OH, TO BE AN AUTHENTIC MAN OF GOD
In America these days, the word “authentic” has developed a certain elasticity. Take for example the word “organic.” One might naturally assume (no pun intended) that when one buys organic products, they meet the standards of authenticity. Not so. It turns out that FDA guidelines provide for some degrees of variation when it comes to organic food; and there are also variations when it comes to women’s makeup.
Buyers of organic food must be astute enough to distinguish between food that is “100% organic,” which can contain only organically grown ingredients, and “organic foods,” where only 95% of the ingredients must be organic. The FDA also allows companies to label their products “made with organic ingredients” if only 70% of the ingredients are actually organic.
In some ways, it might be said that “authentic manhood” has developed a certain elasticity these days. It used to be that the man of the house, in partnership with the woman of the house, was legitimately revered. We think of “Father Knows Best” or “Leave It To Beaver” as classic examples of authentic men fulfilling their roles in society. For some men nowadays, what it means to be a man may well be summarized by the Rev. Robert Lewis of the Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas:
“It’s great to be a man. Your last name stays put. The garage is always yours. You don’t give a darn if someone notices your new haircut or not. One mood, all the time. You never have to drive to another gas station because this one is icky. Wedding plans take care of themselves. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you to something, he can still be your friend.
“Your underwear costs $8.95 for a three pack. You can quietly watch a game with your buddy for hours without ever thinking, “Is he mad at me?” Christmas shopping can be accomplished in thirty minutes on December 24th. If another guy shows up at a party wearing the same outfit you have on, you might just become friends for life.”
Does anybody really think that this is God’s ideal plan for a man? Rev. Lewis’ spoof on “It’s Great To be A Man” is basically that boys can transition from being small children into being big children. While it is no doubt a good thing to retain some youthful vigor, at the same time we recall the Scripture that says, when I was a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Rev. Lewis would agree with that. He went on to say:
“There are other reasons it is great to be a man. We each have the opportunity to lead one of the most challenging and influential organizations on Planet Earth, the family. We can be a little boy’s or a little girl’s hero. We have the honor to stand for an eternal kingdom. We have the privilege of summoning the young men around us to an authentic masculinity that can make them real men. We can make our part of the world, wherever we may be, a little better. And in time we can be like Jesus.”
Oh, to be an authentic man of God! Is it really possible to be an authentic man of God, and if so, how? The answer to the first question is yes, but it is not easy. There are at least three elements that are required of anybody who wants to be an authentic man of God, The first is a willingness to be an authentic man of God. The second element is a determination to be an authentic man of God. Finally, it takes time to become and to be an authentic man of God; one does not become an authentic man of God overnight.
If we are willing to be an authentic man of God, that is good enough for God. There is an old saying that “God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.” We don’t have to come from a certain social background, or have a certain standard of education, to be an authentic man of God. For those of us who “have a face made for radio,” we can take comfort that our appearance is not important to God either.
The Bible tells the story of God seeing in King David a person with the potential to be an authentic man of God. God was displeased with the first king of Israel, Saul, because he was more interested in being his own man than in being an authentic man of God. So the Lord dispatched His prophet Samuel to anoint a new king for Israel. The assignment did not turn out as Samuel would have initially expected.
Samuel expected that an authentic man of God would be recognizable by his appearance, but he was wrong about that. While Samuel would have selected David’s older brother, the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
It would turn out later that David’s older brothers all demonstrated a haughtiness of heart that would make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to be authentic men of God. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” An authentic man of God must never get carried away with himself. God said of David, “Here is a man after My own heart.”
God does not make a person to be an authentic man of God against his will. In fact, just the opposite is true. We must really want to be an authentic man of God if we expect to be an authentic man of God. There are some people who mistakenly think that if God wants to accomplish something in their lives, it will sort of automatically happen, regardless of their intentions or effort. They confuse fatalism with faithfulness.
The Bible says therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
The Bible goes on to say that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. While it would be great if all of our potential as a new creation would materialize in our lives the moment we embrace Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, Jesus indicated that it takes time for a person to develop or mature into being an authentic man of God.
And Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Any grown up male by definition is a man, but it takes more than that to be an authentic man of God. It is not the easiest choice in life to take, but in the end it is worth it. The choice to be an authentic man of God is available to anyone who wants to choose it, even if we or other people around us might doubt that from time to time. There is a Christian song that says, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” Jesus would concur.
Then Jesus said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seen which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the earth may nest in its shade.”
Buyers of organic food must be astute enough to distinguish between food that is “100% organic,” which can contain only organically grown ingredients, and “organic foods,” where only 95% of the ingredients must be organic. The FDA also allows companies to label their products “made with organic ingredients” if only 70% of the ingredients are actually organic.
In some ways, it might be said that “authentic manhood” has developed a certain elasticity these days. It used to be that the man of the house, in partnership with the woman of the house, was legitimately revered. We think of “Father Knows Best” or “Leave It To Beaver” as classic examples of authentic men fulfilling their roles in society. For some men nowadays, what it means to be a man may well be summarized by the Rev. Robert Lewis of the Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas:
“It’s great to be a man. Your last name stays put. The garage is always yours. You don’t give a darn if someone notices your new haircut or not. One mood, all the time. You never have to drive to another gas station because this one is icky. Wedding plans take care of themselves. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you to something, he can still be your friend.
“Your underwear costs $8.95 for a three pack. You can quietly watch a game with your buddy for hours without ever thinking, “Is he mad at me?” Christmas shopping can be accomplished in thirty minutes on December 24th. If another guy shows up at a party wearing the same outfit you have on, you might just become friends for life.”
Does anybody really think that this is God’s ideal plan for a man? Rev. Lewis’ spoof on “It’s Great To be A Man” is basically that boys can transition from being small children into being big children. While it is no doubt a good thing to retain some youthful vigor, at the same time we recall the Scripture that says, when I was a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Rev. Lewis would agree with that. He went on to say:
“There are other reasons it is great to be a man. We each have the opportunity to lead one of the most challenging and influential organizations on Planet Earth, the family. We can be a little boy’s or a little girl’s hero. We have the honor to stand for an eternal kingdom. We have the privilege of summoning the young men around us to an authentic masculinity that can make them real men. We can make our part of the world, wherever we may be, a little better. And in time we can be like Jesus.”
Oh, to be an authentic man of God! Is it really possible to be an authentic man of God, and if so, how? The answer to the first question is yes, but it is not easy. There are at least three elements that are required of anybody who wants to be an authentic man of God, The first is a willingness to be an authentic man of God. The second element is a determination to be an authentic man of God. Finally, it takes time to become and to be an authentic man of God; one does not become an authentic man of God overnight.
If we are willing to be an authentic man of God, that is good enough for God. There is an old saying that “God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.” We don’t have to come from a certain social background, or have a certain standard of education, to be an authentic man of God. For those of us who “have a face made for radio,” we can take comfort that our appearance is not important to God either.
The Bible tells the story of God seeing in King David a person with the potential to be an authentic man of God. God was displeased with the first king of Israel, Saul, because he was more interested in being his own man than in being an authentic man of God. So the Lord dispatched His prophet Samuel to anoint a new king for Israel. The assignment did not turn out as Samuel would have initially expected.
Samuel expected that an authentic man of God would be recognizable by his appearance, but he was wrong about that. While Samuel would have selected David’s older brother, the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
It would turn out later that David’s older brothers all demonstrated a haughtiness of heart that would make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to be authentic men of God. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” An authentic man of God must never get carried away with himself. God said of David, “Here is a man after My own heart.”
God does not make a person to be an authentic man of God against his will. In fact, just the opposite is true. We must really want to be an authentic man of God if we expect to be an authentic man of God. There are some people who mistakenly think that if God wants to accomplish something in their lives, it will sort of automatically happen, regardless of their intentions or effort. They confuse fatalism with faithfulness.
The Bible says therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
The Bible goes on to say that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. While it would be great if all of our potential as a new creation would materialize in our lives the moment we embrace Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, Jesus indicated that it takes time for a person to develop or mature into being an authentic man of God.
And Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Any grown up male by definition is a man, but it takes more than that to be an authentic man of God. It is not the easiest choice in life to take, but in the end it is worth it. The choice to be an authentic man of God is available to anyone who wants to choose it, even if we or other people around us might doubt that from time to time. There is a Christian song that says, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” Jesus would concur.
Then Jesus said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seen which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the earth may nest in its shade.”
posted by Pastor Monahan at 12:06 PM
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