Should Christians Accept or Reject the Idea of Masculinity?

Episode 175 Show Notes

Should Christians Accept or Reject the Idea of Masculinity?

From the Show

Should Christians accept or reject the idea of masculinity?

In Ephesians 5, Paul says, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church.” Well, there, the first thought isn’t to be self-sufficient, and be able to survive in the wilderness, but love. That’s what a lot of people associate with femininity. But there, Paul says, no, men are to love their wives even as Christ loved the church. In our society, we have, on one hand, a caricature of masculinity that has been in part created by distorted views of people who claim to be macho. They assert themselves, and being a man is about power, controlling things, and dominating things. And then you have that caricature blown up 100% by other people who then come in and say, “see, that’s why we’ve got to destroy this masculine plague in our society that is causing violence and raising boys to think that they are only a man if they can do some damage to somebody.” We gotta stop that. Whoever said that was being a man in the first place? — Michael Horton

Sometimes, Christians will take Ephesians 5, where it talks about wives submitting to their husbands, they’ll sort of twist that, and they’ll use that as a justification for saying, “for me, to be a man means my wife needs to, sort of, live under my thumb.” I actually don’t think that’s too extreme, I mean there really are relationships where people will use those verses to control and abuse others. The amazing thing is actually the majority of the exhortation and encouragement there is to the man to love his wife sacrificially, to lay down his life, and that’s what we need more of. — Adriel Sanchez

Questions in this Episode

1. In an article you wrote called What Every Christian Needs to Know About Evil and Suffering you said, “There is no promise in Scripture that believers will be protected from the common evils that go with living in a fallen, sinful world.” I was taught that all suffering in this life is the result of sin. Do you disagree with that?

2. Should Christians accept or reject the idea of masculinity?

3. How do you understand 1 Corinthians 10:23 where Paul says, “‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are “helpful”?

4. The beginning of 2 Peter 1 puts a lot of emphasis on the need for a godly life and not just faith. Does this mean that we can’t be saved unless we are godly?

5. In Romans 11:26, what does it mean that all Israel will be saved?