithful man is conversant with his gracious resources in the gospel.
Grace also comes from getting to know Christ experientially (His faithfulness, love, and lordship). “Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Pet 1:2) (See John Owen on Communion with God). Our knowledge of the Lord increases as we appropriate and take advantage of His grace (prayer, the Word, communing with Him, worship). Grace also comes to the humble (1 Pet 5:5-6).
The third quality of a faithful man is that he must also be committed to the ministry of multiplication as illustrated in 2 Timothy 2:2: “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Commit is in the imperative. The NT Greek, paratithami, means to place to another’s trust, entrust, to deposit, to commit for safe keeping. Commit to ‘faithful men’—men who are in the Word of God, for faith comes by hearing (Rom 10:17). Select men who can be trusted. Paul also stresses that they should be able to teach others also. First, teachable, then able and desirous to teach others.
Many (the majority of men) men who are ‘faithful’ in church attendance and in helping at special functions are NOT passing on what they have heard and learned. When selecting faithful men, you must find a man who is both teachable, AND holding a strong heart’s desire to share the Scriptures. In every church, there are men (perhaps the majority) who have never been challenged or shown how to transmit biblical truths to other effectively. The disciple-maker first learns how to do this; then he learns how to teach others to do it (Wayne Moore, Multiplying Disciples, pp. 52-53).
The fourth quality needed by a multiplier/discipler is the discipline for a life that pleases God. For, we are on earth for His pleasure (Rev 4:11). “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Tim 2:3-4). Discipleship is not an easy, laid back, go with the flow, let’s just hang out, or convenient routine. It is a demanding life (see 2 Tim 2:3-4)!! The discipler is to expect hardness, and to successfully endure it, he must not complain or seek to escape into illicit pleasure when the going gets tough. A soldier of Christ is under orders, goal-oriented, and obedient to his Supreme Commander. We need discipline in order to live this kind of life.
The fifth quality needed is a clean, available life (vessel). “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Tim 2:20-23). God commands that we pursue Christian character with all of their might: “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:5-8). We must have the lives to back up what we speak; proving to be the examples of godly manhood (1 Pet 5:1-5). To review the five qualities of a faithful man: 1) Stewarding the sacred trust of Scripture. 2) A life dominated by Christ’s grace. 3) An unwavering dedication to the ministry of multiplication. 4) A disciplined life, since all is to be done to please God. 5) A clean and available vessel (Moore, Multiplying, p. 54). (Add Psalm 90 here—present a heart of wisdom.) (EX. Must see the target to hit it).
The faithful man is a spiritual influencer, able to wield the Sword of Truth on others by way of encouragement, edification, exhortation, and admonishment (2 Tim 3:16-17). There is an essential pathway of obedience necessary for the faithful man to occupy his transcendent calling as a spiritual influencer. By becoming experienced at wielding the Sword of Truth on himself (masterful at biblical self-confrontation), he becomes equipped to spiritually influence others.
The pervasive problem today in the church is that we have so many Christian men who are harmless to the powers of darkness—their swords are permanently corroded and held fast in their sheathes by years of rust and disuse. They’ve just been neutralized, they’re not spiritual influencers; they are paralyzed spiritually. They have forgotten that to follow Christ is to wage war with the Word of Truth. That’s what a Christ-follower does. A true disciple is constantly battling and waging war by means of the Words of Truth. A true follower of Christ is a fisher of men, a disciple-maker, a spiritual influencer (Mt 4:19; Mk 1:17).
IV. The Community
The exercise of our full godly masculinity depends upon bringing the story of God to all around us because our world is perishing (darkness, present evil age).
Without this vision to spiritually influence others by means of Holy Scripture, you are walking around with only half of your masculinity enlisted and engaged. God defines believing men as His ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20), as His witnesses (Is 43:10-12). This world is getting darker every day. So, the challenge is this: “Men, will you confirm the fruits of faith? The only faith that can take you to heaven is a faith that is confirmed by fruits of good works (James 2:14ff.). The only kind of faith that can take you to heaven is a faith that is zealous for good works.
The cross produces this zeal for good works in every true believer (Titus 2:14). According to the parable of the soils, genuine faith is tied to the Word of God which dominates exceptionally so that it brings fruit to harvest (Mt 13:23). You do need to examine yourself (2 Cor 13:5). If you are apathetic about serving God, if you are unconcerned about fruit-bearing, and if you are listless about abiding in Christ, then that does not bode well that you have the right kind of faith (Jn 15:6; 1 Jn 2:28).
God has set forth a clear plan in Scripture that fellowship be spiritual fellowship. This involves edifying one another and not merely social fellowship. The strength of any individual local church depends upon whether or not the men are committed to Christ’s mandate to grow fully formed disciples through spiritual fellowship (Mt 28:18-20). Obedience to Christ’s discipleship mandate is only possible if we prayerfully speak the Word of God to one another and train one another. “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Col 3:16-17). “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another” (Rom 15:14).
By their lives and message, Christian men are to exert gospel-based moral authority in their spheres of influence—spiritual leadership by means of truth.
We now find ourselves living in post-Christian nation which is increasingly hostile to the claims of our Creator. The apostle Paul describes the satanically energized world system as, “this present evil age” (Gal 1:4), “a crooked and perverse generation” (Phil 2:15). We live in a society of crass materialism, anti-God postmodern relativism, and sexual idolatry. The holy angels won’t change this downward slide. God has appointed His people to be both salt and light which is to hold back the decay of society. We desperately need to exhort believing men to takes risks for the cause of Christ—to exercise their godly masculinity as worldview changers in a society that has turned its back upon God.
The truth proclaimed by men, backed up by holiness of life radically shapes the collective social conscience of any community (‘game changers’). But, when men abandon their transcendent cause, society undergoes a moral revolution in the direction of evil.
In our own nation, the paradigm shift from Christian worldview to secular humanism to full-blown paganism is now manifesting itself in the push for normalizing homosexual marriage. This involves new laws, the legislation of vices if you will. The prophet Isaiah described this kind of perversity over 2500 years ago. “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Is 5:20).
In every age in which there is a massive departure from the truth, God lays the blame at the feet of the men for abandoning their role as spiritual influencers. “Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? But they have not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor walked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers” (Jer 44:9-10).
The faithful man spiritually influences all those around him that they might catch fire, that they might be ignited and the desires of their heart might be aligned with God’s Word. We call this “theologizing.” In other words, it is bringing theology and doctrine to life in your conversations and relationships. Theologizing brings the biblical lens to all of life so that the partitions in your personal compartmentalized world are kicked down and the Lord of glory begins to define every area of your life. The benefits are matchless. Not only do we begin to enter a more fully unified Christian experience, but we grow exponentially in our ability to provide a theocentric worldview to those around us. This is not reserved for pastors and missionaries. This is to be the transcendent cause of every Christian man.
Our fellowship is designed to build with Christ that we might move each member to maturity. “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Col 1:28-29). This is an immense part of our godly masculinity, men need to be empowered to wield the Sword of Truth and spiritually influence others with the truths of Scripture. Believing men are called by God to devote themselves to Bible doctrine so that they might grow to be examples in exercising spiritual leadership.
Power comes through submission to Christ. This is the great issue in our lives: what is most important to you? What matters most? What does God demand that my life look like? What does God require of me as a disciple surrendered to Him? He requires that I take up my cross, that I practice self-denial as I follow Him (Lu 9:23-26). That’s the only way that you are going to discover your biblical calling, your biblical role in the Church. There is no other way of effectively finding your place in the Body of Christ.
The Word enjoins the formation of partnerships for the purpose of discipleship (spiritual parenting). As we edify one another through the gospel, we will want to make the sacrifices necessary to grow a culture of discipleship.
Everything necessary to empower men is best communicated in a relational space of caring soul care and spiritual friendships with mentors. Deep change takes place in discipleship. Our relationships exist to bring others closer to Christ. God has invited us into His redemptive plot. Therefore, we need to be speaking the evangel so that through Christ that the image of God might be recovered in fallen sinners. That people may be freed from idolatry.