Pastoral Musings

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that movethf upon the earth. “  (Genesis 1:26-28 ) KJV

What is Biblical manhood?  Simply put, it is manhood as described in God’s Word.

What is one manifestation of Biblical manhood?  Dominance!

DOMINANCE????????????

Yup!  You read correctly.  Dominance.

Mankind was made to rule the earth.  At the same time, God gave leadership of the family unit to the males of mankind.

Men need to dominate.

NO!  I don’t mean cruel, harsh, domineering domination.  I mean that men need things to conquer.  They must be the master of something in some manner.  It is part of their nature.  Men need to have not only leadership skills in the home as well as the ability to make right decisions in every area of life, but men also need challenges to overcome in a way that demonstrates the benevolent Lordship of Christ in whose image man was made.

Perhaps that is the problem today.  We live in a climate of fear.  Fear of change.  Fear of offending someone.  Fear of being mocked.  Fear of being misunderstood.  Fear of failure.  Fear of the opinions of others.

Men need to step beyond the bounds of comfort and conquer something.  Gain courage by fighting fear and dread.  Go out, find a hobby, and learn to do it well.  Set a goal for life and strive to meet it.  Get a hard book and wrestle with its concepts and learn from it.  Get a plow and plant a garden.  Pursue purity and capture it. Provide opportunity for your sons to do the same.  Give them room to fail, but encourage them to get back up and try again.  Teach them.  Train them.  Help them become men by conquering.  Help them become men by learning that failure is often a part of the path to conquest.

Is it any wonder that we have so many effeminate men today?  So many have been squeezed into a box that is too small for them and made to think that the problem is with them and not with the box.  Wives, back up and give your man a chance to break free from the box.  You may be surprised at what a great husband he’ll become if he’s given the opportunity.  Mothers, protect your sons, but don’t be over protective and keep them from skinning their knees, bruising the elbows, and being boys.  Give them a chance to dominate in life.  Christian gentlemen are not meant to be softies.  They are meant to be fighters who will stand up and be counted when the going gets tough.  Let them be boys so that they will grow up to be men.   Training boys up in the Christian graces will go a long way toward preventing their bent toward dominance from becoming a form of tyranny.

If they aren’t allowed to dominate they will never learn to lead.  Neither will they learn how to rightly fight for what needs to be fought over.  They will either be softies or hard-hearted creeps who violently take whatever they please.  Biblical manhood seeks to dominate kindly and benevolently.  That is what God intended to happen.

Just some random thoughts and musings…