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Being a Christ-like Man

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  • Buzzword
    replied
    Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
    There is actually a well-written blog post by Roger Olson, which touches on some of the points you raise here. Check it out:

    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereo...NjAzMzUwOTcxS0
    Thank you for posting.
    I agree with many of the points he makes, especially how males are treated as unnecessary in too many media.

    I'm not sure how I personally feel about the idea that boys and men have an innate need to feel respected.
    I can't say that I've ever thought in those terms.

    As a child I was more focused on being accepted by my peers than respected, and much of my personal growth (from a hardcore introvert to a hardcore extrovert over the course of nearly twenty years) was geared in that direction.

    I've also read about a need for respect put in terms of the father-son relationship.
    I had a halfway decent relationship with my father, but because he had a tendency to randomly become enraged which I later learned was genetic, without any physical abuse, I was and am much more closely bonded with my mother.
    I've heard other men say that they felt a need to "challenge" their father, and Joseph Campbell puts the Oedipal part of male development as "the son against the father for the mastery of the universe".
    I never felt the need to challenge him, though when I hit high school I got tired of being afraid of him and got in his face during one of his rages. He grabbed my collar, but backed down.

    Even now, trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, I'm not thinking in terms of what career will win me respect, but what will allow me to use my abilities in a creative environment to pay the bills.
    I'm not considering becoming an English professor because it is a respected profession or because others will look up to me, but because it will allow me to continue writing, and hopefully pass my love of writing and literature onto others.

    Leave a comment:


  • Zymologist
    replied
    I'm somewhere between Scrawly and KG, also. Maybe I can use an analogy: I've read (skimmed) several books and blog posts on how to write. For the most part, the information in them is so obvious that you wonder how the author managed to write and sell a book on the subject. Then again, there will usually be nuggets that maybe present something in a new light, or give an interesting method for developing a character, or something like that. So they're useful, but limited in their usefulness.

    Maybe a book on how to be a Godly man would be useful more for the motivation than the information.

    Leave a comment:


  • Scrawly
    replied
    Originally posted by Buzzword View Post
    While I agree with much of this, I don't even look to the Bible to be a "Christian man".
    I look to it and to my own life experience and reasoning to be a CHRISTIAN.
    But I disagree with "Christian man" being a separate term, and disagree with its semantic usage.

    Especially because so many of these books that I have started reading and discarded are basically just reinforcing traditional gender roles behind a facade of "because God says so".

    God does not differentiate between male and female when He calls us to live a Christ-like life.
    To me, that means building relationships with the people He brings into our lives, and devoting all effort to loving all people unconditionally.
    There is actually a well-written blog post by Roger Olson, which touches on some of the points you raise here. Check it out:

    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereo...NjAzMzUwOTcxS0

    Leave a comment:


  • Buzzword
    replied
    Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
    I don't want to come across as spiritually proud or anything, but I honestly stay away from books such as these. They simply never appealed to me because I can't quite grasp how an entire book needs to be written on such a topic. It just becomes another book with another man saying stuff that one tends to quickly forget. It's an unnecessary information overload on a topic that simply requires bible study and prayer not pages and pages of rhetoric. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh because I am sure these books are published with good intentions, but I just think we have come to a point where we don't need another book to read, rather, we need to put into practice what we already know.
    While I agree with much of this, I don't even look to the Bible to be a "Christian man".
    I look to it and to my own life experience and reasoning to be a CHRISTIAN.
    But I disagree with "Christian man" being a separate term, and disagree with its semantic usage.

    Especially because so many of these books that I have started reading and discarded are basically just reinforcing traditional gender roles behind a facade of "because God says so".

    God does not differentiate between male and female when He calls us to live a Christ-like life.
    To me, that means building relationships with the people He brings into our lives, and devoting all effort to loving all people unconditionally.

    Leave a comment:


  • Cow Poke
    replied
    Do the right thing and accept the consequences.

    Leave a comment:


  • Jedidiah
    replied
    Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
    It's easy in theory to say the Bible is enough, but it wasn't written to our culture and I think it's helpful to translate scriptural principles into our own situations. No offense, but that sentiment does seem a bit prideful.
    There is a lot in the Bible that is difficult to fully understand. I am with Scrawly in saying that there is plenty of easy to understand stuff on how we need to live. I do not find a book on how to be a Christian man very useful. What it takes is to apply clear principles from the Scripture. The fruits of the spirit are an excellent general approach. Paul points out with some specificity how to live. One of my favorite verses is visible in my Signature, which I would paraphrase as live the way you ought to live.

    Bottom line I do think the Bible is clear on how to live. Christian manhood is not about doing certain things, but about living in a way consistent with the Word.

    Leave a comment:


  • Carrikature
    replied
    Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
    It's easy in theory to say the Bible is enough, but it wasn't written to our culture and I think it's helpful to translate scriptural principles into our own situations.
    I think I'm between you and Scrawly in this. The fundamental principles aren't that hard to grasp, but it can certainly be helpful to have a set of "for examples". That goes double in situations where you don't necessarily have time to think about what is happening when faced with a decision.

    Leave a comment:


  • Carrikature
    replied
    Originally posted by The Unknown Comic View Post
    Have any of you found books like these to be helpful?
    The comedian/actor Kevin James has a bit about people that are more overweight than he is wanting to give him dieting advice. I always found these sorts of books to be a parallel to that. I don't think I understand the basis upon which any man presumes to tell another man how to be a man. It seems like the same principles for behavior should apply to just about everyone regardless of sex.

    Leave a comment:


  • Scrawly
    replied
    Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
    It's easy in theory to say the Bible is enough, but it wasn't written to our culture and I think it's helpful to translate scriptural principles into our own situations. No offense, but that sentiment does seem a bit prideful.
    I disagree. I think the Bible is rather easy to understand, but difficult to practice, when it comes to how we ought to conduct our lives. A(nother) book could possibly help with putting Scripture into practice, but I stand by what I said and suggest simple Bible reading and prayer as a more effective method than reading the new book of the month.

    Leave a comment:


  • KingsGambit
    replied
    It's easy in theory to say the Bible is enough, but it wasn't written to our culture and I think it's helpful to translate scriptural principles into our own situations. No offense, but that sentiment does seem a bit prideful.

    Leave a comment:


  • Zymologist
    replied
    Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
    I don't want to come across as spiritually proud or anything, but I honestly stay away from books such as these. They simply never appealed to me because I can't quite grasp how an entire book needs to be written on such a topic. It just becomes another book with another man saying stuff that one tends to quickly forget. It's an unnecessary information overload on a topic that simply requires bible study and prayer not pages and pages of rhetoric. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh because I am sure these books are published with good intentions, but I just think we have come to a point where we don't need another book to read, rather, we need to put into practice what we already know.
    I tend to agree with this.

    Leave a comment:


  • Scrawly
    replied
    I don't want to come across as spiritually proud or anything, but I honestly stay away from books such as these. They simply never appealed to me because I can't quite grasp how an entire book needs to be written on such a topic. It just becomes another book with another man saying stuff that one tends to quickly forget. It's an unnecessary information overload on a topic that simply requires bible study and prayer not pages and pages of rhetoric. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh because I am sure these books are published with good intentions, but I just think we have come to a point where we don't need another book to read, rather, we need to put into practice what we already know.

    Leave a comment:


  • Zymologist
    replied
    It's been a long time since I've read it, but I remember Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes to be a good, challenging read. I remember little about it, though.

    Leave a comment:


  • The Unknown Comic
    started a topic Being a Christ-like Man

    Being a Christ-like Man

    Hello, all. I'm in the midst of reading Act Like Men: 40 Days to Biblical Manhood by James MacDonald (but at my reading speed it's going to be more like half a year), and noticed there's quite the subsection of the Christian Living aisle at the bookstore dedicated to being a more-Christian man, or a more manly Christian, or what have you. Going to be tackling Gene Getz' Measure of a Man next, but wanted to talk about this and ask if you guys had read any books you found helpful.

    It seems to me that these fall primarily under the subject of sanctification, and I am nothing if not monergistic (at least in theory--in practice, I sometimes fall short). Salvation--all of it, not just justification--is of the Lord, including our sanctification, and if/when I try to complete in the flesh what God began in the spirit, that is where I begin to go off the rails. So I approach books like these with a little trepidation.

    Have any of you found books like these to be helpful?
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