Men’s Freedom Weekend
ENTERING INTO REAL
MANHOOD
By Robert Lewis, Author of Raising a Modern-Day Knight
“Manhood Principle #1: A REAL MAN Rejects Passivity”
I’d like to open with a verse from the Bible: “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like
men.” 1 Corinthians 16:13.
Not every man was acting like one at the time Paul the Apostle wrote these words. Not much
has changed since then, huh?
I want to talk to you for just a moment or two on the 1st Manhood Principle: A REAL MAN
rejects passivity.
To be passive, to me, means to allow an enemy to come into your life without a fight. A passive
male will open the doors of his life to an enemy, let him come in, pillage his goods, rape his
wife, and carry his children off to be sold as slaves – and the man just stands there and lets it
happen – or perhaps he sits there in his recliner with the remote control in his hand, not wanting
to miss the 2nd half while his world is being torn apart.
Does something rise up within you to hear of such a man? Good – it ought to. That’s a good
sign.
In Genesis chapter 3, the serpent approaches Eve with a tantalizing proposition. He convinces
her that the forbidden fruit is actually the path to life. Satan seduces Eve with the promise that if
she takes on bite, she “will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).
The stage is set for Adam to intervene. After all, Adam has been given the responsibility for the
garden; the prohibition against eating the fruit was spoken to him (Genesis 2:16-17). God has
given the first man a will to obey (“don’t eat the fruit”), a work to do (“cultivate the garden”),
and a woman to love (Eve).
You fully expect Adam to come running with a garden hoe, cut off the serpent’s head, and end
this heinous approach of evil. But confronted with his social and spiritual responsibilities, Adam
becomes, of all things, passive.
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Have you ever wondered what Adam was doing while Eve was being propositioned? Most
people assume that he was absent at the time, communing with nature or tilling the soil. Not
true. He was right there, watching his wife contemplate moral and spiritual suicide.
Genesis 3:6 tells us: “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a
delight to the eyes and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and
ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
I’m still amazed when I read that! As naturally aggressive as Adam was, when the moment for
REAL MANHOOD arrived, when he wasa called upon to act responsibly, to take charge
spiritually, and protect his woman, Adam just stood there! He went flat. He became passive.
He refused to accept the social and spiritual responsibilities entrusted to him by God.
Men have been imitating Adam’s example ever since. Have you ever wondered why the bible
constantly calls men to love their wives, spiritually instruct their children, and responsibly lead
their homes? The reason is because men have a fallen nature that actually bends away from
these responsibilities. It comes with maleness. It comes from Adam.
Unless you do something about it intentionally, passivity grows naturally and effortlessly.
Families cry out for men who will do more than “tune out” when they come home from work.
Kids want a dad who is involved, a dad who provides moral and spiritual direction.
Women want men who will protect them, not use them. Society needs men who will stand for
moral absolutes. But we must stop and ask, “Where are these men?” And “What will become of
our families in their absence?”
Paul’s answer is almost too painful to bear: “In Adam,” he says, “all die.” 1 Corinthians 15:22
But thank God for the second Adam – Jesus Christ! Unlike the first Adam, who stood flatfooted
in the face of evil, Jesus Christ INITIATED. He refused to do nothing when sin encroached
upon the created order. He was spiritually and socially aggressive.
In fact, I would argue that we see more REAL MANHOOD in the manger of Jesus than in the
garden with Adam. Why? Because in the manger we find Jesus, having rejected His divine right
as God, initiating toward the world as man – a REAL MAN! Listen for the action words in
Philippians 2:5-8 that describe Christ’s redemptive activity:
(Phil 2:5 NIV) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
(Phil 2:6 NIV) Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to
be grasped,
(Phil 2:7 NIV) but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in
human likeness.
(Phil 2:8 NIV) And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
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Gentlemen, REAL MANHOOD begins with a decision to reject social and spiritual passivity
when nothing is the more comfortable and natural option.
May God bless you men!
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