Be a Man

What does it mean to be a man? (Asking for a friend ;)

Really old friend of a friend story, but for the purposes of this story… this guy was my best friend. A work friend.

And you might always have people challenging your masculinity in life. You drop the football, “check your man card, lol”. But this guy would do it in times where it made no sense:

“Traffic was rough this morning...”

Hey… why don’t you be a man???”

Is that relevant? I don’t get it.

“Nice shirt, dude.”

“Hey… why don’t you be a man???”

“Good morning… how was the weekend, man?”

“Hey… why don’t you be a man???”

What does it really mean to be a man?

How about this guy: Aron Ralston. Got his arm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Cut his own arm off with a pen knife. Maybe you saw the movie 127 hours? True story.

Or this guy, Vance Flosenzier, wrestled a 7 foot shark onto land after it had ripped off his nephew’s arm to retrieve the arm. Which they then reattached.

Or this lady, had her foot twisted nearly off, lying sideways, calls her own ambulance on the police radio, got 14 something screws in her leg and is now trying to heal without pain meds!

So… you may not have known this was in the Bible. Today Paul tells us all, men, woman, children…

“Hey… why don’t you be a man???”

Benediction

Paul is signing off, giving his final instructions to people he dearly loves. Sometimes called a “benediction”, the blessing at the end.

And he gives this really beautifully concise one.

1 Corinthians 16:13–14 ESV

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

Five statements.

But these aren’t just statements.

But these aren’t “well wishes”… these are forceful commands.

All of these are “present” imperatives. Commands to enter an ongoing state of reality.

Not “wake up” but “stay awake”.

Not “stand up” but “stand firm”.

And right there in the middle. “Be a man!”

We are going to slow down and spend some time with these five commands. Five fingers, five commands, five rules for Christian living.

Some say these are rules for “Christian men.” Especially if you’re at a men’s conference. Grunt grunt murmur. But Paul doesn’t change his audience of address. I don’t think he just shut out half his audience. These are words to all of us.

They are words to challenge us and encourage us, prophetic and powerful.

Be Watchful

What are we watching for?

Scholars debate what we are supposed to be “watchful” for.

Watchful for the return of Christ.

Watchful for danger.

Why not both? Both and.

The assumption is that you are on the lookout, for danger and the end of all danger at the coming of our Lord. But you also have to know what to do when that moment comes.

Keep your eyes open

So you can run away? No… so you can be ready and...

Stand Firm

Stand firm, and many early documents include “in the faith.” This is a formula Paul uses many places. He unpacks it a bit in

2 Thessalonians 2:15 ESV

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

and then even more in Ephesians 6, putting on the whole armor of God in order to stand.

It is a military image “hold… hold… hold your ground”. Do not retreat before an enemy.

Here is our Bible Study, yes. You have to know what you believe in order to stand firm in it. You have to study the Scriptures, hear from the Lord, to understand and know. You have to be convicted to have convictions. Study and know… and then practice those beliefs.

Apply them to your life, to your actions, to your time, to your checkbook, to your politics.

Hold tight to your convictions

1. Be Watchful

2. Stand Firm

(Then no accident this ends up being this finger)

Act Like Men

“Why don’t you be a man?”

Many modern translations dodge the potential offensiveness of this phrase and put something like “be courageous.”

Andros (man)

Andrizomai (courageous)

And certainly, “be strong and courageous” is a powerful thread, frequently throughout the OT, notably Joshua…

“Here the gender issue threatens to obscure the force of “be a man!”

Not simply a contrast with “feminine” qualities, also in contrast with childish ways. (1 Cor 13:11)

(If that offends you, you are really mad at Paul, your not mad at me ;)

When I grew up “Be a man”, “man up”, “put your big boy pants on”… we said all those things. And when those phrases are used to mock and hurt, they are wrong.

But this is not “toxic masculinity...”

Paul is pointing to a shared cultural model of “mature courage” that his readers would all recognize and know to emulate. If we want to go all “Jesus” on it, we could say “be that man”, the man of courage.

Ultimately, this is the model of courage that we follow. What it looks like to do what God calls you to do no matter what it costs, no matter how scary or terrifying or painful.

Give it all you got

“Be a man”… or if that makes you uncomfortable, “be courageous.”

Be Strong

Or even “get stronger”, “increase in strength.”

What does it take to get stronger? Progressive resistance. Progressive overload.

You do things that challenge you, that stretch you, that you aren’t sure you can do. And then you do them again. And that makes you stronger to take on the next weight, the next challenge, the next ministry, the next crisis.

Be strong and get stronger.

Be resolute

Do it all in love

Evoking everything Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13. Everything that you do, do it in love.

If your are “watchful” in a way that isn’t loving… you’re doing it wrong. Guy standing on the street corner condemning going to hell for the End IS NEAR… Maybe not doing that in a loving way? Depends.

If you are “standing firm”… on minor doctrinal issues such that you are beating people up with your Biblical knowledge. You know what I mean.

If you are “being manly” or “courageous” but have not love? Useless, worse than useless.

If you are strong and getting stronger, but it isn’t love you are growing stronger in, you are headed in the wrong direction entirely.

This guy injected oil into his arms to make them look big to his bodybuilder friends. Doing it wrong. They were talking about having to amputate his arms.

That’s not how you get strong, that isn’t how you stand firm.

We laugh… but Christians forget this all the time. The early churches forgot this. Paul had to remind the Corinthians to put love first for a reason. They weren’t. John had to scold Ephesus where Paul is writing Corinthians from right then.

Good doctrine… but you have forsaken the love you had at first.

Love without stopping.

Keep on loving one another in everything, absolutely everything you do.

Watch out

Stand up

Man up

Get strong

Love always

Application

To the slumbering Christian...

Here’s a sad truth:

To perhaps most Christians, this stuff doesn’t really apply. I know this has been true of me through many long seasons of my life.

“Watch out for danger...” but there’s not really any danger to me. I’m not threat to the enemy because I am quietly going about my life. My “danger” was social awkwardness if I said Jesus to loud at school or work. Oh no, Carl looked at me funny.

“Stand up? Stand firm?” Who is challenging my beliefs? No one… so let me go argue minutia and stand firm on that instead. I’m not standing on the gospel, I’m standing on specific interpretations of Daniel as applied to the formation of the European Union. Not the same.

If I am a slumbering Christian, I can take these words to mean “keep doing what I am already doing...” but that is twisting their meaning.

If you hear a coach screaming “man to man coverage, block left, tackle him...” he isn’t talking to the players on the bench, is he? That’s game talk, them’s fighting words!

Who is Paul speaking to?

To the Warriors on the Front Lines

Men and Women. Read his next paragraph, he knows women are on the front lines of ministry too.

If you are on the bench, you can take his words as encouragement: stand up! Find where God has called you to stand and stand firm. Find the ministry, find the place where and how you are to boldly witness… who are you called to prophesy to? What gifts is the Holy Spirit giving you right now to use faithfully?

Maybe you are wounded and recovering for a moment, for a season, but then you get back on the front lines in God’s perfect timing. Be inspired....

because that is who Paul is speaking to. This is a General inspiring troops on the front line. 4th quarter. 9th inning.

Hear this Christian, talking to you. You are doing the work of God faithfully. You are serving how He called you to serve, where He called you to serve. You are Loving God and Loving Others… just as best you know how.

And, you know what, it isn’t easy. And it doesn’t stop. And the wins aren’t always seen yet. And the hurts are piling up. And you don’t know how much longer.

Here’s what we are going to do:

Watch out

Stand up

Man up

Get strong

Love always

Watch out, the enemy doesn’t get to win. He is defeated. And Watch out, our Lord is returning any moment.

Stand up and stand firm and keep standing. Put on the full armor of God that you are able to stand and keep standing and after you have done everything… to stand.

Man up. Be courageous , mature in your courage. Because the enemy will try to instill fear in you. And when you see God… you know that’s terrifying. Fear not, for the Great I Am is with you.

You are stronger than you know. And He is making you stronger, more powerful, than you can imagine. There is simply no limit to what Jesus can do through you.

… and the Love keeps coming. It isn’t limited by your capacity, it never was. You love because He first loved you. His love overflows through you to everyone else in your life if you allow it. If you let it.

Worship

Church, I give you this benediction: Watch out, Stand up, Man up, Get Strong, Love Always.

We go in the name of the man, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!

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