Lament for the Evangelical Male, Part II: Tamquam Alter Christus

[Translation: Tamquam Alter Christus ~ As If Another Christ]

In the previous post I spoke of the thing that most troubled my spirit in the church today. It was the sidelining of the men in the church to a secondary role or elimination of their influence completely. I attributed this fact to basically one of two things. Either the men were disqualifying themselves through abdication of the their god-given role in leadership or by the relentless pressure of the culture that tells men in the church that they are only men and therefore secondary or an afterthought. I intend with this post to show what biblical masculinity is and get the Bible back into the minds of the Church. This will then put Godly men back where they belong. Leading their families and leading their people in the Body of Christ.

The average man in the church body cannot follow the culture’s lead. It is leading them to a spiritual abyss. Men are reaching towards ideals and ideologies that are not biblical and are damaging the Church's spirituality. As a whole I am noticing more and more men with issues revolving around depression or abdication of their proper roles in the home and in society. Of late, the feminist movement which was a reaction to the abuses of women in the past has now outgrown its originally intended purpose into an ungodly and unbiblical monstrosity that has pervaded society and in so doing has contaminated the church.

So what is a Godly man? The best place to see this lived out is in the life of Jesus Christ. Can we be like Jesus perfectly? Of course not…but we need to turn to Him as a role model. We also need to turn to Him in repentance acknowledging that our sin entraps us. This post will predominately be Scripture that give us a clear picture of Jesus as a male leader and role model. It will be followed by a third and fourth post applying some of these principles to men's lives today.

Jesus: A Perfect Man

Jesus was the only perfect man so it is He that other men should emulate.

1 Peter 2:21-22 ~ To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

Jesus’ character showed men what men should be. We need to look to Scripture for clarification of this point.

Of first importance we see Jesus had an eternal mindset. He did the will of the Father not his own desires. He was filled with the Spirit of God. He preached the Gospel to other men and women not a Prosperity Gospel or Health and Wealth nonsense that crumbles when suffering and pain begins. Above all Jesus distinguished Himself above mere men because of His overt holiness.

What Was Jesus’ Attitude?

Jesus did the Will/Work of the Father

John 5:30 ~ “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

 John 8:28-29 ~ So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

Jesus was Filled with the Spirit

Luke 4:1 ~ And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.”

Jesus Preached the Gospel/Jesus Was The Gospel

Mark 1:14-15 ~ “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus Preached Gospel not Prosperity

Matthew 10:34 ~ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Jesus Was Holy and Sinless

1 Peter 2:22 ~ He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.”

Philippians 2:8 ~ “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Where Was Jesus’ Heart & Compassion?

Jesus Served Others

Matthew 4:23 ~ “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Luke 4:18 ~ ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed”

Jesus Was Sacrificial

Luke 22:42 ~ “saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.

Philippians 2:6-8 ~ “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus Was Gentle

Matthew 11:29 ~ “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Where Was Jesus’ Courage and Zeal?

Jesus Was A Leader

John 6:2 ~ “And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

Jesus Showed Initiative

Mark 6:34 ~ “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 

Jesus Was Confrontational When Warranted/Not a Man Pleaser

Mark 11:15-17 ~ “And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 

Jesus Was Decisive and Courageous

Mark 8:31-32 ~ “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly…”

Jesus Was Responsible and Conscientious

John 17:4 ~ “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

John 19:30 ~ “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Jesus Was Diligent and Industrious

John 5:17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Jesus Wasn’t A Quitter

Hebrews 12:2-3 ~ looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Where was Jesus’ Meekness and Humility?

Jesus Served Others

John 13:12-17 ~ “When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Jesus was Not Proud, Did Not Crave Attention

John 8:50 ~ “Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.”

John 8:54 ~ “Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ “

John 17:1 ~ “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you”

In a third part of this lament I will attempt to tie the Scripture into a coherent applicable picture for the modern evangelical male to follow.

[Continued Inn Part III]