#133 - Matt Chandler // Are You Fighting the Right Battles? Aligning Your Strength with God's Purpose

God uniquely wires and places men to bring order and light to the world through cultivation and protection—the essential callings that distinguish biblical manhood.

• Men are called to cultivate their context—work, neighborhood, and hobbies
• Your career should have "the aroma of Christ," producing beauty and order
• The command to "keep" means watching over like a watchman on the wall
• Men are positioned to physically and spiritually protect their families
• Scripture consistently portrays God and the Christian life using warrior imagery
• Self-obsession marks a disintegrating soul—true manhood looks outward
• Break destructive cycles in your bloodline by embracing these dual responsibilities

Share this podcast and leave a five-star rating and review to help equip other men for the fight.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Daily Blade
• 0:26 Cultivating with Unique Strength
• 1:42 Men as Watchmen on Walls
• 3:24 Breaking the Cycle of Self-Obsession
• 6:18 Call to Action and Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Hey brothers, thank you for putting up with me this week. Again, this is day five, good old Friday. We've been talking about why God gave us our unique strength. We saw that it was to work and to keep, and that work is the work of cultivation. Talked about cultivating a sense of self, cultivating a brotherhood, cultivating a marriage, and then, lastly, we are meant to cultivate our context. What I mean by that is work, neighborhood and hobby.

Speaker 2: 0:51

The Bible teaches us in Psalm 139 and Acts 17 that we have been uniquely wired and uniquely placed to bring order and light to the world. And this kind of unique wiring and unique placement really set a trajectory for our lives. If we're an engineer or a welder or a teacher or a lawyer or in the C-suite, or we're a janitor, god has uniquely wired us and placed us in those places to bring order and light, to do the work of cultivation. And Jefferson Bethke says this is what differentiates boys from men. Boys are ruled by their passions, their lusts, their dreams, people's praise or critique, money and so on. But becoming a man requires developing mastery over those things by channeling our energy towards a specific focus that doesn't destroy but produces your career, your job, the way you spend your life should have the aroma of Christ on it. You're coming to work to cultivate beauty, to establish truth, to establish order for the glory of God in Christ. That should infuse your life with purpose. That's how you should hit the jujitsu mats. That's how you should hit CrossFit. That's how you should hit that coffee shop. That's how you should see your neighborhood. You've been uniquely wired and uniquely placed to bring order and light. We cultivate our context. Now, cultivation or work isn't the only thing in view. We also have this command in Genesis to keep. We're to work and keep, or the idea is to watch over.

Speaker 2: 2:36

I love this concept for men, like the watchman on the wall, like Isaiah 62, 6 through 7, jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen on your walls. They will never be silent, day or night. There is no rest for you who remind the Lord. Do not give him rest until he establishes and makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth. Now, at some point or at some level, this is physical. Like in almost every case, men are physically stronger than women, right? This is why, throughout the history of the world, men have been the warrior class protecting women and children. There have been seasons and horrific situations in history, where women are in the last line of defense and have to fight, but by and large, combat has been for men.

Speaker 2: 3:23

And so are you a watchman on the wall, brother? Are you watching your family? Are you paying attention to what's going on in your community, what's going on in your church, what's going on in your home? The context in which you think about your faith, it matters, like you hear about how God is our shepherd, he's our father, he's our friend. But we cannot forget the most significant metaphor in the Bible for the Christian life, and that is the metaphor of war.

Speaker 2: 3:55

Psalm 24, eight says who is the king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Exodus 15, three says the Lord is a warrior, the Lord is his name. And my all-time favorite, isaiah 42, 13,. The Lord advances like a warrior, he stirs up zeal like a soldier, he shouts, he roars aloud and he prevails over his enemies.

Speaker 2: 4:24

So I'm asking, brothers, are you a watchman on the wall? Are you spiritually giving watch over your home, over your wife, over your brothers, over your children's heart? When was the last time you warred in the heavens for the soul of your family? When was the last time you looked in the mirror and slayed your inner demons for the sake of your marriage. Where are the watchmen in your church? Are they interceding for a movement of God there, for freedom, for hope, for salvation? If you saw the last month's worth of your prayers, that you have prayed and God answered all of them, what would you see, brother? What would you see? Would there be greater comfort in your life, more sex in your life, more money in your life? I don't think that those things are necessarily bad things. I'm telling you that as a watchman on the wall, brothers, we must be mindful that we're caught in a cosmic conflict.

Speaker 2: 5:22

Let me end my week with you like this. This is a quote from Jeff Cook. Here's what he says the more I make my life, my wellbeing, my enlightenment and my success primary, the farther I step from reality. Thus the hell bound. Do not travel downward. They travel inward, cocooning themselves behind a mass of vanity, personal rights, religiosity and defensiveness. Obsession with self is the defining mark of a disintegrating soul. This week, I'm trying to call you out of yourselves. Men, break the story, the cycle with me. Add a strong link in the chain of your bloodline. Work it and keep it. Sacrifice for the future. Now, I'm with you in this work. Brothers, I'm cheering you on, I'm praying for you, I'm in the fight with you. Keep going, always advancing God bless you.

Speaker 1: 6:18

Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.