It drives me crazy that the word, "Masculine", is borderline looked at as a demeaning thing in culture today.
It's almost like it has become a modern day "B" word used to mock dudes.
Something you don't want to be called...
That said, it still is a compliment to me.
Still is something I want to embody.
Still is something (or better said as someone) I'll fight for.
... I recently recorded a television show for me and my boys called Knight Fight.
Grown men, dressed in ancient amour, fighting with ancient weapons, kicking the crap out of each other. We loved it. My wife hated it. None of this is encompasses true "Masculinity" (at least by my definition)... just boat loads of fun for a dad and his two sons.
(One day we hope there is a Father-Son team event. We'd enter it. We'd win it. ;);))
Anyways, in the last episode we watched, one of the warriors mentioned he was fighting for his mom, who was just diagnosed with Cancer... he had tears in his eyes as he mentioned this.
Before I go on, I am not naive... but I am oh so sorry...
To any who have been overlooked, belittled, talked down too, betrayed, and/or abused, by "a man"... in any fashion or form... from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry.
None of these horrors represent what it means to be a man...
None of them are a sign of strength...
And I promise you, none of them represent God's heart or design when He wired masculinity into our/my DNA.
With this in mind, I also recognize, I am privileged.
To some, the word privileged is an insult. To others it is used as a derogatory term of entitlement.
However you use it, I recognize it is in modern western history true of white males.
As a white male... I am privileged.
I pray I can leverage my privilege for good... to be a voice for masculinity, a word that from here on out, I'd prefer to call Biblical manhood.
To help you understand what I am not referring to in a culture of much confusion on this topic, allow me to state a couple random facts:
- I loved the recent Captain Marvel movie.
- I've lost in certain athletic exercises to my wife (getting your 260 lbs frame to move like it did when it was 20 years old is not as easy as it looks... just saying).
- I have sparred (boxed and kick-boxed) with both males and females... and been hit harder by certain of my XX counter parts than my XY ones.
None of these stereo types are what I am taking about when I say, and here advocate for Biblical manhood.
If I was asked to define Biblical manhood, I'd start with this, a prayer I pray over me and my boys almost every day:
"God, help us to be;
Men of God
Men of Character
Men of Courage
Men of Compassion
& Men of Adventure"
Perhaps even shorter... I'd suggest it is one who fights for others ahead of themselves.
As dad, I realize, that in my home this starts with me. I have to model this for my boys.
I'm not perfect in this... but we're making headway.
My son Parker knows, Jesus heals.
He has experienced healing.
He has prayed over people, and seen them healed.
He fully expects Jesus is going to come through when he prays for healing.
He's learning to fight for people in this way already.
Last week,
Parker and I were driving home after gathering with the church.
He said, "Dad do you remember that guy who's mom was sick?"
"From church?" I asked.
With a roll of his eyes, he responded with, "nooooooooo."
"What guy?" I answered.
"The one from Knight Fight!" He said adamantly.
To which I said, "of course."
With absolute conviction and assurance that Jesus was listening, Parker said, "Dad, we need to pray for her right now!"
So we did.
As a Man of God, my son, who is 8, became the model for me that day, as he courageously and compassionately prayed for that woman. Someone we'll never meet, simply because something in his heart hurt for hers, and he knew he had to fight for her.
That's a Man's man right there.
Fighting for others.
As a man of God, character, courage, compassion and adventure.
We're making headway... taking back the "M", in hopes of Making a Man!
With Shouts of Joy - Kenny
PS: In Jesus Name... I pray somewhere out there, someone is raising a couple warrior princesses, to one day partner with my little princes, for the sake of the Kingdom. Whoever and wherever you are, in prayer, I fight with you, for them, even now. - Amen
Thank you Ken! This was an amazing read! I too also had some welling up.
PS Bryan also watches Knight Fight with the boys. 😉
Just read your post on The Making of a Man. Almost sounds like you're a Promise Keeper or something! 😁
I made it through okay until the P.S., then my eyes had a cloud burst and my emotions let go. Must have been bottling them up for a while. Felt good though.
I can resonate with your desire to have your boys marry godly women. Never too soon to pray for that... keep on keeping on!
- Arden