The Kind of Men We Need

The Advance Conference recently took place in Raleigh, NC to help train Christians all around the world to have both a "faithful & fruitful" ministry in their daily lives. You can listen or watch all the sessions from the conference here.

John Bryson's session was on the kind of men we need today. I have had the pleasure of listening to a lot of talks on biblical manhood, but this was honestly the best I have ever heard. John Bryson is so good at getting to the heart of men by both convicting and encouraging with the grace of God.

Below are some brief notes I took from his session on men. Please check out his 30 minute session below. It is well worth those 30 minutes. Men, those 30 minutes might change the rest of your life. Invest eternally.

 

8 Realities of Men Today

1.) Men are confused

There is no pathway from boyhood to manhood. When do you become a man? We don't know and thus manhood is reduced in our culture to boyish behavior (when you turn 18, can drink, can drive, have sex for the first time, etc.), instead of an authentic call and vision for life from God.

2.) Men are experiencing a general disappointment with life

Men, generally, thought life was going to give them more opportunities and be more fulfilling as they got older. Men aren't sure what to do with this disappointment. Purpose is drained out and adventure and vision is all but gone.

3.) Men are in pain

This is a pain that's not resolved. Men don't talk about this pain and their hurts. "What is your deepest hurt?" is rarely asked and men are thus wounded and unsure where to take this pain that seems to never go away.

4.) Men are lonely

This one is a little strange with all the communication and technological advances in the world today. However, as technology has increased, intimacy has decreased. The typical American male "knows" everyone, but is not known by anyone.

5.) Men are drifting

Men because of the confusion, pain, disappointment, and loneliness have no internal vision for their life. Men continue to react to life as it comes. They are at best playing defense, while no offense is occurring.

 6.) Men will turn to escapes to numb these realities.

Men go after things to numb their confusion, pain, disappointment, and loneliness in order to stay away from these realities. That's why men are workaholics, sports fanatics, indulge in excessive alcohol, angry, and easily drawn to pornography over and over again.

7.) Confused men cause problems

There is nothing more dangerous than an insecure, ungrounded man set adrift in this world. Gender, alone, is the single greatest predictor of crime in this country. All of societies problems can be rooted back to what's gone wrong with men.

8.) Without a Gospel centered vision of manhood, men will settle for less and less in life.

God has wired men to make a difference. To take initiative for the benefit of others. Men are wired to be givers, not takers. Everywhere Jesus went in the gospels, things got better, as it should be with men today. So many men are aggressive and ambitious in all the things that don't matter, and completely flat lined in all the things that do .

The standard in our culture for men has been set at: give your family a roof over their head and food on the table. Even Possums do that. We need better men.

The world needs men who:

a.) reject passivity

b.) accept responsibility

c.) lead courageously

d.) Invest eternally

The only way we can do this is not just looking at the example of Jesus, who did all of this for us when we couldn't, but also allowing Jesus to work in and through us. Jesus isn't just a good example of manhood, he is manhood. Without him, we will be boys, no matter what our age, accomplishments, or successes. 

Boys take. Men give. Boys create problems, Men solve them. Boys complain.Men figure it out. Boys pout. Men endure. Boys blame. Men own. Boys wish. Men do. Boys start. Men finish. Boys stiffen their neck. Men bend their knee to their savior.