Sunday, January 6, 2013

Brave Warriors: 1 Chronicles 5:24b-25

             The topic for today's discussion has to do with some troubling men's movements that have been popping up along with a theme in scripture that is getting more attention in recent times. Although there is no official name for it, you can call it the Courageous Warrior or Masculinity movement. The recent spotlight on this idea centers around one theme: men are not what they should be and it is because we have lost a biblical definition for manhood in our churches. To restore this manhood, we need to emphasize the godly qualities that are also masculine, such as righteous confrontation, strength, and courage. The argument goes that real men stay out of church and the ones inside it have been brainwashed into acting like women. This movement blames the deficiency of "real" men in churches today for the church's inability to take a bolder stance on current hot button issues and for the inability of men to be leaders among the congregation. The proposed solution for these problems is to gather groups of men to cultivate these male qualities and, thus, restore the church. This is also to counter the problem of men only maturing in ways that are feminine. The biblical foundation for this movement comes from Old Testament stories about godly men, like David or Samson, showcasing legendary manhood and emphasizing the need to emulate this masculinity. One Bible study I read, called Chase the Lion, focused on the story of Benaiah in 2 Samuel 23:20:
20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab’s best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.
             The moral of the story is that a guy in the Bible did a manly thing. That's it. We don't hear anything more about this man's character or his relationship with God besides going on to be a military leader and executioner for Solomon (see 1 Kings 2), but we do know that he killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. The Bible study takes this single verse and expands it to mean that God calls us all to take more risks, but it qualifies this by saying that these risks should be calculated. What they fail to mention is how killing a lion in a snowy pit is a calculated risk, but maintains that we must follow this man's approach to life based on this single action. The other verse I see frequently attached to this movement is 1 Corinthians 16:13:
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.
            The specific part of this verse focused on is "be men of courage", which is often translated, accurately, as "act like men" or "be men". While this passage does ask men to have godly characteristics that are Masculine, I think it would be putting words in Paul's mouth to say that true Masculinity is Godliness. While the goals of being brave and leaders of our families are noble, these characteristics are not guarantees of righteousness in any way. To start my counterargument, let's turn over to 1 Chronicles 5:24b, which describes an Israelite family:
24b They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their families. 
           These Israelites have the same heart as Benaiah! In fact, they do even more! Not only are they brave, they have importance in the eyes of the public and are strong leaders of their families. I could start my own Masculinity Bible study with much further applications, but to do so would be to lie to and mislead you about their character. Now I am going to add verse 25 on to this passage and see what you think of these new role models:
24b They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their families. 25 But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.
            Character adjustment is never a guarantee of righteousness. I want to be a spiritual leader in my family and I would like to be courageous and make bold stands for what is righteous, but I need to develop that character out of a growing relationship with God rather than follow a Law of Masculinity. The men in the previous passage were part of the family of God and they met all the demands of the Masculinity movement and more, but they have nothing; their spiritual treasuries are empty. Not only so, but Masculinity is very subjective and changes based on the culture. For instance, the Karo men of Ethiopia prove their Masculinity by how many cows they can jump over; contrarily, the Bunna women of Ethiopia prove their Femininity by how many whip lashes they can endure (See also Global Prayer Digest). Instead of trying to make ourselves more godly by pursuing a subjective Man Law, God gives us the power for life and godliness. 2 Peter 1:3-4 says:
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
          Here, we see that God's divine promises (such as the power for life and godliness) give us the ability to mature towards the divine nature and escape corruption. The passage goes on to describe how to pursue maturity by spending time with God. While there is nothing wrong with Masculinity, we are not called to pursue it. The reasons that we are strong, brave, or courageous are because of our love for God and women are called to be these things as well. In fact, the female heroes of the Old Testament were famous because they were strong, brave, and courageous. They killed people in the Old Testament, too, lol. While the Bible does give a few different instructions to guys and girls and affirms their major differences, the authority of these commands rests on scripture and the differences are to be embraced and celebrated without being enforced as law.
        To close, let me leave you with a passage that shows the continuity between time with God and the resulting Godliness that so happens to be Masculine. Joshua 1:8-9 says:
8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Peace,
Simeon Snow

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