True Manhood Begins With Following Christ

We challenge the noisy cultural stories about masculinity with Psalm 1 and a clear definition of biblical manhood rooted in following Jesus. We lay out three marks of a real man and end at the cross, because we need a Savior before we can live with courage, contentment, and consistency. 
• cultural extremes around masculinity and why misogyny is toxic 
• a Bible-shaped definition of manhood as sacrificial responsibility that blesses others 
• contentment as deep blessedness rather than constant cheer 
• King Ahab as a warning about entitlement and discontent 
• Lance Armstrong as a modern example of insatiability and downfall 
• the secret of delighting in God’s Word day and night 
• being materially content and spiritually hungry 
• why children need presence more than possessions 
• courage to resist compromise and stand against shifting cultural narratives 
• the “walk, stand, sit” progression into ungodliness 
• consistency as rooted faith that bears fruit over time 
• the North Star metaphor for unchanging convictions 
• Paul Tripp’s reminder that true manhood leads us to the cross as Savior 

Transcript

Father’s Day Welcome

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Happy Father's Day to all you dads. You glad to be in church on Father's Day? Thank you for not saying no. I'd rather be on the golf course. Or the pickleball court. It sounds like.

Reading Psalm 1 Together

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hey, if you would uh stand to your feet one more time. We're gonna read Psalm chapter one together. Psalm chapter one. If you have it, say amen. Just open to the middle of your Bible, you'll be close. All right, Psalm chapter one. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on it he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields it fruit, its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand. The wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. This is the word of God for the people of God. You may be seated.

Redefining Masculinity With Scripture

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Well, there is a lot of conversation today around the subject of masculinity. One cultural narrative that's kind of trendy right now asserts that masculinity is only a social construct and is inherently at any level toxic. Have you heard this term? Toxic masculinity. Now, misogyny is toxic, but I would argue today that, first of all, masculinity is not a social construct, nor is it toxic. Masculinity is God ordained. So there's this other idea that manhood or masculinity, they would there, there's another group that says, Oh, yeah, we're all for that. We believe, you know, we need to be men. You can do kind of the Tim Allen growl, remember that from home improvement. And uh, but but but there's this other extreme idea that says that manhood is really about power and control and dominance. But but here's what the Bible says it says, no, it's God ordained. And yes, it's about being courageous, but it's also about being loving and self-sacrificing, if you will. It's about leadership in taking on the mantle of responsibility that God has given us. Here's what I'm scared of in the church. I think in a church, particularly a conservative church like this, here's what I think's happened. I think that we can mistake the appearance of manhood and miss the substance of manhood. Let me let me tell you what I mean. Long beards, as cool as they are, don't make you a man. Where's Jerry at? He's hiding. Bulging biceps, don't make you a man. Chiseled abs, even monetary success or career success. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of those things, but they do not make you a man as far as the Bible is concerned. Let me let me define um manhood. As far as I can tell, this is what the Bible, how it frames masculinity. Masculinity is about being a devoted follower of Christ. That's first and foremost what makes you a man who gladly bears the burden of sacrificial responsibility necessary to glorify God and bless others. Okay, let me read that one more time. Masculinity is about being a devoted follower of Christ who gladly bears the burden of sacrificial responsibility necessary to glorify God and to bless others. So, you know, one extreme says, listen, um, all masculinity should be dismantled because it's horrible for society. I would argue, friends, that if we don't teach the next generation of boys to be real men, we're doomed. We are doomed. But if again men will learn to act like men, I just believe our homes, our churches, and our nation will be strengthened. So let me give you from Psalm chapter one just simply three characteristics of being a real man.

Contentment That Money Cannot Buy

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Number one, real men are content. Real men are content. Chapter one begins with the word blessed, or the way I like to say it, oh King James style, blessed. And it is a Hebrew word, as share, and you know what it means? It means happy. It means happy. And the word here is this is not just a superficial happiness. No, this is a deep-seated happiness. A way to think about it. This is someone who is content. This is not a man who is simply like chipper all the time. I've said before, those kind of people who are always bubbling and chipper kind of drive us crazy, don't they? I mean, they can be anything bad can happen. They're like, oh, you know, you know, be quiet, right? That's not what this is. It's but here's what I think it means. Even through seasons of lament and grief with real men and women of God, there is just this deep-seated contentment in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a maybe another way to think about it is that there's this wholeness within a man of God. You know some men who are never content. I love the story of the man who came up to his wife. He said, Honey, I finally got everything I want. She said, Oh, that's so great to hear. Are you finally content? And he said, Well, not so fast. He said, Uh, I now need a bigger garage to keep it all in. That was supposed to be funny. Thank you. Come on, it's Father's Day. You owe me a laugh for a dad joke. Listen, let me give you a biblical example of an ungodly man who was very discontent. This is about, this is a story of a man named King Ahab. You remember Ahab? Not a strong man. Coward to his wife, the infamous, vicious, vile Jezebel. Had a friend that named their cat Jezebel. I'm like, man, that's just you're asking for it. All right, here we go. First Kings. Let me read you just a little story about Ahab. First Kings chapter 21. I'm just gonna read verses um uh one through four. Now Naboth, the Jezreelite, had a vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab of Samaria. And after this Ahab said to Nabeth, Give me your vineyard that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it. If it seems good to you, I'll even give you its value in money. But Nabah said to Ahab, The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers. And watch this Ahab went away vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him. For he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. And watch this. Ahab lay down on his bed and he turned his face away and would eat no food. Poor little Ahab. Everybody say, Oh. Listen, King Ahab, did you catch it? He had a palace. He probably had more vineyards than you can count. And there was this one that he had, you know, he looked out maybe the palace window and saw that it was right there, how luscious it was. And he thinks, I just need another, I just need another vineyard. Just like you and men, you just need another golf club or a paddle or a boat or a car. This is what he's doing. And so um it what's funny, I was thinking about this. He's like, it's close to my house. Do you think though he was the one going and you know, walking to the garden and kind of picking vegetables? I doubt it. And so, what's he do when he doesn't get what he wants? I mean, he pouts like a two-year-old. Men, we need to be content with what the Lord has given us. Which begs the question why is the man in or Psalm chapter one, why is he content? Well, verse two tells us his delight is in what? Not in vineyards, but in what? The law of the Lord, and on it he meditates day and night. You want to be content? That's the secret. To delight yourself in Jesus. You I'm sure you remember the iconic or uh probably uh infamous is a better word to use here. Uh cyclist Lance Armstrong. Everybody remember him? I was a big fan, and he had seven consecutive Tour de France wins. This is a very unlikely record to be matched in our lifetime. But Lance, when he retired, he was not satisfied. It's crazy. Seven wins. So he came out of retirement. He had been sick, but but he thought, man, I've just got to get one more. And so it turns out that in order for him to be able to compete, he ended up participating in a very sophisticated doping program and used many different types of illegal banned drugs. And here's what happened. As a result, he was stripped of his seven consecutive wins, his titles, and he's banned from competitive cycling for life. And it has been said that if he just would have been content with seven wins, none of this would have happened. The federal federal investigation would not have led to his downfall. So why take the risk? It's insatiability. It is discontent. And see, here's the problem. This is why Lance Armstrong wasn't content with the seven titles. And this is why millionaires aren't content, nor even billionaires content. I've said this many times, but created glories in this world were never meant, nor are they capable of satisfying your heart. Nothing in this world, listen, every good thing is from the Lord, and these things are meant to be enjoyed. Family and friends and career and education and every, you know, leisure. But here's the thing: those things are not God's. Thus, they cannot satisfy our hearts. There's one person who can satisfy you, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. So here's what happened. Anyone like Lance Armstrong who is looking to a sport or financial success or whatever it might be in order to complete them, to satisfy them, their happiness, their blessedness is in and out. Because when your circumstances change, when the start stock market plummets, what happens? Your joy is gone, your happiness is gone, your peace is gone, you're all but blessed. But here's the beauty of this Christ will satisfy you, and that satisfaction, that blessedness will never change because Jesus is a constant. His glory never fades, his goodness never changes. Rabbi uh Schmooly Botique, in his compelling book, The Blessing of Enough, I've read it a couple of times, he wrote this: don't miss this. Most people in this life are spiritually satisfied and materially hungry. Did you catch that? Smile at me if you're with me this morning. Most people in this life are spiritually satisfied and materially hungry, but he says the secret of the blessed life is precisely the reverse. It's to always be materially content and spiritually hungry. Let me read you what Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6, verse 6. He talks about not desiring to be rich, but he says, godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of the world. But if we have, watch this, simply food and clothing, with these things we will be content. So, like the rabbi says, uh, this is so true, even in the church. If you look at your calendar, if you look at your passion, what are most of us after? Well, we we have this hunger for worldly success and material things, but our Bibles, they're dusty, or the app is rarely opened because we are materially hungry and spiritually satisfied. But men, we need to, this is for men and women both, but men, we need to take the reins in this. We need to lead our families in this. We must be materially satisfied and spiritually hungry. Listen, I know you want to provide your kids everything in the world. I get it. There's a lot of pressure to keep up with the Joneses. Can I be really honest with you? Look at me, fathers. Your kids, I know they think they need stuff, but ultimately, this is what we know. They don't need more stuff. You know what they need? They need you. There's a story of um, a true story that I heard a preacher tell years ago, I believe it happened in Ohio. Two teenagers drove their brand new Mercedes that their parents had gotten them to a bridge and jumped off and left a note that said, Mom and Dad, thank you for giving us everything we ever wanted, but nothing we ever needed. That's rough, isn't it? Men. Be content and teach your children to be content.

Courage To Stand Against Culture

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Secondly, real men are courageous. The kind of courage here, um, like I'm all for the brave heart kind of courage, right? That's not really what we see here, though. This is the courage in this chapter to follow God no matter what the culture is around us. It's it's the courage to stand against secular culture. That's not easy. So, blessed, verse one, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on it he meditates day and night. A real man has courage to stand against the secular, ungodly culture. Isn't this what we see throughout the men of God and women of God in the Bible? Didn't it take courage for Noah to build the ark in the midst of skeptics? It took courage for Abraham to leave all the that he had ever known in an old age and to just trust God. It took courage for Moses to stand against Pharaoh, could you imagine? It took courage for Daniel to stand in defiance against the law, continuing to pray and resisting the worship of anything or anyone else outside of God. And it took tremendous courage for Jesus to go to the cross. And it took the apostles great courage to preach the gospel in the face of persecution and even death. Real men are courageous, they can stand against the culture. I want you to notice here, let's let's look at the ungodly for a moment. Let's look at the progression. The ungodly man, look at this. He doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked. So the counsel, here's the path to ungodliness. You you start listening to the the cultural narratives. And isn't this what happening during this is happening during Pride Month? There's some quote unquote Christians who are starting to listen and believe, and they're starting to dabble in this kind of walk. And then they stand. So you're listening, kind of walking, testing the waters, and then you're standing and you're going to pride festivals. And then all of a sudden, what happens? You're sitting in the seat of scoffers, you're comfortably part of the other group. The wicked. And I'm not just talking about the pride. I'm this is any kind of sin, but that's a good current example right now. Listen, we must not comp, we we cannot compromise men and women of God. We've got to, we don't have to be mean. We've got to love people, but we can't compromise. Let me give you two wonderful stories. If you're a baseball fan, you'll love this. JP, you'll like this. Um, but but there's two great stories that I read this week where godly men stood up against this godless secular narrative. Um, June 12th. So the first is this on June 12th, uh it was to be the San Francisco Giants Pride Night. Their pitcher, Landon Rube, wrote Genesis 9, 12 through 16, the reference on his Pride Night cap that covered part of the rainbow. And just by the way, the passage is about God giving the rainbow as a sign to Noah of his covenant with humanity. Two other players wrote verses on their caps, and another refused to wear it at all, the red, wore the regular Giants cap. The players took a massive stand. I mean, they're receiving heat, and you've probably seen it. Then there's another professional minor league team, not associated with the uh MLB, but the team's called the York Revolution, and they celebrated Pride Night on June 18th. Don't you wish athletes would just play sports? Come on. The team planned to wear jerseys with the rainbow sleeves, but several of the players refused to wear the special jerseys with those sleeves. And you know what happened? It was such an ordeal, they had to forfeit the game. And I say, praise the Lord. This is what the Bible calls courage. Men of God, we've got to be courageous, courageous enough to stand against the secular culture. That's the comfortable life, right? To go with culture, but it's the road to destruction. It's quite literally the road to hell. Don't compromise.

Consistency Like A Planted Tree

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Finally, real men are consistent. Look at verse 3. He is like a tree, the blessed man is like a tree planted by streams of water that yield its fruit in due season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers, but the wicked are not so. They're like chaff that the wind dries away. You know, some men and women both, to be fair, are notorious for following Jesus for a season, right? They get really passionate about following the Lord. They're in church, man, they're serving, they're attending, and then all of a sudden, two weeks later, they're nowhere to be found. They'll lead family devotions for about three nights and then move on to something else. But real men are consistent. Their roots, as the text said, are planted deep. They have a firm foundation in Christ, which means they continually bear spiritual. Spiritual fruit. For centuries, you know, I don't know if you know this, young people, but garments haven't always been around. Or Apple maps, right? So sailors, what do they used to use to find their way? That they navigated the waters. Everything around them moved, right? The ocean moved, the ship moved, the wind shifted, storms came and went. But when the skies cleared, there was one constant, and it was that North Star. And that's why it could guide people home, because it was a constant. Nobody looked at the North Star because it was trendy, right? Nobody trusted it because it reinvented itself with every generation. Its power was in its immovability. Are you with me? Secular culture, listen, it is like the sea. It is always changing. I mean, goodness gracious, guys, we blink our eyes and it's like an all-new culture. I'm listening and seeing on social media the cultural narratives today, and I go, I don't know if these were there a decade ago. I mean, look how I mean, look at AI. My goodness, life changes rapidly. But you and I, I'm not saying that we're not progressive in technology and all that stuff, but what I'm saying in our values, in our character, in our worldview, we have, no matter what the culture does around us, we've got to be a constant. There's a term that I used last week, and I think it's uh an oxymoron. It's a progressive Christian, there's no such thing. You're a biblical Christian, or you're not a Christian at all. And I'm pretty sure God's word is unchanging, which means you and I should uh should not change, right, in our beliefs, our worldview, our convictions. I don't care what the culture says. Men, we've got to be consistent, consistent in godliness, consistent in convictions, consistent in prayer. And most importantly, true manhood is being a consistent follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. You may not have bulging biceps, friend. It's all right. You can be a man. You you you may not have uh, you know, an arsenal in your house. You know, I'm always I I've got a pistol, but I'd never go shooting with the guys because if I ever feel like a sissy, it's when I try to shoot, all right? If a bad guy came in my house, I mean I can pull the trigger, but I I trust my crane kick. You know this more than I do my shot. And so that's all right. If you're not a shooter or a hunter or a fisherman, listen, you can still be a man. Now, to be sure, I'm all for like I think we need to teach young men to be able to look like men and to shake hands like men and be courageous like men. But if you can't work with your hands or you can't do these stereotypical man things, you can still be masculine if you will be a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and stand firm in your faith. I hope that encourages each of you today.

The Cross Makes Real Men

SPEAKER_00 25:30

So, how do you become a real man? Some people think, well, I just need to emulate Jesus. Yes, you need to emulate Jesus, but I don't like the word just because you can't, in your own strength, emulate Jesus. So don't miss this. Paul uh Paul Tripp, great author, pastor, writes this. Please listen, I'm wrapping up right now. The quest for true manhood ultimately drives us to the cross of Jesus Christ. We run to Jesus not as the ultimate example, did you get this? Of what a man looks like, but more importantly as our Savior. Now, watch, here's the bottom line trip writes As a man, I don't just need to be rescued from the pressures and deficiencies, prejudices, uh, prejudice and imbalances of the surrounding culture. No, I need to be rescued from myself, from my sin. The next generation of men may need to be challenged to be real men, but more than anything, listen, they need to be introduced to the Savior who alone can make that possible. That's what it is to be a man. It's to be born again, to be in Christ, and then, yes, to follow him with all of your heart. So, contrary to our cultural narrative, masculinity, can I get an amen here, is not toxic. Though misogyny is. Gentlemen, let's model biblical manhood by being content in Christ and courageous enough to stand against the cultural narrative, secular culture, and consistent in our relationship with Jesus. That's how we will change society and our homes and our churches for the better. May we be men of God and women, may you cheer those kind of men on your husband, your grandsons, your sons. Let's be real men, real followers of Jesus.