Honest Christian Conversations
A weekly podcast dealing with cultural and spiritual issues within the Christian faith.
Honest Christian Conversations
Masculinity Is Not Toxic!
The modern church has a masculinity problem. While the world debates what makes men "toxic," many churches have remained silent or, worse, created environments where men feel increasingly unwelcome. This spiritual vacuum affects not only men but entire families and communities.
FOLLOW SEAN ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theseanmcmanus/
WANT A SHOUT-OUT ON THE PODCAST?
**Sign up for the mailing list and instantly get my FREE 7-day Devotional**
ARE YOU STRUGGLING WITH P*RN ADDICTION? 👇🏻
5 Bible Verses to Memorize to Retrain Your Brain (PDF)
Leave a Review for the Podcast:
https://www.honestchristianconversations.com/reviews/new/
Leave a Prayer Request:
https://www.honestchristianconversations.com/contact/
Want to Be a Guest on Honest Christian Conversations?
Send a message on PodMatch: http...
Toxic masculinity. That's all we've been hearing from the world recently in regards to masculinity, but what is the church saying? How is the church treating masculinity? This is a question that needs to be answered, and the church has woefully answered this. The church is supposed to be a place where men feel welcome to come to, but a lot of times they don't, because at some point we have taken the church and we have feminized it and because of that men have suffered and they have nowhere to turn. But they are finally starting to rise up and they are tired of it and they want to feel like they belong and they're coming back to Christ. So now is the time that the church needs to take hold of that desire and work through it, because when you capture the man, you capture the family.
Speaker 1:Today's guest is Sean McManus. He is the owner of McManus Strength and Nutrition. Not only does he help you with your physical health, but he helps you with your mental and your emotional health as well, through a spiritual discipleship. He is a phenomenal guy. I enjoyed this conversation so much. You are going to take away so many good nuggets that maybe you can take to your church and you can start implementing them so that men feel welcome and men can start taking their families to church and we can start healing this country through this masculinity. Let's get to it Before the episode starts. Make sure you follow the show so you never miss another episode. Sean, thank you so much for coming on the podcast to discuss masculinity issues.
Speaker 1:This is a thing that a lot of churches don't really touch on. I've noticed. I've been to several churches. My church that I go to right now is doing a pretty good job of trying to put the man first, because they understand the principle if you capture the man, you can capture the family. So we've been doing a pretty good job of making sure that our church is more man-friendly. But the church in general isn't doing that great of a job to address issues that men have or to make their church service more man-friendly. I guess and your whole ministry, your McManus, strength and nutrition is for men and I couldn't not have you on during my summer tribute to masculinity. So I am thrilled that you were willing to come on and we're going to tackle some issues that men have. But before we do that, give us an overview of how you came to Christ.
Speaker 2:Anna, thank you so much for having me. I'm looking forward to our discussion today. You really hit the nail on the head. A lot of the stuff that I put out, a lot of stuff that I preach, is, you know, church, for the most part, really does not do a good job of this, you know. I think it's a really big part of the reason. Particularly Christian men are kind of where we are today in our culture, and you're very blessed and lucky that you found a church that kind of focuses on that and, like you said before, if you can capture the heart of the man, the family will follow. I'm honored to be here.
Speaker 2:A little backstory on me is I never had one of those Paul and Damascus kind of moments when it comes to my faith. I grew up in a Christian home and I was around it from day one, and so that was just a really big blessing to witness my mom and dad live out their faith on a day-to-day basis, and I really credit a lot of my faith to them. I had that really strong example of faith from my father growing up, and I had that really strong example of a godly woman in my mom, so I was just extremely blessed in that moment. But as far as just making my decision to follow Christ, I've followed Him from a very young age and we always have that kind of ups and downs in our faith and there's obviously times in my life where I feel like I was really focused in on Him and on my purpose and on serving Him. And then there's been times in my life where not that I stepped away from Him, but that maybe my priorities were in a not aligned where they should be.
Speaker 2:I can always kind of see when my thoughts or my mental health or you know life is really not aligned. I can usually tell it's like OK, I have, I have put something else first, that should not be first and I need to get back to putting putting Christ on the on the throne where he belongs.
Speaker 1:That is very good wisdom. To have that, and having the foundation that you had, I think it was definitely beneficial for you being able to understand okay, something's off, I know what it is. I need to get right with God. I'm at that position now in my 40s, but I wasn't always that way. I grew up in the church as well.
Speaker 1:I've been going since I was in a car seat, but I had the legalistic style. So I always felt like I was never enough or I never did enough or all those things. So it would have been really hard for me to have that moment of why am I feeling distant from God. Maybe I need to do more for me to have that moment of why am I feeling distant from God. Maybe I need to do more. That's just where I went was maybe I need to do more, instead of taking a step back and saying you know what Are my priorities? Right? Am I giving too much to work, or am I giving too much to my kids? Am I giving too much to my hobbies, that I'm forgetting that God needs to come first and I need to plug in with Him first.
Speaker 1:We get so focused, especially as parents and even just people who are married, we give so much to the other person that we forget we are going to run dry and we need our source.
Speaker 1:And I'm right there most of the times. I've got five kids and I'm married, so I've got a lot that I'm going through and I have learned to be in tune to. When I'm feeling off or feeling extra agitated or emotional about something and I have no idea why, I take a step back and I say, okay, something's off, I need to go to God and I need to figure out what this is. And it is a very wise man who can humble himself enough to do that and say you know what something's off? What do I need to fix to be right and have everything in balance again. And I think for you, especially because you deal with health and nutrition, I think balance is important for your field of work. So therefore, it's going to be important for every aspect of your life and you're going to be very in tune with that, because with nutrition, you have to have a good balance. So I think that's another reason why you're extra good at it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's 100% true. And if we talk about the balance when it comes to health and nutrition, or fitness and nutrition, I make a lot of my clients laugh sometimes because I am not your average fitness and nutrition coach. I'm not the guy that's going to tell you to never eat anything good for the rest of your life? Obviously.
Speaker 1:All the men are going, whoo.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly. Obviously, we love our cake, we love our cookies, we love our ice cream. Doritos is a thorn in my side, so that's a big thing for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, pizza for me.
Speaker 2:Oh man, yeah. So, believe it or not, we actually do pizza once a week. Yeah, we kind of do too.
Speaker 1:I'm supposedly lactose intolerant, but I won't give up pizza. I tried. I tried to do pizza without dairy on it. It's not pizza.
Speaker 2:Sounds gross, not gonna lie.
Speaker 1:I was like no, I'm just going to deal with the side effects, I can't give up pizza.
Speaker 2:Some things are just worth dealing with consequences.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:But you know, we talk about balance and these things are they're. They're good and we talk about food that's not good for you. Obviously, we we probably all know whether you're in shape or not. You probably have a pretty good idea of the foods that aren't good for you. Obviously, we probably all know whether you're in shape or not, you probably have a pretty good idea of the foods that aren't good for you. The main issue is those are our primary source of nutrition. So when you're eating things that are not good for you all the time, that's when it becomes a problem. You can be in very good shape. You can be very healthy and occasionally enjoy some chips or a cookie or a bowl of ice cream with your family.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's okay.
Speaker 2:It's all about that balance and just moderation, which we talk about a lot in faith in general. Moderation is the key to a lot of things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I like that principle and it's definitely it overlaps between our physical and our mental health. We have to have moderation on certain things. If you're doing something a certain way for a long time and it's not yielding healthy results, perhaps you should try something different. The man who's constantly overworking himself, his kids are missing, seeing him at home, his wife saying, hey, I miss you, we don't talk anymore. At some point you have to get to a point where you hear what they're saying and you do something about it, because something is out of balance, out of whack, unhealthy, and God's giving you that grace that you're hearing it from a loving source, rather than, hey, you're fired. You know, yes, you've been working overtime, but we're downsizing. Sorry, I mean, nobody wants that at all, especially the man who's been working overtime and sacrificing his family for it.
Speaker 2:Yes, 100%, and you better hear those warnings and heed those warnings before it's too late. We give so much to our jobs or to our businesses. Whatever you're doing, whether you're an entrepreneur or an employee, at the end of the day, at the end of your life, your job. It doesn't matter whether you gave them everything you had or you didn't. If your family sacrificed at that, then you missed the mark.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I, my dad, was a hard worker and as a child I really felt like I missed opportunities with him. It's it's so crazy to talk to him now, because he remembers things, that I don't remember him being there for Thinking to myself he was there. How do I not remember he was there as I grew up to be a teenager. We just kind of drifted apart and we didn't connect again until I was going through my second marriage.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it's just, the father is instrumental in the home in so many ways than just financial. Their presence is important and that's why God created him first and made him the head of everything, including everything on the earth, and there's a reason for that. He holds everything together. It doesn't mean that you aren't going to have situations where maybe your children fall away from Christ and they do that for the rest of their lives. It's not meaning that the family will be perfect, but there is a reason that he created a male and female and he created marriage and that union is important and to have a family. If it wasn't that important, he wouldn't have specified the importance of it throughout the Bible. He wouldn't have used marriage as an example of him and the church. So, yeah, more churches need to step up and help put this into perspective.
Speaker 1:For men especially, I've noticed that a lot of the songs that we sing at church have a little bit of a frilly feeling to it, and even I don't like singing some of them. It's like he's not my husband, he's not my boyfriend. Why does this sound so gooey? And I don't blame the men for not wanting to sing that, because I'm a woman and I don't want to sing that. Why don't we tailor our songs for men Well, not for men, obviously, for God but in a way where a man can also relate. There's some men who are a little more sensitive than others, yes, and there's nothing wrong with that, and they might resonate with that. But what about the ones who don't? They're going to feel that sense of, oh, I don't belong here or I can't worship God because this isn't my jam. Get some skillet in there, or something.
Speaker 2:I would go to a church service that had some skillet.
Speaker 1:That's for sure, yeah, yeah, I've been to a couple of their concerts. It's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I mean it's so true, because even to the point of what tone are you singing the song in? I'm definitely not going to sit here and act like I'm extremely musically talented, but I have a deep voice and I cannot keep up with sweet, sweet little Betty that is singing very, very high keys.
Speaker 1:I just can't do it yes.
Speaker 2:Between that and, like you say, the songs that are, you know you don't know if you can sing them to God or if you can sing them to your wife. You know it's a very. It's a very odd line there that we that, we, that we follow.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I'm with you there.
Speaker 1:I'm glad that you brought up about the tone of the person singing, because I've been mulling it over in my head for several months now. Whenever I go to church we have a lot of females who will sing, but we also have some men who lead the singing and I know this is probably going to get me canceled by a lot of people, especially women. But I'm starting to feel like maybe women shouldn't be the lead singers during worship for that reason that you were talking about. Not that they don't have beautiful voices and that men don't love hearing them sing. But it's not a concert. It's supposed to be a worship service where everyone feels that they can worship and they can sing to God.
Speaker 1:And some people are a little more self-conscious, you know. Maybe they can't sing super high, so they're just not going to sing because they don't want their voice to crack or be embarrassed if someone hears their low tone while it's singing high. And it's no offense to women, because most of us don't have deep voices. I have more on the alto style voice, so mine is lower. I can handle a little more of the lower stuff. I can't do so much of the high either.
Speaker 1:So I kind of get what you're saying, but there are some men who can do it and some that can't. So I mean, it's a fine balance, but maybe some churches just need to figure that out. Maybe some churches just need to figure that out. You know, what is their crowd actually consisting of? You know? I don't know, throw the tomatoes at me if you want everybody. These are just things that I'm thinking of, but it is something that I've thought about for a while that the men in the church are maybe being silenced, but not because anyone's actually silencing them, although there are some churches who are doing that. But I think it's a what's the term? Inadvertently silencing the men or making the men distance themselves, and then we wonder why they're not at church. But if you take a look at what's going on with the church, perhaps that's the reason why on with the church.
Speaker 2:Perhaps that's the reason why I don't think most churches aren't actually purposefully pushing men away. I don't think that's the end game or the end goal by any means. I just think that it's like some of the things that we've talked about, a lot of the times it's more geared towards females or the feminine, and I think part of that. There's a gentleman that you look up to and he puts out a lot of content and things like that, but he put it in a way he was talking about I believe it was World War II. You know, when the came back to the church and the church had become more frilly, had become more tailored to women and children, and they were just like I don't belong here, this isn't the place for me. You know, I just fought on the battlefield and watched my buddies die and had lots of stuff going on and I don't think we've ever I don't think we've ever come back from that.
Speaker 2:I think there's a bit of a tide turning now. There's a lot more talk about masculinity in culture in general, which is good in a positive way. Some of it's positive, some it's not. Yeah, tailor some things more in the direction of masculinity. Let's have some songs that are a little bit of a deeper tone. Let's have some songs that don't quite sound like you're singing to your girlfriend or your boyfriend, and it doesn't have to be all of it. We don't have to completely flip the script and go into the ditch on the other side of the road by any means, but we definitely need to mix in some of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's an interesting piece of history that I never knew about. That that's probably why they tailored the services they did and that makes a lot of sense. I mean, unfortunately, it seems like a lot of the women are the ones who are attending church. They're taking the children because either the man doesn't feel he belongs for the reasons you were mentioning, or just because they don't feel like going. And one day the children are going to look at that and they're going to say, well, if dad doesn't have to go, why do I have to go?
Speaker 1:My son said that a few times because his father and I are no longer together, but his stepdad and I take everyone to church. And there was a period of time several years ago where my son would say things like, oh, can I stay longer at my dad's house on Sunday? And it's like no, we go to church, you'll be coming home before church. And he's like, well, I could go to church with my dad. And I'm thinking, your dad doesn't always go to church, so no, you go to church with us. It's consistent. That's the agreement we came up with and he's 13 now he sees his dad in the way that he lives out, whatever Christianity he says he has and then he sees how we live things.
Speaker 1:And that's an aspect that's difficult as well when you have blended families or just you know separate families, because your children are going to be pulled in one way or another, and unfortunately they don't usually get pulled in the God-centered way. It's easier to get pulled in one way or another and unfortunately they don't usually get pulled in the God-centered way. It's easier to get pulled in the other way, especially if it's the father who's not living that lifestyle. There's just something powerful about a man who's following after God that everyone wants to be around, that they want to know what's going on, and I think it's because of all the surrendering of pride and of everything that you have to do in order to do that. You have to be submissive to someone who is higher than you, and men in general don't like to do that. That's why they won't go to a church where there's quote unquote a woman pastor, which is another subject I won't get into.
Speaker 1:But we probably agree on the same thing with that. But you know, they're not going to go to a church where a woman's telling them what to do, because men just don't like to be told what to do, especially by women. So for them to have that submissive attitude to someone they can't see, who is higher than them, that is attractive to women to figure out why. Why is he so willing to do that? What is it about that? And then the kids want to know why is dad making us get up every morning and go to this place? What is so special about it? But you're going to see it, especially if you have not always had that experience. And one day your father is this way, the next day he's like that. There's just something powerful about that whole thing and that's what draws the whole family in. And there's less crime, there's less all this stuff when the man is following after God. So churches definitely need to make men more of a priority and I understand the difficulties they have with that because, again, unfortunately it tends to be a lot more women and children who are at church. So they're going against that. They're having to make a choice. Are we going to go with what we know is going to happen and cater towards the people who are showing up? Or are we going to bank on the fact that, if we switch it up a little bit, that men are going to show up too, and I could see how it would be a bit of a scary thing for those who are more worried about the seats being warmed or the tithes still coming in and all that stuff. But if you are focused on what really matters, you're going to do. What really matters, and this is what really matters is catching the fathers, the men, because without them, families can't survive.
Speaker 1:Hey friends, have you joined the Honest Christian Conversations online group yet? Have you joined the Honest Christian Conversations online group yet? If you haven't, you're missing out on a perfect opportunity to grow your relationship with Jesus Christ. This is a community for those who want to go deeper in their relationship. You can do Bible studies together, ask the questions you have biblically and get the answers that you might need or maybe you're somebody who has answers to somebody else's questions. You can leave your prayer requests. You can leave your praise reports.
Speaker 1:This is a community. This is what church is supposed to be, and I am so glad that I finally took that step. To make this group so that people's lives can flourish in Jesus' name. To make this group so that people's lives can flourish in Jesus' name. Also, if you haven't signed up for the mailing list, you're missing out on an opportunity there as well. I send out a weekly email chocked full of so much awesome content that I don't have time right now to share it all with you. But when you do sign up for that mailing list, you get my seven-day free devotional that I created just for those who sign up for the mailing list. If you haven't joined either of these, you can go to my website honestchristianconversationscom and sign up there, or you can use the links for it in the show notes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'm with you there, a hundred percent. And there's a, there's a stat floating around and y'all don't quote me on these numbers, I'll get it close, but I believe it's. You know, if, if, if the woman or the mom in the household goes to church, I think there's a 30% chance that the rest of the family goes to church and follows Christ. If the man is the one that goes and follows Christ and takes his family to church, there's a 90-something percent chance that the family follows him. So, guys, dads, men, your influence matters.
Speaker 2:And you touched on something else, anna, that I kind of wanted to. You know, we've been talking about catering more to men in church and I think a big way that most churches miss the mark is their men's ministry, if they even have one. Some churches don't even have one, but a lot of them do have one, or what they call one, and maybe it's a once a month pancake breakfast, maybe it's a Bible study or something like that. What I'm trying to get at is, oftentimes churches make quote, unquote men's ministries, but they make them look like women's ministries, and men and women are very different in how they connect. Women do really well connecting with each other, sitting in a circle talking, and I can assure you that I do not in any way shape or form want to do that.
Speaker 1:My husband's the same. He would die if he was in one of those. No thanks yeah there's just not.
Speaker 2:You know, I'll hear something like, oh, we're having a men's group and I'm like, what is that? Well, we sit in a circle and talk about our feelings. I'm like, no, thank you, I don't want anything to do with that. But you know, that's just one of the things. God made men and women different. And the difference is there is women enjoy getting in a group and talking about their feelings, because God made them that way. Men bond over physical activity and work or some type of mission or something like that, where they can go out and get their hands dirty, take some action, do some physical things, and then that night I guarantee you that they're sitting around the fire telling stories, laughing, having a good time, maybe getting into some of those deep issues that they need to, but they're absolutely not going to do it by going to sit in an air conditioned building in a circle and talking about their feelings. It's just not the way that operates.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I completely understand that there's a difference between how men and women are and some churches haven't figured out how to make that work for them and it could just be because of their dynamics. I mean, if there's more women than men there, then they don't know what to do. I mean, if there's more women than men there, then they don't know what to do. And older generations might not be willing to go to a group in general, you know, and the younger ones are probably not going to go to a men's group with men who are older, because they either think they know everything and these old people are all kooks, or the old people don't want to hear them because they're loud. You know there's loud. There's so many different factors, but churches have to do better on trying to work with what they've got and figure out how they can make it work. Maybe make it a bi-monthly thing and one of them is a talking session and the other one is a full-on masculinity fest of bowling or something that could cater to that, and then you can start figuring out what it is that they enjoy doing. Maybe your church is full of men who enjoy talking and going over a book. Well, you figured it out, so keep doing that. But then maybe there's another church where they do that sort of scenario and they're more hands-on. Do that for them. You don't have to do what everyone else scenario and they're more hands-on. Do that for them. You don't have to do what everyone else is doing and think it's going to work for you. You have to take those steps to figure it out. How are you going to help work with your congregation?
Speaker 1:As a pastor, you are there to help disciple. It's not your job to disciple every single person. You can delegate that, but you've got to find the right people to help you delegate and to help you work that out. Because this world is suffering, because men are being told by the world that their opinions don't matter, that toxic masculinity and the man needs to shut up about abortion. He can't talk about that. It's not his body. All these things where the world is trying to shut men up. The church should not be doing that too. We should be lifting them up, not higher than God, but we should be lifting them up as the heads of their household, as the husband to the wife, as just a man who's been made in the image of God and help them see their purpose that God has for them, instead of tearing them down. And unfortunately, it feels like some churches are either tearing them down or just ignoring them completely because that's not their demographic right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'm with you 100%. And it's a lot of the times. One of the examples here is we joke about on Father's Day. A lot of churches have a typical, some kind of little note to fathers and a lot of the times it's a you know, men, you need to do better. Like that's the phrase, you need to do better. And then you know, when it comes to Mother's Day, it's oh, you know these sweet angels that we can't live without.
Speaker 1:And you know it's not that I don't think mothers are sweet angels.
Speaker 2:No, I get it. Let's throw a little love. The other way sometimes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, Women, we can also do better. I know I have some mom moments where I'm like I could have done that better?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, don't we all.
Speaker 1:So it's like, yeah, I completely. I get that. Women, we need to have our you're not absolved of this crime moment too, on Mother's Day, because we're not all perfect. And yes, you should honor your father and your mother not just your mother and then tell your father what a crummy job he's doing, and maybe they do that because they see the importance of the man in the house. But at the same time, you should be acknowledging where they are going right. Maybe they only made it to church three Sundays out of the four in the month, but they made it to church three Sundays out of the four in the month. Perspective change, perspective change and there's so many other things we could talk about that would help the church find ways to incorporate men. But I do want to shift to your ministry work with McManus Strength and Nutrition. So what exactly is it that you do with that?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I coach guys one-on-one through Strength and Nutrition. So I work primarily with Christian men and the reason for that is a lot of what we've already talked about. You know, men have been silenced for a very long time and they have been told to um that their opinions don't matter, that they need to obey their wife because quote unquote happy wife, happy life. Uh, you know how many, how many times have we heard that phrase? So you know, because, because that's been pounded into their heads for so long, what that leads to is them thinking that their opinions don't matter and then thinking that as long as, as long as their wife is happy or their mom's happy or whatever, that life is good and life is okay. So they're not as important.
Speaker 2:So that leads to a lot of mental issues, but a lot of depression in a sense, because he feels like he's just going to work for a paycheck, and a lot of lack of self-confidence issues, because God created us as men to crave respect and, you know, living in a way that puts your wife on a pedestal in turn leads to lack of respect. So I say all that to say that, um, what I'm doing through my company make man a strength and nutrition is. My idea is to make men strong again. So we start with that. In a physical aspect, we start building habits and routines to take care of the body that God has given you, to build some self-confidence, to build some strength physically, but also strength mentally, because strength in the gym also translates into mental strength.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to ask about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's just a little bit about what we do is we focus on, obviously, the physical aspect of it, but the physical aspect just reaps rewards in the mental aspect as well, through self-confidence, through mental grit and mental fortitude, because when you're in the gym and you're doing a hard workout and you're keeping that promise that you made to yourself, you are teaching yourself that you can trust yourself again, which leads to self-confidence, and you're also, in a way, you're simulating hard times, because you're forcing your body, you're forcing your mind to break through those physical barriers, which that, in turn, allows you to handle hard times and regular life better as well.
Speaker 1:So this is something that you probably do locally, then right.
Speaker 2:So everything I do right now is online.
Speaker 1:Okay, wow.
Speaker 2:So I've got clients all over the United States right now.
Speaker 1:Nice. Yeah, that's definitely a good ministry opportunity because, yeah, there's men all over who could use a good Christian man by their side who's trying to build them up in every aspect. Not just let's bulk you up or whatever, but let's build you up as well in a way that only a man can, because a woman can only do so much to fluff up a man's ego, but a man truly knows what a man needs beyond that. So that's a very good discipleship type of ministry you have too. How long have you been doing it?
Speaker 2:So I have been pursuing physical strength and the nutrition aspect myself over a decade, and then I started coaching a couple of years ago in a part-time capacity, and then we've been full-time now for a little over eight months.
Speaker 1:Nice, that's good, so we're still fairly new.
Speaker 2:We're growing yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I have a feeling you're going to grow a lot more because, like you said, the culture is warring within itself. Talking about masculinity, Some are talking about it in a positive way, like Charlie Kirk and everyone who follows Turning Point USA. They're starting to make masculinity great again.
Speaker 1:And then you know you've got some other people who are still trying to push them down and hold on to. You know the happy wife, happy life that you were talking about and you know, just trying to continue to silence men. And the men are starting to rise up. They're getting tired of it and I love that that they're finally. They're finally waking up. They're finally saying this is enough, enough is enough. I can't take it anymore. I need my masculinity back. I need my man card back.
Speaker 1:You know, and yeah, I love to see it. I definitely do, especially with the whole everything that's going on with Hollywood and all the different men who are coming out and talking about the things that they went through in the Hollywood in general, all the abuses they went through, finding their healing, like Johnny Depp, whether he was at fault or not. That's not the problem. The problem is that we're supposed to believe all women with things and sometimes you just can't. You can't do court like that. You can't do a lot of things where you just believe one side over the other. I tell my kids all the time if I didn't see it, I'm not going to discipline you unless you both want to get in trouble for it, because it's not fair for me to just take your word off of something and just punish someone for that. So I will not do that. And they hate it because they'll come to me all the time and try to tattle and snitch on someone and I just go, snitches, get stitches. You already know the rules.
Speaker 1:They hate it so much, but that's how their father and I.
Speaker 1:That's how we do it, Because it isn't fair to just always assume that one person is always wrong because of the color of their skin, because of their gender.
Speaker 1:No, we have to be better than that and, especially as a church, we have to be better than that. We cannot follow suit with how the world is treating men. We have to be the ones that they turn to when they're feeling that their world is crumbling. They have to know that they can come to the church because they're going to help lift them up and they're going to get them back on their feet somehow. Well, thank you, Sean, for coming on and having this conversation with me and raising awareness to the importance of the father, the husband and the man in general and sharing with us what your ministry does. Go ahead and tell us where everyone can get involved, because I'm pretty sure there's going to be some men who this is what they need right now, and there's probably some women who are trying to figure out how they're going to hint around to their husband that, hey, you should check this out where it doesn't sound like it's a suggestion from them.
Speaker 2:Right, right, yeah, for sure. Well, and it's been a pleasure speaking with you and I hope that you know your audience has been blessed through this conversation. But as far as like reaching me, Instagram is at the Sean McManus. I am on TikTok now. I think that's at the Sean McManus as well. X is at the Sean McManus and then Facebook is Sean McManus. So any of those, uh, check them pretty frequently. I would probably say Instagram right now, okay, um is the best way to reach me, but, uh, if I could speak to the ladies for just a moment, um yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Ladies, if this was something that you know, some of this resonated with you. Or you know, when you're thinking about your husband, the biggest thing that I would say is just respect him, Show him some love, Show him some respect. He's craving it. He might not know he's craving it. He might not know that you know that's what he needs, but that's how God made him so. If he's doing a good job, tell him he's doing a good job. Your words will mean the world to him. And then the other piece of that is we hit on happy life or happy wife, happy life quite a bit, and I don't want you guys to get the misunderstanding. I absolutely love to make my wife happy, but I don't live for it. That's the difference.
Speaker 2:There are things that, as the leader of my house, as the leader of my own own, that God has called me to do, that may not make my wife happy, and I take my orders from Him, and from Him alone. So that's kind of a little bit of clarity on that.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's definitely good clarity, because that saying's been going around everywhere. That's a great distinction of what it should be as opposed to what we've been taught. So thank you, sean, for bringing that up. Absolutely Thank you for coming on the show. I've enjoyed this conversation.
Speaker 2:Of course I have too. It was a good time, and I appreciate you, you know, letting me on to share some of my story with your audience.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, leave a review for the podcast wherever you are listening, or click the link in the show notes. If you have feedback for me, use the leave a message or voicemail links also in the show notes. You can check out my website honestchristianconversationscom to leave a review or feedback as well. Join the community and become part of something bigger than yourself. Lastly, sign up for the mailing list and get the free seven-day devotional as a thank you gift. Once again, thanks for listening. I look forward to our next conversation.
