There is a lot of confusion these days as to what a man is "supposed" to be. If you watch network television any random night of the week you will see what we are to assume is what society would want out of their men today. For the few men that are shown as in a monogomous, heterosexual relationship they appear to be very weak, disgruntled, lacking in almost all categories that most men would consider to be "manliness".
We already have the perfect example of "manliness" that we could ever imagine to emulate and if you are a Christian that is exactly what you are supposed to be doing. Jesus was the perfect Man. In today's culture so many men, due to cultural influence and the teaching in many churches, show Him to be a weak and almost feminine individual. Most of the so called "pictures" that are shown of Him are even feminine and almost pitiful looking. That is NOT the picture of the true Jesus and not the one of the Bible.
Jesus displayed all of the characteristics that are mentioned in Scripture of what God has ordained of a man. First of all, He was committed to a purpose with a plan, ordained before the foundations of the earth. He knew why he was here and was committed to finish the task at hand. He was extremely compassionate to those in need and less fortunate. Continually extending His hand and forgiveness to those that society had rejected, based on the cultural acceptance level and what the religious leaders of the day had set as God's standard. Even though they had taken and warped God's word to suite their own selfish interests and desires.
He was not, however, so forgiving of those that had twisted His Father's Word and inflicted pain and injustice on those that were "lesser" in their eyes. In fact, He was very aggressive in His handling of these Pharisees and other religious leaders. Calling them such as vipers, children of the Devil and so on. In today's church jaws would drop if a man stood as The God-Man did and called people out for their abuse of positions of stature in the church.
Jesus also showed anger when His Father's house was being defiled and went so far as turning tables over and using a "whip" to drive the peddlers out. He did not sin in these actions but was very forceful of standing firm in what was right. He also spoke of the family unit and that man was to be the head of it, but that woman was not lesser, but a helper. Even in worth, but different in God ordained position in the family, church, and society.
Think of the men that were called by God to follow Jesus in his time on earth. These were not a group of weak, easily deceived men. They were fishermen, tax collectors and the like. Yet, at our Lord's command they dropped everything to follow Him. Not likely if Jesus was the weak, feminine character displayed in popular circles today.
In Luke's gospel he spoke of Jesus "setting His eyes" on Jerusalem. Jesus held fast to the plan and course that was in front of Him, knowing full well what was going to happen, and carried it out to perfection. Never did He complain, never did He back down from a challenge by those seeking to catch Him in a trap. He spoke with authority and compassion at the same time. He cared for those that could not care for themselves, yet called those individuals out that were self-righteous and uncaring.
We are called to follow Him as a Christian and we talk of becoming more Christlike everyday. We must then look deep into the Scriptures and see who this Savior truly is as a Man as well as God. We need not look at an athlete or some celebrity to show us a real man. Jesus was, and is, the perfect example of what a man is supposed to be like. We are commanded to be more like Him and we shouldn't look anywhere else to view what a true man is supposed to be like than to look at the perfect Man. Look to Jesus and you will see all the characteristics of the man that the world is looking for. That example of manliness left as an example by our Lord is one that we should all be striving for and it is exactly the kind of man that our churches, our wives and our children NEED!
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