A Christian Blueprint For Noble Masculinity Part 2

We trace a path from fallen, selfish strength to “mighty meekness,” where men receive blessing, embrace dependence on Jesus, and aim their power at the good of others. Stories, data, and Scripture show how secure men become steady fathers, faithful husbands, and protective neighbors.

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Chapters

• 0:46 Defining Masculine Strength At School
• 3:37 From Creation To Fall
• 6:12 Can Jesus Change Men?
• 8:32 Blessing That Heals Male Insecurity
• 17:54 Acceptance, Not Just Forgiveness
• 22:23 Dependence Over Self-Help
• 28:05 Peter’s Limp And Real Power
• 32:36 Commissioned For Selfless Service
• 38:23 Mighty Meekness Redefined
• 45:29 The Cross As Model Of Strength
• 50:41 Prayer For Blessed, Empowered, Sent Men

Transcript

From Creation To Fall

Can Jesus Change Men?

Blessing That Heals Male Insecurity

Acceptance, Not Just Forgiveness

Dependence Over Self-Help

Peter’s Limp And Real Power

Commissioned For Selfless Service

Mighty Meekness Redefined

The Cross As Model Of Strength

Prayer For Blessed, Empowered, Sent Men

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Hey, good question came up during that. Um, there are some I see and I love this some younger uh some some young men who are here and um question about what what is this idea of masculine strength and sacrifice? Um I I I I hinted at a little bit of what it looks like outside the covenant of marriage, um, and and how providing uh the that that a society flourishes upon the foundation of masculine chivalry and strength um and sacrifice to neighbor and community. And I see some young folks here and got a good question of what does that even look like for a you know a kid in middle school and high school? Man, that is you talk about, if you want to just talk about neighbors and defining your community as that school entrusted that God has entrusted to your care. I can't think of a place that is more in need of young men who say, I approach my school through the lens of whatever strength, whatever influence, whatever popularity, whatever I have exists for the more vulnerable in this school. That I will be the young man that uh befriends the friendless, that stands up to bullying, um, a rule we have in our house uh for, I have four young, young, young, I have four sons. A rule we have in our houses, just a small example of what I'm talking about. A rule we have in our house um for them for their middle school and high school dances, they all have crushes and all that stuff. And um a rule we have in our house is uh during the the slow song at so slow songs at these middle school dances, um, which is a moment of apocalyptic terror for young ladies. Um I say um you you you're you're for every every one dance that you go and ask the girl that you have a crush on and talking to, for every one dance you do with that girl, um, you have to find a girl sitting alone and go ask her to dance. And so it's just a rule in our house that you're gonna go to the dance, you're gonna find someone that's not a getting ass to dance, and you're gonna make her feel like a queen that night. And she's gonna come home smiling and happy. Um, just small little things like that. So, yes, if you're not married, you there are endless opportunities for you to use your masculine glory to bless others. Um, okay. We got to get you out of here by 8:30, is what the schedule said. I think we'll be out of here earlier than that. Um I got some sports to watch, so we will uh we'll try to kid. We can stay to 8:30 if you want. All right. Um, we have explored God's design for masculinity and the creation narrative of Genesis 1 and 2. Now I want to turn from creation to redemption. And it goes without saying that redemption implies that something went wrong. Um, and indeed that's the case. But out of all the content from my uh podcast series that um that I felt the freedom to cut out, uh that part of masculinity is the easiest. The fallen masculinity is easiest because I don't think I have to prove to anyone that men have a sin problem. Um that proof is not just proving, is not just been proven in your own life, as you could just tell your story of how fallen masculinity has wreaked havoc upon you and those you love, but really the entire uh the entire corpus of human history, um which has been harmed by sinful male domination. Directly after the fall in Genesis 3, God says to Eve, and by extension to all who are who come from Eve, she is the mother of all living. And so this curse that was given to Eve applies to all living, that men shall rule over you. And that curse has come to pass. Nothing has proven more destructive than fallen men ruling with their superior strength. Designed to be the sacrificial servants of creation, sin has turned men into the selfish rulers of creation. Tragically, what was meant to be creation's foundation has been creation's destruction. Simply put, men have become a big problem for the world. A huge problem. Arguably, the biggest problem of human history is sinful men with their superior strength using it to dominate. The real question, which I will spend the rest of my time answering, is how to fix that problem. Now, this will come as a surprise to no one, but I believe the solution is Jesus. Jesus changes men into the type of men they were created to be and the type of men our world is desperate for. But I'm not just making that claim. Social research supports that claim. So I'm not just a Christian idealistically saying Jesus is the answer. Social research shows this. Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, published a book entitled Soft Patriarchs, New Men, How Christianity Shapes Fathers and Husbands. And I'm not going to get down into the weeds of his groundbreaking findings, but here are some highlights. Devout Christian men are the least likely to divorce their wife, have the lowest numbers of infidelity and domestic abuse, spend the most time with their families, score the highest when it comes to emotional connection and time spent together, and perhaps most shocking to our society, wives married to conservative, evangelical, complementarian Christian men are the most happy women in America. And even more shocking to our society, are the most sexually fulfilled demographic of all women. And it's not just marriage. Devoted Christian men are also score highest by a wide margin when it comes to parenting. They are the least likely to yell at their children. They are the most likely to be warm and affectionate and to engage on one-on-one conversations with their children. They are 65% more likely to report praising and hugging their children compared to secular or religiously unaffiliated fathers. Church-going dads also spend more time in activities with their children, such as eating meals together, reading to them, playing games, coaching sports, attending school activities. All told Christian fathers spend about three and a half hours more per week with their children compared to secular fathers. Direct quote: When you look at measures of paternal involvement, evangelical fathers are the most involved fathers in the United States. Here's the bottom line I'm emphasizing. Jesus clearly does something to men that nothing else is able to do. What is this? What happens to men when they surrender themselves? What happens to men when they surrender their masculinity to Jesus and follow the ways of Jesus? How is Jesus able to redeem what historically has felt hopelessly irredeemable? So much to say, but for the sake of time, I'm going to offer three things. Jesus blesses us, he empowers us, and he commissions us. First, he blesses us. So little secret about us men we are all massively insecure. Of course, both men and women battle insecurities, but there is something uniquely pernicious about male insecurity. Culturally, we recognize this. You've heard the stereotype about the fragile male ego. And you know there is truth to that stereotype because you know your ego is incredibly fragile and riddled with insecurities. Maybe it's misguided to say that men are more insecure than women, but we intuitively recognize that insecurities impact men in unique ways. But here's the thing about male insecurity: it can be an incredibly powerful motivational tool. The lengths that men will go to protect their fragile ego, to prove to themselves, and to prove to others that they are enough and they have what it takes to project an image of confidence and competency. Male insecurity has built successful careers, significant institutions, heck, even nations and empires. I mentioned this morning that I watched this fascinating movie about the last days of Hitler called Downfall. And I was watching this and it struck me. I don't know if you know Hitler's story, but he was a failure. He had a terrible father who abused him. He was a failed artist. He was an incredibly insecure man. And it just struck me by the fact that this evil man was in reality an insecure boy trying to conquer the entire world to prove to the world that he is enough. But none of man's insecure conquests will ever heal a man's actual insecurity. Achievement and success can build a wall of protection around male insecurity so that nobody can see it and threaten it. But you, as the man, still have to live inside that wall, as does your wife and children and those closest to you. And there on the inside, where it's just you, not the you you want others to believe is you, it's just you, that person, that insecure man is still haunted by the presence of his own inadequacies and uncertainties. But what if there was a solution that addresses the root cause of this male insecurity, of this fragile male ego, as our culture speaks of it? What if a man could become so secure that he does not fear his failures or feed off of his successes? This is what Jesus alone offers a man. Theologically speaking, the notoriously fragile male ego is rooted in the absence of blessing, specifically a father's blessing. You will notice throughout the scriptures a common theme of paternal blessing. Sons, desperate for the blessing of the patriarch, the blessing of the father. And this is rooted in something that this church, a theological commitment that this church holds to, this is rooted in the God-ordained covenantal nature of the family. By design, a boy must have the love and approval, the blessing of his father. The entire world could approve of him, but without his own father's covenantal approval and blessing, it will never be enough. In fact, if a son does not have his father's blessing, he will literally spend the rest of his life searching for it in other places. A man is forever hungry until he feeds upon the food only a father can provide. Now, if this is so, then what are the implications upon manhood in a fallen world full of imperfect, sinful fathers? The implication is that no man is fully secure in the fullness of his father's benediction. Tragically, many men, and this may be your story in this room, many men have never even tasted it. They are neglected sons of absent fathers. They are wounded sons of abusive fathers. They are uncertain sons of indifferent fathers. Many sons never even taste a morsel of their father's benediction. But even those sons, and hopefully there's a lot more of those in the room, even those sons with good fathers have never known the fullness of the father's blessing. Even the dad who hugs them and loves them and tells them that he is proud of them, still the son intuits a conditional blessing. Because even the best fathers are still fallen imperfect fathers. And so they intuit, I'm proud of you, but I need you to perform. I need you to perform well academically, athletically, socially, vocationally, and on and on. Need being the key word in that sentence. I, as an insecure father, need my son to prove my worth. Just go to any youth sporting event, and rather than watching the kids compete, watch the dads in the stand compete. You'll see a different competition playing out. A bunch of insecure fathers competing for supremacy via their son's performance. So even those fathers who are present, who do show affection, who do extend words of affirmation and blessing, even still, they are not perfect fathers able to give their son the life-giving gift of a full, unconditional benediction upon their life. So is this the plight of fallen men resigned to an insecure life, ravenous for a blessing that they will never receive? Not at all. Brothers, you are not without hope. The covenantal structure, the God-ordained covenantal structure of a father extending his blessing to his sons, was ordained by God to point to a higher reality. It is a shadow of a more significant substance. And that substance is the blessing of our Heavenly Father, which is ultimately what we cannot live without. The earthly Father's blessing is designed to point us to the Heavenly Father's blessing. And just because we were neglected the sign does not mean we do not have access to that which the sign points to. This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Men need those words like they need air to breathe. Well, in Jesus, those words become yours. I'm not sure how you imagine the salvation of Jesus. But if you're like a lot of people, you might view it only through the lens of forgiveness. And this is, of course, is true. Through Jesus, we are forgiven of our sins and failures. But this is not the fullness of Christ's gospel of salvation. It is a means to a greater end. We are forgiven. We are cleansed. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus so that we have access to the commendation that belongs to us in Christ Jesus. He makes us acceptable in the sight of God so that we might be accepted by God. And when I mean accepted, I mean the fullness of acceptance. I mean fullness of love, fullness of delight, the fullness of God's blessing. I mean this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased, now belongs to you. What belongs to Jesus Christ belongs to the followers of Jesus Christ. We are so numb to the words, God loves you, that I fear that it has lost its weight. So let me say it in a way that tends to land differently. Yes, of course, God's God loves you. But did you know that God likes you? That feels different, doesn't it? More vulnerable, harder to accept than the language of love that we have grown accustomed to, but it's true. Brothers, God likes you. More so, God delights in you. Dare I say to this gathering of insecure men, God is proud of you. Not because of what you can do for him to make him proud. No, he is proud of you because you belong to him. He has this unconditional approval as though you are his beloved son. The same triune delight that has existed between the Father and the Son from eternity past now belongs to you because you are now hidden in Christ Jesus and all that belongs to Jesus now belongs to you. That's what your soul is dying to discover. You think the answer is proving yourself worthy of that worldly declaration, you're the man. But that is not what you need. That is not enough. It will never be enough. You don't need the world to tell you that you're the man. You need God to tell you you are my man. And through the grace and mercy of Jesus, that declaration belongs to you for all eternity. That divine security is what will heal your insecurity. That is the blessing that will transform your masculinity. Brothers, you could spend your lives motivated by the fear of your own insecurities and inadequacies. And candidly, it can produce a very successful life in the eyes of this world. But it is not the life you are meant to live, and you will not be the man you are made to be. The good life is. And good men are resourced by the security of this benediction. You are my beloved son, and with you I am well pleased. So, first, Jesus blesses a man. Second, Jesus empowers men. A common theme that you will notice within these cultural voices and influencers advocating for male empowerment is a vision of rugged male individualism. Truth be told, it is therapeutic, self-betterment. You have what it takes messaging, only with an edgy masculine packaging. It comes in many forms. Often it's just the garden varieties, self-help, work harder, do better, become a better man, like uh Jordan Peterson's 12 rules for life. And then there's the more taboo, uh politically incorrect messaging from some of the more controversial male influencers who essentially prey upon male insecurity to shame men into self-improvement. They'll just look at our young men and then say, You're a pathetic loser, addicted to video games and doing nothing with your life, no discipline, no purpose. You are a sorry excuse for a man. Get your crap together, become a real man. So it comes in many forms, but the common theme is self-sufficiency. True men are those who have what it takes: the strength, the resolve, the courage, the discipline, they are sufficient to become masters of themselves and masters of their own domains. But it is important not to confuse this vision of self-sufficient self-improvement with Christian manhood. In fact, if we buy into that notion of male empowerment, that it comes from within, then we are only reinforcing the lie that led to fallen manhood in the first place. Originally, masculinity was designed for dependence, not independence. Our culture has always celebrated the notion of a self-made man, but Adam was quite literally not a self-made man. Literally, he was a God-made man designed to exist as a God-dependent man. And the original temptation was an invitation into independence, self-sufficiency, self-determination. Rather, Adam, rather than relying upon God, you could to quote to quote the satanic lie, you could become like God. The desire, that desire for independence self-sufficiency, self-determination was the original sin that led to the mess that we are all in now. So, contrary to the haughty ideology of masculine self-empowerment and improvement that has become so popular, particularly in the online influencer space, redeemed masculinity is actually a journey out of our independence and to further dependence upon the Lord. Christian manhood does not lie to men by telling them they have what it takes. It is honest with men by telling them they don't, but Jesus Christ does. Dan Alender wrote a provocative leadership book entitled Leading with a Limp. And the imagery is borrowed, of course, from the story of Jacob, who was called by God to be the great patriarch of Israel. But before he was commissioned with that holy calling, what did God do? What did God do for Jacob before he gave the name Israel? Did he empower him with self-help disciplines to become the man he needed to be to fulfill his calling? No, God did not improve him, God afflicted him. And it was his affliction that marked his power because it forced him to rely upon the strength of the Lord rather than his own strength. Jacob wrestled with God, and that contest ended with the Lord touching Jacob's hip, causing him to walk with a limp the rest of his life as a constant reminder of his dependence. Once he had the limp, he received the Lord's blessing and was given the name Israel. Thus, Allender's leadership premise of leading with a limp. Here's a direct quote: Your limp is the very thing that will make you a man worth following. Not your bravado, not your power, not your gifts, your limp, your metaphorical weakness that weans you off of your competency and into dependency. This is what ultimately redeems a man by forcing a man to rely not upon his own self-redemption, but upon the redemption of the Redeemer. Now, do not misinterpret this emphasis on men's dependency as leading to weak, unambitious, spineless, cowardly men. It actually does the opposite, it truly empowers men by producing men who become what self-help pretends to be. I think of the story of Peter. Throughout the Gospels, Peter is the embodiment of the manosphere online. He is the embodiment of self-help, self-sufficiency, self-empowerment. He projects this constant, confident bravado, the man with all the answers. He's even the disciple that tries to correct Jesus at times. It's not just that Peter wants to lead, it's as if he needs to lead because he craves what the affirmation of that leadership will offer him. There's this constant determination, and I would even label it desperation about Peter to prove that he's enough, that he's the man to use our vernacular. And it all culminates in that famous, or should I probably say infamous confession even if I have to die with you, Jesus, I will never deny you. Then what happens? Peter's machismo facade comes crashing down at the first sign of adversity. Cowardly, he denies Jesus to a little slave girl. That that providential detail is there for a reason. Oh, you you gonna do this, Peter? I'll give you a little girl to speak into you. Let's see how you do there. And he just crumbles. He denies Jesus, the rooster crows, and Peter is in is alone in the rubble of his shattered self-confidence. That is where brazen, worldly, self-sufficient, self-produced, get your act together empowerment will eventually lead every man. It is unsustainable because it's a charade. But here's the beauty. Here's the beauty of Christian masculinity. It views Peter's worst moment as his best moment. Because finally Peter was ready to actually become the man he for so long had pretended to be. The gig was finally up. His fragile male sufficiency had failed him. The rooster's crow was Peter's metaphorical limp. By the way, I think, I think, um, I think God ordained that rooster for a reason. Back then, of course, they didn't have alarm clocks. What woke them up every morning? The rooster crow. I just think Peter every morning woke up and remembered his denial and remembered his weakness. I think every morning he has said, Oh yeah, I gotta trust in you again today, Lord. The rooster's crow was Peter's metaphorical limit, limp. Now that he is forced to embrace the weakness that he has always feared, he is prepared to discover the power he had always longed for. Stripped of his competency, Peter must choose dependency. So when he is reunited with the resurrected Jesus that he once denied, Peter is truly ready for Jesus because he truly needs Jesus. That was always true, but now Peter knows it to be true. He is broken and humbled, he is repentant and dependent, and this is the man who is finally ready to fulfill the destiny that Jesus promised. This is the man, this weak, fragile, dependent upon the Lord, he is the rock upon which Jesus can build a church. When Jesus, when Peter thought he had what it take to be the man, he was not the man. But when Peter knew that he could not be that man, he was finally ready to be Christ's man. And as such, he became everything he always pretended to be. Peter discovered what the apostle Paul, who himself had to walk with his own limb that he described as a thorn in his flesh. Peter discovered what Paul perfectly articulates. What men in our culture do what men, what man in our culture does this, but this is what the scriptures say. I will boast all the more gladly in my weakness. Christian men are these crazy men who don't hide their weaknesses. They boast in them. Why? So that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weakness, insults, hardship, persecution, and calamities. I am content with anything that forces me to rely upon Jesus. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Make no mistake, redeemed Christian masculinity is strong and courageous. It is noble and valiant. It is everything worldly masculinity pretends to be. But it is these things not because it calls men to hide their weakness in order to project strength, but because it calls men to boast in their weakness in order to discover Christ's strength. So Jesus blesses men, Jesus empowers men, and then lastly, Jesus commissions men. Like I said in the first talk, we were originally created as selfless men, as selfless beings, but the fall has turned God's image inward such that we are now fundamentally selfish beings. And so God's redemption in our lives is ultimately aimed at reclaiming and recommissioning God's purpose for our lives. He blesses us, he empowers us to commission us to live selfless, sacrificial lives for his glory and the good of our neighbors. Now, of course, that is true for both male and female image bearers alike, but it's also different for male and female image bearers. Both men and women are created to live selflessly, sacrificially selflessly. But their selflessness plays different roles within God's created order. As I already explained, nothing has proven more harmful to humanity than the selfish strength of sinful men. But we are right to ask if men have the capacity to cause exponential destruction, do they not have the capacity to resource exponential good? Selfish men are exceptionally detrimental to the world, but selfless men are exceptionally beneficial to the world. Selfish men represent a unique danger to society, but selfless men represent a unique protection of society. Granted, selfish men have brought much destruction to our world, but selfless men can build the type of world worth living in. Masculinity is like a fire. Without proper constraints, it is unrivaled in its potential destruction. It can literally burn an entire civilization to the ground. And yet, fire at the same time also gives life to civilization. We depend upon properly ordered fire every day in ways that go unnoticed. So it is with masculinity. The solution is not to extinguish the flame of masculinity as feminism has tried to do in order to avoid its destruction. The solution is accepting nothing less from men than properly ordered masculinity. And fundamentally, what reorders masculinity away from a curse upon the world into a blessing for the world is selflessness. Bottom line here: selfish men are a unique curse. Selfless men are a unique blessing. And this selfless commission to me is the glaring deficiency in the male empowerment movement that is gaining so much cultural momentum right now. Christian manhood and cultural manhood starkly depart when we ask this question: what is the purpose of manhood? The only acceptable answer the Christian man can give is that my masculinity, my strength, my courage, my ambition, my gifts, my valor, all of who I am as a man does not primarily exist for me. It is a gift I offer to the world. And that unselfish, sacrificial commission is what is missing in the masculine empowerment space that our young men are flocking to. And I'm not talking about the more taboo, toxic influencers. I'm talking about the more acceptable influencers, not the provocative voices that are advocating for obvious male immorality. Even the cleaner, mainstream advocates, if you truly evaluate their messaging, you will notice a narrative of male betterment for selfish, even narcissistic ends. Let me quote Dr. Anthony Bradley directly here because I think he really nails it. It's a bit of a longer quote, but it's it's gold and disgusting for those of you, and I'm I know a lot of y'all aren't into the to the male uh influencer spaces, but you just need to know that our youth are flocking to it by the droves. And so uh um Dr. Bradley um he he wrote he wrote this, and I think it's really important. He says this there is a reason so many men are captivated by Jordan Peterson, David Goggins. If you don't know who David Goggins is, he's a former Navy SEAL who just is all about men pushing themselves to the limit and and and mental toughness and physical toughness and just grinding and making goals and keeping them just everything men want to be. There's a reason why men are captivated by Jordan Peterson, David Goggins, and so forth. They appear to offer direction and discipline in a chaotic world, but look closer. Their vision of masculinity feeds narcissism, not sacrifice for other people's good. Peterson's 12 Rules for Life has zero rules about sacrificially caring for people on the margins who need help, not one. Every rule is about you, your habits, your status, your order, your meaning. It is a self-improvement project that never leaves the mirror. What a beautiful way to state what is becoming of the male influence sphere. A self-improvement project that never leaves the mirror. Likewise, Goggins preaches a gospel of relentless self-conquest, more miles, more pain, more mental toughness. But the end point become a self-made, unbreakable man. This isn't masculinity. It's just another form of self-optimization, fitness, career, status, winning. But masculinity isn't about standing on top of the mountain and yelling, I did it. It's also about standing in the gap for those who desperately need help. A truly heroic man sacrifices his power, presence, and resources to serve others, especially the vulnerable. It's about protecting, not posturing, lifting others up, not merely leveling yourself up. Your excellence is for other people's thriving. When young men consume endless influencer reels, what is formed is a self-centered and self-preserving masculinity that looks strong, but leaves communities weak. The world does not need more lone wolves chasing peak performance. It needs men willing to be fathers, mentors, and bridge builders. Men who say, My strength exists for others. The real challenge for today's young men isn't just to conquer themselves. It is to give power, presence, strength to others, for their families, their friends, and their communities. That's how men rebuild a world worth living in. That's the point I'm trying to make. Brothers, if you follow the advice and habits of someone like David Goggins, There is no doubt you are going to improve yourself and your life. You will be healthier, you will be stronger physically, you will be stronger mentally, more disciplined, more productive, more accomplished. All of it works. It will make you a quote, better man if you want to use that language. But my argument here is that what you do with all of that improvement will truly determine whether you have become a better man. Your strength used to protect the vulnerable, your discipline and mental toughness used as a steady, confident, and hopeful presence amid the storms of your family and community. Your achievements and status and resources and wealth and influence always viewed as a means to bless those without. Your courage and determination always viewed in service to justice, mercy, and peacemaking. Your ambition bound to the greater ambition of your wife and children and friends and neighbors and community, manhood actually does not belong to the man. It is a gift designed to be shared. So, yes, devote yourself to becoming a better man. But my point is you will not be that better man until you become a selfless man. And this selfless life, brothers, is the truest test of your manhood. Do you know how easy it is to be selfish? I don't know about you. I come about it very naturally. It's easy for me. It's easy for you. It's easy for a child. I don't care how fit you are. I don't care how successful you are. I don't care how wealthy and accomplished you are. If all of that is for you, I'm not impressed. Big deal. Selfishness is easy. Children can pull that off. But selflessness, selflessness is a virtue that demands a peculiar strength, a peculiar honor and courage and valor. That's why I call it mighty meekness. Do you know how mighty a man must be to choose the way of meekness? When we think of meekness, we often think of weakness. This could not be further from the truth. It can't be true because Jesus is simultaneously omnipotent and meek. Meekness is not the absence of strength, it is properly ordered and properly directed strength. It is strength and service to others at the expense of self. And when meekness is defined this way, we realize just how mighty are the meek. Now, of course, meekness is a virtue, both men and women are called to by Christ, but there's something special. Again, there's something special about a meek man. If meekness is defined as strength and service to others at the expense of self, then what are the implications for those endowed with superior strength? Those who could dominate with their strength, but choose instead to serve with their strength. Those with the power to take who choose instead to give. The uniqueness of masculine strength makes masculine meekness uniquely exceptional. Meek men are the reverse of the curse. He shall rule over you, rebuked and redeemed by he shall sacrifice for you. This is your calling, brothers. You are agents of redemption, healing what so many men have harmed, daring to walk a path that few men are willing to choose, boldly embracing the cross that meekness demands. It is not easy. Sacrificial strength will be the truest measure of your strength, and thus the truest test of your manhood. And candidly, no man can pass that test alone. It's simply too much for any man because it requires that the man become a new man. What meekness demands is unnatural, and thus a man's nature must be changed in order to find it. And this is what men cannot do on their own. Men have what it takes to become better men, but not new men. They can improve themselves, but they cannot redeem themselves. But the good and hopeful news is you are not alone, brothers. The one who calls you will change you. Jesus turns men into the men he expects us to be. And he does so by being for us what he calls us to be for the world. A man's meekness is forged by the meekness of the Savior into a world of selfish, masculine strength, a world where men for so long have ruled and exploited their power to dominate the weak. I want to close by telling you a different story of the perfect man. Let me wrap up our discussion by telling you again the story of the strongest sacrificing himself for the weakest. Do you remember what Peter did when Jesus was being arrested? He pulled out his sword and attacked. That's right, Peter. It's time to man up, right? Fight it out. Let's go. Conquer by the sword. Jesus says to him, Peter, put your sword away. Do you not think that I could appeal to my father and he will at once send more than 12 legions of angels? Angels are not in scripture chubby things playing harps. They are warriors, terrifying warriors. Do you not think that I could call 12 legions of angels? But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled? In essence, he is saying, Peter, you want to talk about strength and power? You know how powerful I am. And if I wanted to use that power for my own dominance, then that's what I would do. But that's not what I came to do. I came to fulfill the scriptures. And Isaiah promised a war promised the world a suffering servant. Zachariah promised a coming king who is meek and lowly. David promised one who would indeed rule and reign over the nations, only not by the sword, but by the armament of his suffering love. And so the omnipotent king, possessing all authority in heaven and on earth, surrenders to his own arrest, is carried away to false accusation and unjust condemnation, mocked, tortured, and hung from a tree. And on the cross, they insult the most powerful man. You saved others. You can't even save yourself. Oh, the irony. Of course, he could save himself, but in so doing, he could not save others. So bless his name forevermore. Our Savior chose meekness. And so it came to pass that those who deserve to be crushed by the judgment of Jesus are rescued by the meekness of Jesus. Now, brothers, this is important. That gospel of that perfect man embodying what every man ought to be is not just something done for us, it does something to us. How can it not? How could any man possibly respond to that story with hubris and selfishness? Who here dares blaspheme Christ's meekness with your bravado? Who can possibly look at the cross and come away saying, Look at me? This cannot be. Instead, the Savior's meekness commissions our meekness. And even more, the very Spirit of Jesus indwells men of Jesus, and his spirit is unrelenting in making men more like Jesus. He simply will not leave you alone, brothers, until you fulfill your redeemed masculine destiny. Christian men, of course, can be arrogant and selfish, but they are not at peace in those pursuits. While hard-hearted men give their lives away to self-centered and self-seeking conquests, Christian men are strangely convicted and disturbed by those same pursuits. And in this way, Jesus does for men what is impossible for men to do on their own. He forges in us a meekness that is unnatural to our fallen world, but natural to our original design. Let me pray. Jesus, do that work in all of our hearts. We need you, Jesus. We want, we long to be the men you have created us to be, but we uh confess that we just don't have what it takes. We don't have it, what it takes to self-redeem and fix ourselves and force ourselves to become the men you designed us to be. Jesus, we need you to bless us. Oh, that the blessing of this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased would descend upon this room like never before. We need you to bless us. We need you to empower us. We've tried to make ourselves better men. We tried to self-improve. We've set goals and committed ourselves to plans. We've tried to become better men, but ultimately we need you to empower us. And so, therefore, we've got to do what we fear to do. We've got to own our weakness. We've got to live in dependency so that in our weakness, the power of Christ might rest upon us. And we need you to commission us. We need your meekness to forge in us a meekness, a legacy of masculine meekness in this world, in the life of our family, our friends, the community around us. We need you, Jesus, come visit the men in this room. And because we gave up a Saturday night together, I pray that the fruit of redeemed masculinity would come out of this room and be felt in this families and neighborhoods, in this city, on college campuses and high schools, that the fruit of this Saturday night would be felt for years, indeed, for generations to come. Turn us into the men we long to be. Make us more like the Savior, in whose name we pray. Amen.