What is the duty of a man?

The reason this is important for me to consider is that I'm leading my oldest son through biblically-based discussions on what God considers a man to be. There are so many opinions in the world today on what a man is supposed to be and what his duty should be (if he has one). Our sons are bombarded with cultural influences in this regard. So, in a continuing effort to describe to our sons what the biblical worldview is in general, I have an opportunity to specifically discuss what the Bible (God) says men should be.

I'm using a book called "Raising a Modern Day Knight" by Robert Lewis as a guide through this process. It's biblically founded and accordingly raises the standard beyond what cultural influences will dictate to us. In the book, the author begins by using Adam and Jesus as a model for understanding the purposes of God with regard to His chosen men. They each had:

  • a will to obey,
  • a work to do, and
  • a woman to love.

For Adam, his duty was to obey God, work the garden and subdue and populate the world, and to love the woman at (and from) his side, Eve. For Christ, His duty was to obey God, seek and to save the lost, and love the church (even laying His life down for her). It's important that the order of this duty remain as it's written: God's will, His work, and His chosen woman. Adam got that wrong and put God's will behind Eve's invitation to eat the apple. Of course, Christ demonstrated His passion for obedience as He was approached by Satan and three times resisted some incredible temptation.

Ok. So we know what to do. The question remains: how do we do it? The author offers a model I hope to discuss in a future posting.

What do you think? How can the Bible be used to help parents raise kids to a higher standard?

Comments

Kristin Baker said…
Wow, it's incredible to think what our world would be like if all father's did this with their sons! Thanks for being a great model to Lewis and the rest of us!Give my aunt and cousins a hug for me. And Lauren says thank you for the compliment . . . : )
April 12, 2008 at 10:13 AM
Anonymous said…
It appears that GOD has given this Pastor the gift of Positive Vision and Leadership.

Perhaps instead of the PEWS being covered with cloth they will now be filled with SOULS hungry for the love of GOD through JESUS CHRIST our LORD and SAVIOR.
April 14, 2008 at 9:19 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Storehouse of Goodness

Image
How great is Your goodness which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in You. Psalm 31:19 When I think about the LORD and His goodness to me and those around me, I am so thankful. And yet, I'm not sure I've thought often about how He stores up goodness for me.  Have you? If we fear Him alone (and that's a BIG IF), then we can be assured of this promise: that He will store up goodness for us! The doctor gives bad news. God has goodness stored up for us. A spouse asks for a divorce. God has goodness stored up for us. Children make decisions that grieve us. God has goodness stored up for us. Fellow students or colleagues at our place of employment treat us with contempt or worse. God has goodness stored up for us. Dreams and goals we thought were important are no longer possible. God has goodness stored up for us. No matter what we encounter along the Way - whether calm or storm, peace o
Read more

Lessons of Trust

As promised, here are a few of the lessons learned after the challenges wrought in the experience on Thursday night's Living Last Supper: When we do something intentionally to God's glory, He receives the glory and protects us. Continue to put trust in God alone. As we trust God, if an outside organization desires access to the church, one must perform due diligence to verify who they are and what they intend to do. If there is no time to perform due diligence, then the offer remains unaccepted. The farther away an interviewer/videographer lives, the more due diligence is required. Interviewers or videographers rarely (if ever) pay you to do their work. If sufficient due diligence is performed, review ALL waivers before signing or making them available for signatures. If after due diligence, a group is allowed on site, increase security to ensure the group behaves as promised. And, the oldest lesson of all: people may not do what you expect them to do, but they will do what you
Read more

Who is your king?

  Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”    Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”    Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” John 18:36-38a In a culture that stresses having the “right” identity, you and I have many.    For example, I am a son of my parents, husband to my wife, father to my children, grandfather to their children, a neighbor, a friend, a pastor.    You get the idea.    All of these relationships mark us – identify us.    While we might like to consider all of these identities equally, there is a hierarchy whereby one identity overshadows or has priority over another.    As we raised our children, my k
Read more