What Defines a Godly Man?

In this special Father’s Day episode of the Q&A with Pastor Charlie Podcast, Pastor Charlie reflects on the godly men who have shaped his life and shares a heartfelt challenge to men of every age.

From fathers and mentors to pastors and friends, God often uses faithful men to leave a lasting impact on future generations. Pastor Charlie discusses the importance of servant leadership, biblical masculinity, spiritual courage, and the responsibility men have to lead their homes, churches, and communities with humility and faithfulness.

Whether you’re a father, husband, young man preparing for the future, or someone thankful for the godly men who have influenced your life, this episode offers encouragement and a clear call to take your faith seriously and live with purpose.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back to another episode of the QA with Pastor Charlie Podcast. We're excited because this weekend is Father's Day, so we're looking forward to getting to celebrate that with our church and with our families. And so with that in mind, we wanted to ask today what a message would be that you would like to share with the church about uh being a man in our church, being a father in our church, and things along those lines.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Sure. Well, I think the first thing that uh I would speak to this, and I think it, you know, needs to be set up front is just how thankful I am for the men of our church, uh, and just men in general, my own father and men who have made a huge impact in our life. I mean, I think all of us can look back at our life and see that God has used people to help shape us. I mean, you know, I can think about women that God put in my life, uh, specifically my mom, my wife, but then other women that God has used throughout my life to play a very important part in just my development spiritually, but then just also as a human being. But then if I think specifically, you know, with Father's Day and look back at my life, I've been so fortunate and blessed that God has always put men in my life to help steer me in the direction of the Lord. You know, I could go back and just begin with my own personal father. I mean, my dad who passed away some years ago, and I mean, there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about interactions we had, laughing, you know, lessons that I learned, and you know, would say for sure that I just missed that opportunity just to learn from him and, you know, communicate and talk with him. But he was very instrumental. I mean, he was a man who loved the Lord, he was a man who deeply wanted us to follow after Jesus. He pointed us in that direction, not just in word, but in the way that he lived his life. Scripture ruled our home. And so, you know, whatever God said in the word of God, that's how he tried to live and led us to do the same. He was a great leader, but he was also gentle. Uh, you know, he was strong when he needed to be strong, and he was able to be gentle when he needed to be gentle. He stood firm on truth. And I think not only that, but he loved my mom well, cared for her, showed us that, and then also loved us well. And so, you know, at the very beginning, I'm fortunate to have had a father who just really was a blessing in our life. And then I kind of fast forward through that, and I can just look back at my upbringing and then in ministry, how there were men all along the way that God used. I think about a guy by the name of Larry Dyer. He and his wife Linda, you know, took care of us when our parents were gone a lot of times, and you know, he really stepped into that role and was loving and kind toward me. I think about my youth pastor growing up, Chris Fields, who, you know, I was a little bit of a pill at times and a little difficult. And, you know, he was never afraid to call me out, and he never gave up on me. You know, and those are one of the things that I think about in high school. When I was wayward at times, you know, he would confront me with truth and say hard things to me, but then also he never gave up on me in the midst of that. You know, and then I can fast forward into ministry. You know, I remember at the first church that I uh was a student minister and associate pastor. There was a guy by the name of Dan Zosky who was a studier of the word and very serious about the word. And, you know, it it made me learn to be be serious about teaching and making sure I'm studying the word and and doing things appropriately. And, you know, fortunately he never called me out in a bad way because I tried to be faithful to the scriptures, but he sat out there in the youth room, and in a good way, I knew that if I wasn't on point and wasn't going to teach the word correctly, he would have said something to me. And and that's a good thing because he taught me about how to make sure that I'm rightly dividing the word of truth. You know, I was a young man at First Baptist Fort Cobb, and I think back to those days, and there was a guy by the name of Marvin Bradley, who was an older, retired principal, great man, just kind as can be. And God put him in my life just to help just guide me, be my friend, coach me. And he never did it like he never set out to be my coach. He was my friend, but he was coaching me and showing me what godliness looked like and how to be a man. And then there was a man by the name of Gary Warrell in that church, a very successful businessman, but also a man who loved the Lord, and he took me under his wings and taught me different things. I can fast forward to when I was the pastor at First Baptist Church in El Reno, and there in that church, God put guys like Francis Snodgrass in my life who were just loving, godly older men, and then surrounded me with peers that were a little bit older than me, but that were serious about serving the Lord and walking with the Lord and just walked with me through that. And then I get here to First Baptist more, and at the same time, there's men in this church that God has used to be friends, but also examples of me, of faithfulness. And so I say all of that to say, first, I have to say, as we think about this Father's Day, just to be thankful for the men that God has put in our lives. And hopefully all of us have some of those. And and all of us clearly have a father, some of them more flawed than others. And I think, you know, we learn that to show grace because many of them did the best with what they had, and and many of them maybe weren't taught appropriately, and none of us are perfect. But I think we can look back hopefully and say there are men that God has used to help shape us and help us to grow just in being good people, but also to be godly people. And so I say all that to say if there's a message that I would have for the men in our church, it's to be servant leaders, it's to model godliness, it's to walk in faithfulness because we never know how wide the impact that we have is. Clearly, in our home, there is an impact. And there's one of the reasons that we're gonna be having this men's study here for the next six weeks, and there's gonna be a women's study as well coming up, but but I'm convinced we have got to start back in our homes reclaiming them with godly faithfulness. And we need godly men and godly women to say, we're gonna walk faithfully according to the Lord. And it's one thing to challenge people to do it, it's another thing to equip them to do it. And part of our responsibility as the church as the church is to equip people for this. But but to men, I would say, men, first of all, step up and be the godly servant leaders that God has called you to be in your home. Walk in faithfulness, walk in courage, walk in gentleness, walk in humility, love your wives well, love your children well, be faithful to the scriptures and all of these things and set that tone. And then understand that outside of that, there's the need in all areas of life for godly men. I mean, there's needs on little league teams for godly men. There's needs in, you know, culture in the neighborhood, in the church for men to step up. And this doesn't mean in any form of domineering way. It's just to take initiative to say, we're gonna be here and stand in the gap for people. We're gonna be there for kids who don't have godly influences, we're gonna, you know, be Christ really at the end of the day. You know, there's a passage that Paul references in one of his letters to the church in Corinthians, and it's kind of a shot at men a little bit because he says, tells us to be steadfast, but he says, act like men, be strong. And sometimes it gets called be courageous. And I think that's what he's pointing out. But here's what he's saying is men should be of courage. Like, like there's something about masculinity that that's called to stand up and to do what's right. And everyone flourishes when we do that. Wives are gonna flourish, daughters are gonna flourish, sons are gonna flourish, you know, workplaces are gonna flourish when men do what they're called to do. And so I think the message that I have most for for all of our men is take your faith seriously. Quit living for the things of this world, take your marriage seriously, take child rearing seriously. And even if that's not where you're at, you start living in a way right now because that day is probably coming. You you don't wait and all of a sudden become a godly man when you become a husband. I think that's a myth. It's almost like there's this myth in life that we get all of our fun out while we're in college or at early adulthood, and then one of these days we're gonna have kids, and then we'll get serious about maybe getting back to church and all of that stuff. And like it just doesn't work that way. Either you're gonna follow Christ in your life or you're not. And being married isn't gonna make you start following Jesus. Uh, and so for those women out here who might be listening to this, especially young women, like don't marry a guy on the hopes that he's gonna become a leader and follower. Either he is or he isn't, but if he's not today, don't bank on that. Young men, don't think that you're just gonna flip a switch when you get married or have children, because the reality is you're just gonna perpetuate who you are, you're gonna continue in who you really are. So start today getting serious about your faith. Pick up the Bible, get your nose and your mind and your heart in it, and let God use it to shape you and form you. And and I think at the end of the day, here's the final thing I would say take it seriously. Act like men, be strong. You know, take your calling to be a man seriously. One final thing I would throw on that is I I think young men and all men today, but specifically young men, need to hear there's nothing wrong with masculinity. There is a type of toxic masculinity, and I almost hate to use that word because of the way that it's been hijacked, but but there is a some masculine traits, and they're worldly masculine traits that are not good. They're not healthy, domineering, you know, bravado, you know, misogynistic. Like that's not by any stretcher of imagination what I'm talking about. But there's almost been like this cultural shift where men have to almost apologize for being men. No, masculinity is a good thing, just like femininity is a good thing the way that God's designed it. Don't apologize for being masculine, don't apologize for being a man, embrace it in a godly way and step into it with faithfulness. And I can almost assure you that we will see changes in our homes. I can assure you, we will see changes in our homes, we'll see changes in our church, we'll see changes in our community if men of God will act like men of God. And and I think that's the message that I I would throw out there today. We have influence, God's given it to us. Let's use it in a way that honors the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

That's good. Well, happy Father's Day. Thanks for joining us for another episode of the QA podcast, and we'll see you guys next week.