Men of Integrity

WHERE ARE THE MEN?

Churches in America are needing more than just a few good men. Here are the statistics from God Facts:

The typical U.S. Congregation draws an adult crowd that’s 61% female, 39% male.

On any given Sunday, there are 13 million more adult women than men in America’s churches.

As many as 90% of the boys being raised in church will abandon it by their 20th birthday. Many will never return.

More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and 5 out of 6 call themselves Christians. But only 2 out of 6 attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church.

Relatively few churches are able to establish or maintain a vibrant men’s ministry.

This gender gap is not just a U.S. phenomenon; churches around the world are short on men. No other major religion suffers such a large, chronic shortage of males. In the Islamic world men are publicly and unashamedly religious-often more so than women. Of the world’s great religions, only Christianity has a consistent, nagging shortage of male practitioners. Jesus had no trouble captivating men. Fishermen dropped nets full of fish to follow Him, but today’s church is struggling to convince men to drop anything to follow Jesus.

Where are the men?

Here we come again to a genealogy, the second in the first 11 chapters of Genesis: Genesis 5:1-32; and now Genesis 11:10-32. (I didn’t mention Genesis 10 because it’s more of a list of nations than a genealogy.)

This genealogy is of Shem’s line (Noah’s eldest son, representative of a righteous branch in Noah’s line).

There are some glaring differences between this genealogy and the one in Genesis 5.

There is the omission of the death notice.

In Genesis 5, the record of each generation ended with the phrase “then he died.” That is missing in Genesis 11, until the mention of Terah’s death in verse 32. This not only pushes the narrative forward but also is consistent with the sense of optimism that the new era this genealogy introduces brought to being: that is the era of Abraham. The absence of death in the genealogy may also serve to record the author’s reflection on God’s patience toward sinful people. This reminds me of what Paul spoke in his sermon in Athens: “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent …” (Acts 17:30).

The life-span of humankind is steadily declining.

Though longevity was declining, the genealogy in Genesis 11 stresses a movement away from death toward hope and promise, and it stresses life and expansion. Chapter 11’s structure makes for a swifter sequence of names, which propels the reader quickly down the line toward its intended conclusion.

The main purpose of this genealogy is to move us to Abram. Here are the main points of that movement:

The genealogy demonstrates that God works through people, who, though imperfect, fear God and desire to walk in his ways. Remember that this is the line of Shem, who protected and restored his father’s honor. Behind Shem in a previous genealogy are men like Seth, Enoch, and his father Noah.

The genealogy is a bridge between judgment and blessing. Note that after the fall in Genesis 3 and the flood in Genesis 7-8, there is hope. After judgment, in both events, there are promises and a covenant. Yet, after the Tower of Babel, there are no promises, no covenant, and no hope. God scatters humankind over the face of the earth, and it appears that they are on their own.

The genealogy pounts us toward the one man, Abraham. Blessing, covenant, and hope, are coming, but not until Genesis 12 and the Abram narrative. Shem’s line of descendants conclude with Terah’s family, the father of Abram, with whom God will make a covenant, and through whom God will bless all those scattered nations.

This conclusion of Shem’s line reminds us of the significance of one man who is faithful to God. We’ve observed it in Abel, who brought an acceptable sacrifice; through Enoch, who walked faithfully with God; and through Noah, who obeyed God’s every command and built a ship in the desert, a long way from the oceans. Verses 27-32 introduce us to Abram.

And that's what we'll focus on today: verses 27-32. "What I've set out to do is highlight God's use of a godly man to accomplish his purposes. Certainly, God uses women too. In fact, a woman is named in these verses, which is quite unusual in an ancient genealogy. (You might recall that in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus' genealogy includes not one, but four women: Rahab, Ruth, Uriah's wife, and Mary.) When we get to verse 27, the writer expanded the record of Terah's family to include the wives of his sons, Abram and Nahor, the movement of his family westward to Canaan, and a subtle hint of the faith that one man, Abram and his wife, will need to cling to in order to be used by God to bless the nations. Furthermore, for those of us who know the story of Abraham, these verses provide a contrast between Terah and his son, Abram, highlighting Abram's character.

So let's dig into these verses and focus on what it means to be a man of integrity.

As we explore these verses, we observe some important details:

Terah’s family lived in “Ur of the Chaldeans.” This region was in southern Babylonia, near the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. We know from biblical and non-biblical records that the people of this region were known for their worship of the moon god Nannar. This informs us that Abram did not come from people who worshiped the One True God.

We're introduced to Lot, Abram's nephew, whose father, Haran, died before the family migrated. Lot becomes an important character in Abram's story.

We learn that Sarai was “unable to conceive a child.” If we didn't know the rest of the story, we'd wonder why this tidbit of information is given. Perhaps, we might think that Abram is not blessed by God; but we know the story, and we know that Sarai’s barrenness is a significant foreshadowing of the surprise promise to Abram that he would be blessed as the father of a great nation, but also the later miracle story of the birth of a son to an old man and a woman barren and beyond her childbearing years. We also know that Sarai's inability to conceive a son, especially in the context of God's promise, will become a test of Abram’s faith and integrity.

Let's pause here and make a few applications toward our goal of being men of godly integrity.

Men of godly integrity escape a godless family heritage.

By godless, I mean a people who worship false gods rather than the Our True God. When we start the Abram story in Genesis 12, we will remember that Abram did not come from God-fearing stock. It is very likely that when God spoke to Abram in 12:1-3, this was Abram's first encounter with God. Yet, we read of Abram's remarkable decision to leave his relatives and take his family to an unknown destination, simply because God said so. Some scholars suggest that, surely, Abram had some kind of past experience with God in order to demonstrate that level of trust. But there is nothing in the text that suggests this. Abram came from a region that worshiped the moon. Leaving his land and relatives and obeying God, meant leaving behind his relatives false gods and false worship.

Some men in this room, and watching online, have done the same. You weren't raised in a home that worshiped God and followed Jesus. You didn't have the benefit of being raised in the church where those of us who were heard Bible stories and as children began following Jesus. Yet, remarkably, by God's grace, he found you, encountered you, and called you to follow Jesus. It was God's grace that equipped you to leave behind a godless past. It was God's grace that formed through you a new line of godly integrity for others to follow.

Yet, brothers, all of us live in a society that has distanced itself from God's Word and godly living. We live in a time that Paul described to Timothy:

2 Timothy 4:3–4 “For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

Men, like Abram, we must walk away, distance ourselves, from the godlessness of our society, and walk in the integrity of faith in God.

What is integrity, by the way? It is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking; it is speaking the truth, even when it’s hard; and it’s doing the hard work, even when it’s painful.

2. Men of godly integrity hold on to hope, even when hope seems impossible.

Sarai was unable to conceive; she didn't have a child (30). Not yet, but she will. The writer's audience knew the story; it was their history. They traced their lineage to the child Sarai could not conceive, but did. This reminded those readers of Abram’s faith.

Now wait a minute, you say. Didn't Abraham loss his patience in God's promise and attempt to usurp God's plan and father a child by Sarai’s handmaid, Hagar? Yes, Abraham did have a lapse of faith. His human patience and fragile hope led him to disobedience. But remember, godly men are not perfect men. Ultimately, Abraham did hold on to hope and experience – he and Sarai both – a miracle of God's blessing. And by the way, this also says something of Sarai’s faith. Yes, her faith waned for a moment, but the writer of Hebrews says this about Sarai:

Hebrews 11:11 “By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful.”

Men, I'm telling you, this society of ours needs godly men of integrity who plan and live their lives according to God's promises. We must be men of courageous hope in the faithfulness of God. Let me ask you, what promise from God seems inconceivable to you right now? Don't lose hope. Don't become impatient and try to make it happen in your own strength and wisdom. Make Proverbs 3:5–6 your compass: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Now we move to the last paragraph in the record of Terah's family. "Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot..., and his daughter-in-law Sarai... and they set out together... to go to the land of Canaan"(31). Good for him.

Don't forget that this passage is set between The Tower of Babel story and the beginning of the Abraham story. It's a connector. What did God do at the end of the Babel story? He scattered the nations. Why? Bacause God wants the nations to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. What's God about to do with Abram? He's about to send him on a journey to another land, where Abram will become the father of a great nation. Abraham means "father of many people.” These "many people” God will use to bless the nations. It seems that Terah is scattering, and it looks like he's scattering toward the land that God intends to give Abram. This is great, hopeful, even exciting. But the rest of verse 31 dampens our spirits: "But when they came to Haran (not to be confused with the name of Terah's dead son, but a place), they settled there. This statement echoes the Babel story, where the people living in Shinar settled there rather than obeying God's command to fill the earth. This not only casts a shadow on Terah’s decision not to complete the journey to Canaan and settle in Haran, it also provides a contrast with Abram's faithful answer to God's call in Genesis 12: 1-4.

The final word in verse 32 is sad: "Terah… died in Haran." A life of disobedience leads to death in a far country.

So how do we apply these verses to our focus on godly manhood?

3 . Men of godly integrity, finish what they start.

The writer didn't tell us why Terah decided to suspend his journey to Canaan and settle in Haran. It's interesting to note that Haran, like Ur, was known for moon worship. Perhaps that's why Terah settled there.

Just as a side note, this would remind the original readers of their heritage. Haran was the city of Laban, Jacob's uncle, and where Jacob met Rachel. More importantly, it was on his journey to Haran that Jacob had his famous dream of a stairway to heaven, and where he wrestled with God. It's hard to imagine these memories not coming to mind in those first Hebrew renders of the story.

First and foremost, those Hebrews would recall that it was there, in Haran, where God called Abram, and the place where Abram began his journey with God. While Terah did not complete his journey, Abram did. He was a man of faith and integrity.

Let’s stop for a moment and ask ourselves a very important question: Are there any commitments we’ve made that are left unfinished? We can have good intentions, but good intentions are not commitments. When commitments are made, godly men complete them. Remember our definition of integrity? Men of godly integrity do the hard work even when it’s painful. So often, we make a commitment with every intention of keeping it, but we lose interest, get bored, get distracted, encounter a barrier or hardship, and we “settle in Haran.” Men, we must stop trying to build our lives on good intentions. We must finish what we start.

Abram was a man of godly integrity. Though not even knowing exactly where he was going, Abram trusted and obeyed God, which is the final mark of a godly man.

4. Men of godly integrity display their faith in God by their obedience.

Like his ancestor, Noah, Abram had extraordinary faith that was evidenced by obedience. Men, our wives, our children, our grandchildren, our church, and our community need to see men of godly integrity, men who start what they finish; men who are not enticed by the world's false gods; men whose strong faith in God is evidenced by extraordinary obedience.

Where are the men today?

Recently, God showed me a vision for our future. There are some stories in the Book of Acts that describe the salvation of men: Cornelius the tanner, a jailer when Paul was in prison, and more. These men were saved, and soon after their entire household. Here’s the vision: Reach men and we will reach families. That starts right here, right now with us, men. Men reach men.

Men, it's our time to shine for Jesus. It's our time to show our families, our church, and our world what following Jesus looks like.

I love what Paul Wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Let's decide today that we are going to fight, run, keep the faith. Let's be men of the Word, listening and obeying. Let's forget what is in the past and strive ahead in trust and surrender, distancing ourselves from the world's mindset and fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Let's set the pace for humble service and ministry. Let's lock arms together and build God's Kingdom and this church. Let's be godly men of integrity. It's time!