Masculinity is currently imploding. Every time we turn on the T.V. or pop over to yahoo news there’s a new story about a selfish man doing selfish things. Evil and wicked men are a dime a dozen. It’s a P.R. nightmare for men. It is also so hard to see any good example of masculinity for boys. This is not a new development. For ages and ages heroes are very flawed men.
Part of the problem is how we define masculinity as a culture. As I see it there are two ways to view masculinity. It is a set of traits that are violent, strong and abrasive a barbarian and brute. Or it is nothing at all and just a construct of society. Neither of these are entirely true. Yes, men tend to be more violent and abrasive than women. Yes, society has a say in how men are perceived and even act. However, not all men are Conan the Barbarian and some men have an identity apart from how culture defines them.
Our culture defines masculinity as an opposition or difference from femininity. Women are more alike than they are different. What defines masculinity is not how men differ from women, rather, it is by how they differ from boy. The Bible distinguishes men from boys. “When I was a child I spoke as a Child, now I am a man and have put away childish things” 1 Corinthians 13:11. What our culture is in desperate need of is an expectation for men to grow up. Most great sin is born out of immaturity and selfishness.
Our culture expects men to act childish. It is a defining feature in entertainment and advertising. The dad goofs off while mom does the work. Young men staying at home with their parents playing videogames or basketball. It may seem like a stretch to equate immaturity with the terrible sins of our society. Let me be very clear; boys who never mature are selfish, lazy, and gluttonous. For too long, proponents of Biblical masculinity, have squared up men verses women; masculinity is a maturity issue. Men must wage war on their own immaturity in order to walk in a unique expression of masculinity
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