Biblical Manhood
Finding the scriptural basis for biblical manhood
The following is a section in our upcoming book called TREIGN WRECK which we’re planning to release in the 3rd quarter of this year.
But we need your help!
Please read the following and send us your thoughts and comments on where you think this might be missing the mark and why!
What is biblical manhood?
This is truly the million-dollar question. Of all the questions pertaining to the issue of lost boys, I think THIS is potentially the most subjective. That’s scary because this is our goal: To train and affirm boys to be competent men with Christ like character. Where do we go in scripture to find the BEST answer for this question?
I just listened (again) to a message by Voddie Baucham entitled “What does it mean to be a man?” In this video, Baucham talks about the bare minimum requirements for biblical manhood:
1) A man must be committed to God-honoring labor
2) A man must be committed to the law of God
3) A man must be committed to prioritizing his family
That’s a good answer, but in all honesty, it still feels subjective. Obviously, you can make a case for all of this, but it seems to be picking and choosing and then prioritizing. Subsequently, it is more inferred than conferred and therefore leaves room for dissent or discussion on the matter.
Does the Bible make a stronger case for biblical manhood?
I have poked and prodded and have come up with my own idea on this. But, I think, it is the strongest BIBLICAL response to the question, “What did God intend or MANdate a man to do” or at least… “What did God intend or MANdate a man to do first?
MANdate #1: Labor
In Genesis 2:15, the Bible says..
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
The word translated “to work” is ʿāḇaḏ.
It is an agricultural word for work, serve, till, labor. In doing this, God gave man his first purpose: WORK. Work is a godly assignment. Ephesians 2:10 says:
You are God’s instrument created in Christ Jesus to DO GOOD WORKS which God has prepared in advance for us to do.
Work requires skill and competency. It implies responsibility. You have a JOB to do. Men who don’t work (when they are able) are an abomination to the Lord.
“A little sleep. A little slumber and poverty will come in on you like a bandit.” (Proverbs 24: 33, 34)
So, I agree with Mr. Baucham’s first point: Biblical manhood is committed to God-honoring work.
I might also add a few more verses to support that point:
“Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not men.” Ephesians 6:7
“Everyone should use whatever gift they have received to serve others. Faithfully administering God’s grace in all of its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
Jesus had a skill and he worked. So did Paul. And by the way, you will continue to work forever. Again, quoting Willard,
We will not sit around looking at one another or at God for eternity but will join the eternal Logos, “reign with him,” in the endlessly ongoing creative WORK of God. It is for this that we were each individually intended, as both kings and priests…Stated in other words, the intention of God is that we should become the kind of person whom he can set free in his universe, empowered to do what we WANT to do
MANdate #2: Lead
The second Man-date is also from Genesis.
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (Gen 1:26)
A few verses later, he would tell Adam
“to subdue the earth; to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Gen 1:28)
This is the dominion clause: To rule, reign, and steward God’s creation as a faithful servant of the Master’s domain. Again, this is a forever duty that man will have.
“If we endure with Him, we will also REIGN with him.”1 Tim 2:12.
While both of these mandates apply to mankind (women too!), I believe they were given to men first. This would work similar to the mandate God gave ADAM about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the MAN, “You are free to eat from tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 1:15-17)
While the man-date applied to Adam AND Eve, it was given to the man first. The fact that EVE was the one who was deceived by the serpent and ate of the fruit first, is always considered Adam’s sin and not Eve’s. This is made perfectly clear in Romans 5. Any military person will tell you the guiding principle: You can delegate authority but not responsibility. I believe that is very important in our discussion of biblical mandates for men.
The nature of ‘having dominion’ is NOT akin to domination. It is nothing of the sort. Jesus showed us everything we every needed to understand about the true nature of dominion when he lived and died and then took back the title deed to the earth. (Revelation 5) His servant leadership is our model and it is reflected in a list of characteristics given by Paul for anyone who would lead and administer his bride, the church. The list is a bit varied between 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1: 5-9. Generally, it consists of the following attributes:
Above reproach (integrity)
Fidelity
Temperate
Self-controlled
Respected
Hospitable
Meek
Generous (Not a lover of money)
Spiritually mature.
It might be even advantageous to use these attributes as a list of characteristics that Godly men should pursue. After all, it is the ONLY place in the Bible that lists the attributes a MAN should have who holds spiritual authority. I would suggest that this is both in the HOME and the CHURCH and over his CREATION.
MANdate #3: Love
The third Man-date is more suggested or implied from the text. But it is such a universal truth throughout Scripture that it seems impossible to ignore as not being a biblical mandate for manhood: Bearing God’s likeness.
Actually, it’s hard for me to capture this third ‘man-date”. We were made in his image to bear his likeness according to Genesis 1:26. While God gave man ‘assignments’ his primary intention in creating us seems to have been fellowship. That almost seems too trite to write. But the entire God-arc is the story of redeeming us back from sin. The price God paid for that was the life of His only son, Jesus Christ. That we could ever be fellow-heirs with Jesus is almost unfathomable and yet that is exactly what the Bible teaches us. We had fellowship with God in the Garden and we will have fellowship again with him for all eternity in heaven.
I’m reminded of Micah 6:8,
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
The phrase ‘walk humbly with your God’ is a phrase that captures the essence of this mandate. We walked with God in Eden before fellowship was broken by sin. This must be part of the man-date for men. James 2:23 says that Abraham was a friend of God. John 15 implies that Jesus calls us friends. What all that implies about us is past my pay grade, frankly. The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that the duty of man is to worship God and enjoy Him forever. Solomon states that the ‘whole duty of man’ is to fear God and obey His commandments. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
Biblical manhood? Well it should be based on the Bible, right? I’m going with a man-first motto. In other words, “What did God tell man to do BEFORE it became applicable to mankind? I propose to you the following based on the above conversation:
LABORER
LEADER
LOVER of God
LOVER of Others