The Redeemed Man - Introduction

Introduction

Opening Illustration - Nehemiah: In the Old Testament, we read the story of Nehemiah. Nehemiah’s was an Israelite, who had been living in exile in Persia underneath the reign of Artaxerxes I. He gets word that his beloved city of Jerusalem is lying in ruins. Artexerxes permits him to go back to Jerusalem and assist in the rebuilding of the city. The first thing Nehemiah does when he gets back to Jerusalem is he assesses the situation. He sneaks out at night and circles the city to inspect the city walls. The following morning, he gives this report to the city officials.

Nehemiah 2:17 “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.””

Against all odds, with enemies who want to destroy the work, enemies who want to tarnish Nehemiah’s name and spread lies about him, Nehemiah mobilizes the men of the city to rebuild the walls in order to protect God’s people.

What If: I wonder what Nehemiah would say if he were to, metaphorically speaking, inspect the walls of our Church? What would he find? Are we poised to accomplish God has given us to do? Or might he find some of our walls in disrepair? Might he find some of the people careless in their responsibility.

Context: This retreat is specifically for men, and so I am going to be speaking over all three of my talks on what I perceive to be the greatest threat facing the men in our Church today. I believe, generally speaking, that the walls are down, and that the Church is exposed. And we have an opportunity to rebuild the infrastructure that has been torn by secular culture around us. In today’s shorter talk, I’m going to try to accomplish two things. First, I’ll share with you the root of what I see to be the biggest problem we face. Second, I’ll share with you the foundation upon which we must build if we are going to rebuild these walls propperly.

Part 1 - The Problem

The way I see it there are two problems that are interconnected. Problem 1 is what I refer to as Feminized Christianity. Problem 2 is what I refer to as the Church’s Failure to Equip. Let’s take both in order

Problem 1 - Feminized Christianity: The first problem is what I refer to as Feminized Christianity. I am wrapping up right now my dissertation on this topic. It is one that I assure you has so many twists and turns in history that every man in this room would be fascinated by how we got to the place we’re in. That is a talk for another day though. I believe the unfortunate condition of the Church currently is that, most evangelical churches today, have adopted a feminine-leaning value structure, and a feminine leaning view of how the church engages the world.

Feminine Value Structure: First, a feminine leaning value structure. What I mean by this is that, in general, the vision of spiritual maturity that we disciple towards, is often a vision of a very mature Christian woman. Again, not always, there are exceptions. But in general the things we celebrate in Christian maturity are often skills and values that come far more naturally to the average woman than do to the average man. We value the ability to sit down and listen, and to be very in touch with emotions, and to be able to communicate those emotions. We often have a twisted view of submission. Submission is a great word, men and women submit to Christ. But often our vision of submission, for a godly man and women includes the idea of not doing anything that will make people uncomfortable, not using our voice to stir the pot.

In the literature we actually have an entire biblical argument for this. The Church is the bride of Christ, and therefore—as the argument goes—a mature Christian male or female, is to behave like a good wife. While it is true, the Church is the Bride of Christ, a mature Christian man is not to behave in all aspects of their life like a wife towards her husband. That is to extend the analogy. Men are equipped by God with unique characteristics: strength, duty, battle, roughing it, aggression, testosterone. Where is the discipleship for our men towards those things. It is largely absent, and in its place a much softer, a much more sentimental, and therefore a much more feminine value structure.

Feminine Engagement: Second, and deeply connected to this is that we have a feminized vision of how the church engages the world. Now I must be careful here in that I honor women appropriately. I am not mocking or belittling women in this language at all. Rather I am elevating them. There is a reason that we do not draft women into the military. It’s because Natural Law teaches us what the Scriptures also teach us.

1 Peter 3:7 “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel…

Women don’t go to war. Men do. And the Church, unfortunately has stopped going to war. I don’t mean this in the way that we don’t run crusade anymore. I mean this in the sense that the Church is supposed to be making inroads into culture. Jesus taught us.

Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Some people mistakenly think that what this verse means is that all Hell is going to rein down on the Church, but the Church will survive. Well that is true. But that is not what this verse means. Gates do not move. Gates do not attack. The idea of the Church is that we storm the gates of Hell, and we do so, those gates will fall down, because our champion Jesus is by our side.

All throughout Church history, up until about four decades, the church has been referred to as the Church Militant. We’ve gotten rid of that language because it has a bit too much of a masculine edge. But its critical language. The church in the past built institutions and nations to the glory of God. They fought back against bad ideas in culture, publicly. They drafted legislation. They inserted their guys into the political process, so that the Christian voice would be heard and heeded. They were risk takers, publicly. They went to the most dangerous places imaginable, with the love of Christ in their Church, and risked their lives in order to win souls to Christ.

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

A Caveat & Wrap Up: To be clear, I am not arguing for a masculinized Christianity. I am arguing for a more balanced and therefore a more healthy Christianity. I want our women to be trained in the virtues of godly femininity. I want them to be discipled to reject the siren of Feminism, which tries to tell them that they are not complete until they do and enjoy all the things that men do and enjoy. That is a lie that robs women of life and families of a mother. Women should celebrate godly femininity. And men, likewise, should celebrate godly masculinity. So, we don’t to over-correct in the opposite direction (which is a well known flaw that we have seen). Rather what we need is both, feminine women, and masculine men, leaning into their God-ordained roles and responsibilities with clarity and conviction.

Part 2 - The Foundations of a Solution

In order to have this conversation, we need to root ourselves as man. Because if we fail to root ourselves in the wrong place, we are going to end up making a far worse mistake than a feminized Church, we’ll end up a violent and Chauvinistic Church, that robs men of their nobility and robs women and children of their protectors.

Four Aspects (15): So, let’s start simple and clear. A godly man is rooted in the saving work of Jesus Christ. Before He is a man of God on mission, he a child of God. Before he is a warrior in the Lord’s army with blood, mud, and sweat smeared on his face, he is a beloved saint in the halls of the Church. I do wonder how many men fill the seats of our churches, but have never truly been redeemed. Jesus had a word for these men, he called them hypocrites. God forbid any man from any of our churches should be deceived by hypocrisy. So what make a man, redeemed. I share this with you so you can test yourself. A Christian is not a perfect man, but he is one who has passed through the gate of redemption, and can accurately tell his story.

Deep Sense of One’s Own Depravity: First, a redeemed man must have a deep sense of one’s depravity. The Bible teaches that we are “dead in our sin.” Many men gloss over this part of the gospel too quickly. They never sit long enough and reflect on the depravity of their sin, and so the gospel they believe is a very small gospel indeed, because they don’t really know how bad their situation was. Just for a moment, see your sin properly. Outside of Christ, you were cut off from God eternally. Were you to die and face your judgment, and God were to condemn you to the agonizing eternity of Hell, upon seeing the weight and reality of your sin, the only words that would proceed from your mouth are, “It is just.” Men, have you ever paused long enough to acknowledge in your heart the depth of your sin before a Holy God?

Right Understanding of Christ’s Work on the Cross: Secondly, a redeemed man must have a right understanding of Christ’s work on the cross. Four times in the New Testament, Christ is referred to as our “propitiation.”

1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

A propitiation is a gift put forward to God that can satisfy his wrath. In our modern sentimental Church, we don’t like to speak about the just wrath of God towards sin. But what a disservice that is to the cross of Christ. Christ’s death on the cross was a blood offering to God the Father. God the Son, offered his human life, as the just payment for the penalty of our sin. We call this “Substitutionary Atonement.” It means that Christ substituted himself for us, underneath the wrath of God. When a person truly repents and places their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God looks upon that man’s account and declares his debt paid in full, by Christ his substitute.

Lord & Savior: Third, a redeemed man has submitted his life to Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Romans 10:9 “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

As Savior, Christ has saved us from the wrath of God by offering us grace that we did not deserve. As Lord, Christ assumes authority over our life. He calls the shots. His Word governs the trajectory, the path, and the life that we now live. There is a very great problem when I meet a man who says he is a Christian, but continues in habitual sin with no remorse. Many sins in a man’s life, take time to work through, to gain victory over, to be discipled through. Struggling with sin is a normal part of the Christian life (that’s Romans 7). But what is not normal for a Christian man is to have habits of sin in our life, that we simply don’t care about. If that’s the case for any man in this room, that is an indication that you haven’t really made Christ Lord of your life yet. If he’s Lord, then when we are confronted with our sin, the response is repentance and movement towards sanctification. Is Christ your Savior and your Lord?

Experiential Knowledge of God: Fourth, and finally is what I might call the “Experiential Knowledge of God.”

Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

The Christian is not called to simply know about God from a distance, as if he is a book to be memorized. We are called to Taste and See and Experience and Walk with God. We’re called to live in the Spirits that His Word and His power flow through us like beams, impacting every part of our life. Again, it is not to say that there are not seasons in life. Seasons where you might feel more distant, or seasons where you might struggle with doubts. But the trajectory of a redeemed man, is experience of Christ. His Word having its way with you regularly. The preaching of God’s Word stirring you up to deeper faith, and greater conviction, and a more urgent sense of duty in his kingdom. Do you have the experiential knowledge of God? Or is your Christianity simply book knowledge about what you’ve been told.

Conclusion / Invitation

Let me close this session with two invitations.

Believe: First, to the man who might be in this room right now, and perhaps realizing that the Christianity he bought into was far too cheap and far too shallow, and sensing right now, he wants to walk with God. Here is your invitation. Come to Christ. Don’t wait. Don’t be ashamed. Let this weekend be the turning point upon which your life hinges. Following Christ is not cheap, it requires all of you. But it is worth it. Repent of shallow faith. Believe in Christ Jesus who died for you on the cross and rose from the grave three days later.

To the Men: Second invitation, to all the redeemed men. There is a war taking place. This is why the Apostle told us in Ephesians 6

Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

There is a war for your habits, your disciplines, and your joy in the Lord. There is a war for your wife’s heart and the joy of your marriage. There is a war for your children, and the ideas that will shape their hearts and minds. There is a war for the soul of your church, and what you’re going to be about. There is a war for your city, what abominations we will permit to be normalized on our watch. Here is your invitation, redeemed man. You were made for this war. You’ve got a part to play. You are not called to be a sideline player. You were called to action, to protect, to defend, to provide, to lead. And to do it all in the joy of the Lord.