The Godly Man

Intro

Vanuatu people of the island in the South Pacific

Around April or May, villages will build crude wooden towers reaching heights of 100 feet or more. After the tower is completed, a few men will volunteer to scale it. The men then tie a vine first on a platform on the tower and then around their ankles. Summoning all the courage they have, the men dive from the platform headfirst. The divers reach speeds of 45 miles an hour as they plummet to the ground.

The purpose of the ritual is twofold. First, it’s performed as a sacrifice to their gods to ensure a bountiful yam crop. Second, it serves as a rite of passage to initiate the tribe’s boys into manhood. Boys as young as five years old will take part in the ritual which is often preceded by circumcision. The boys start out jumping low, but will work their way up as they get older. The higher a man goes, the manlier he is considered by the tribe.

Satare-Mawe Bullet Ant Glove

Deep in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon lives the Satere-Mawe tribe. To become a man in the Satere-Mawe, a boy must stick his hand in a glove woven with bullet ants and withstand their stings for over 10 minutes without making a noise.

According to the Schmidt Sting Index, the bullet ant has the most painful sting in the ant world. It’s described as “waves of throbbing, all consuming pain” that continues for over 24 hours. In fact, the locals call the ant, hormiga venticuatro because the pain from the sting lasts 24 hours.

Now if the sting from one bullet ant is that painful, imagine the pain you’d experience if you put on a glove made entirely of bullet ants.

To make the glove, the tribesmen will knock out the bullet ants with a natural sedative. While the ants are docile, the elders proceed to make their torture device by weaving the ants into a glove made of leaves with the ants’ stingers facing inwards.

When the ants regain consciousness, the boys put on the gloves and face 10 minutes of horrible pain. The copious amounts of venom the boy receives during the ordeal will temporarily paralyze his arm and leave him shaking uncontrollably for days.

This isn’t a one-time deal, either. A young boy may have to stick his hand in the bullet ant glove several more times before he’s considered a man. Each time he experiences the ordeal, the object is to remain as quiet as possible. It’s a test of manly endurance and stoicism that’s necessary to be effective warriors for the tribe.

All young boys have a desire to become a man

We have too many 20, 30 and 40 year old boys running around

1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV 1900

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

I Corinthians 16:13

13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

An unscientific poll was conducted to determine what the average American woman looks for in a man:

Loves God and family

Has a job

Drives a truck

Uses the bathroom standing up

Eats meat

Is willing to carry them out of a burning building

The world sends constant inputs to our young men that shame what a Biblical man is supposed to be…

Leading the home is sexist and unpopular

Standing for what’s right in the face of adversity is non-inclusive

Working a full time job to provide for your family is looked at as inconsiderate if you aren’t okay with staying home while your wife is the bread-winner

The world is not for men fulfilling their God-given roles…

Titus 1 speaks of the qualifications of the pastor…

It is important to God that the pastor function in a Biblical manner…

The church ought to have the right doctrine, leadership and structure about the church…

But it doesn’t seem to be the only important thing to God for a proper functioning church…

It needs Titus chapter 2 where the older men, younger men, older women and younger women are supposed to behave…

Paul was challenging Titus to challenge the people at the church in Crete to challenge the people:

Titus 2:1–2 KJV 1900

1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

“Speak thou the things which become sound doctrine” - something that is consistent and not unstable

James 1:8 KJV 1900

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

God wants men who will be consistent in their speech…

This passage indicates the older we get the more these qualities should be exemplified in our lives…

Older men:

Sober: vigilant or circumspect

Grave: honest

Temperate: sound in mind or self-controlled

Sound in faith

Charity:

Patience

Younger men:

Sober minded

Shewing thyself a pattern of good works:

Doctrine

uncorruptness

Gravity

Sincerity

Sound speech

I don’t want to be a man who claims to be Godly, but rejects God’s Word in practice…

There’s a famine of Godly men in the world…

Ezekiel 22:30 KJV 1900

30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

The charge from David to Solomon at the end of David’s life…

1 Kings 2:2–3 KJV 1900

2 I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; 3 And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

1. Be strong

The world’s desire is for us to raise weak boys…

Mentally

Physically

Emotionally

Spiritually

Isaiah 40:31 KJV 1900

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.

Psalm 18:32 KJV 1900

32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, And maketh my way perfect.

Ephesians 6:10 KJV 1900

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

2. Shew thyself a man

1 Kings 2:2 KJV 1900

2 I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

3. Obey God

1 Kings 2:3 KJV 1900

3 And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

Keep God’s:

Way (will): the direction He wants you to go

Statutes: decrees or requirements describing how to live in obedience to Him

Commandments: a command, mandate, order of injunction given by authority

Judgements: discerning how to handle situations

Testimonies