Pilgrim's Progress

Sleepers Awake

"When the Ents are roused, they will find that they are strong."
(Gandalf in The Two Towers)

I've heard it said (maybe it was Lesslie Newbiggin) that the body of Christ is a sleeping giant. Maybe that applies in a particular way to men in our culture and in the body of Christ - yet to wake up fully to the call of God on our lives, and step into our true purpose. It's a call I'm hearing again - to step up, to leave behind lazy and "sleepy" ways and to allow the Father to lead me on the next step of this risky journey of whole-life discipleship.

Does this resonate with you at all?

Chaps: Who are we meant to be?

(This is a radically reworded version of this post - I didn't really communicate what I meant to first time round)

Here's one attempt to answer this - try this test (not too seriously) ... from a book entitled "No More Christian Nice Guy" ...

There's a lot being said and written at the moment about what God intends men and women to be. One comment that has appeared more than once on blog posts about godly masculinity has been "(why) does this only apply to men?". This makes me think about what difference it makes to be male or female under God, and how gender might influence the way God deals with us, how we respond to him and so on.

What I see in the Christian community concerns me. Coming from a male perspective, I'm concerned about how many Christian men are struggling to know who they are really meant to be, and to understand what implications that has for being husbands, fathers, sons, leaders, prophets, agents for change and so forth. From many conversations in recent years, I can only conclude that many Christian men harbour some degree of doubt and lack of confidence about what they have to offer the world, the church, the lost, their wives, children and all the other people that matter to them.

There is so much being written and said about what manhood and masculinity are all about. The burden I increasingly feel is to get to the heart of what God intended for us as men, and to discover how God deals with a man in a way which affirms and draws out his masculinity specifically, and not just his humanity in a general way. I would want there to be similar and parallel understanding of how God deals with a woman in a way which affirms and draws out her femininity specifically, and not just her humanity in a general way.

What I'm searching for is the basis for a man to feel secure in his created identity in a way which frees him to live out of a place of quiet inner humble strength, and does away with the need to prove himself, to abuse power or abuse other people, to run away from his weaknesses, and that kind of thing.

Masculinity & Power

The theme of masculinity keeps coming back at the moment ... what does it mean to be a man after God's heart? This is a lifelong quest, but some recurring themes:

1. Humble ourselves before God and let him elevate us when we're ready. If we don't understand this we will probably try to force our way to prominence and status.
2. Don't be afraid of true spiritual power - the godly power that comes only through continually being broken and humbled before God (modelled perfectly by Jesus). As soon as we start to wield it away from that humble & broken place, the power becomes destructive.
3. Let others clamber onto the platforms and pedestals, but we must be willing to stand there ourselves if God elevates us.
4. There is a place, indeed an urgent need, for men to live and act with boldness and courage, but it begins, once again, with daily brokenness and true humility before God.

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up when the right moment comes." (1 Peter 5:7)

Emerging Church & Masculinity

Recent blog posts have swung between these two topics but they are deeply intertwined. A recent post suggested some kinds of people might be found in emerging church. I'd like to add some more, with an eye to what kinds of men & young men we might encounter:

1. never-been-fathered
2. never-been-initiated
3. never-been-mentored
4. never-been-believed-in
5. etc ...

I wonder if some of those who will be drawn to em.church are seeking those very things ...

I am currently reading and meditating on a very helpful article by Franciscan Richard Rohr about "Father Hunger" - read it here.

Do we recognise any of these lacks in ourselves, as we also identify them in those we encounter? Following a comment in "Mission Shaped Church", the leaders of em.church are going to have to walk the walk before others will respect their talk ... if Richard Rohr is right, then what is needed is less sharing of opinions, roles and so forth, and more sharing our our very selves.

More to come on this I think ...