| Quit Ye Like Men
An open letter to the men of this church
Watch you, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let
all your things be done with charity - I Cor 16:13,14
I was flipping through an issue of a Christian women's magazine. when
I noticed an ad for a new periodical aimed at edifying Christian men. It
was called Quit Ye Like Men.
"Quit ye like men"?
Well. they lost me on that one. It must be one of those old King James
phrases that has lost its meaning in the modern language.
And yet, there was something about those words that just wouldn't leave me
alone. So, out came our dictionary. Most of the definitions for quit just
didn't seem to fit the context of the phrase. Then I saw the definition
that turned the whole thing around: "to meet the expectations entertained
of (to quit oneself like a man)".
It even alluded to the passage of Scripture that the ad referenced. So,
quit ye like men meant to meet the expectations entertained of (expected
of) a man. Whoa! Wait a minute. The Bible is telling us to act like men
- to be manly.
Strong's Concordance verified this as the intended meaning. Looking up
other key words found in 1 Corinthians: 6:13 and 14, I began to understand
that God had a standard for manliness that I had not fully grasped, let
alone attained. I also realized that most of the men in this church are
probably in the same boat.
This brought on a whole rush of emotions and memories. How many times had
I seen men not meet up to their responsibilities as husbands and fathers,
leaving their wives to fill the void? How many times had I wished that men
would be more involved in church leadership and ministries?
Too many times.
I've also heard and read plenty of exhortations to men to do what they
were supposed to do. I feel the pain enough to give it one more try and
that's what this letter is all about. After giving this passage a good
going over I feel that it contains what we as men need to know and do in
order to fulfill our God-given roles as leaders, servants, and examples.
Let's examine this passage.
Watch ye, is taken from the Greek word gregoreno which means literally
to keep awake or to watch, to be vigilant, to wake, to be watchful. The
NIV puts it as "be on your guard." The NASB says "be on the alert."
These words command us to remain awake and watchful, like a watchman or
guard at his post. The duties of a watchman are simple but vitally
important to those around him.
He must:
o Stay awake
o Pay attention to what goes on around him
o Warn of oncoming danger while there is still time to act against it
o Inform others of good things that are coming
o Fight with everything he has to protect the people he is guarding.
Some things to watch for are:
o Our own heart attitudes
o The leading of the Holy Spirit in decision making
o How our families are doing in their relationship with God
o Spiritual danger to our families
o The needs of those around us
To do all this requires discernment and knowledge of the Bible (to know
what is good from what is dangerous), stamina, determination, and most of
all a caring heart.
Stand Fast from the Greek word st�it� whose literal meaning is to stand
fast, to persevere to be stationary. Here we are told to remain unmoving
in our faith. This means that our actions and attitudes, our decisions
large or small should reflect the faith we have in Jesus Christ. It means
that we are to be uncompromising on what we know is right, and that
regardless of circumstance we will be faithful to the Lord.
Quit you like men: from the Greek - andriz�mal - to act manly, to quit
like men.
To act manly from a Biblical perspective has nothing to do with the
world's view of manliness. To be blunt, any example of being a man that
the world can produce will have the same fatal flaw. Whether it's "the
strong, silent type" (who keeps his feelings bottled up inside), or the
more modern "Alan Alda" type (who is very much in touch with his feelings),
or any other "type", they all suffer from being to wrapped up in themselves.
The prime Biblical example of a real man is Jesus Christ. Just look at the
wonderful example He sets for us:
o He is a man of action
o He is a man of compassion
o He is a strong leader
o He is steadfast even to His death
o He is not afraid to show His feelings
He is fully God and *fully man* We believe by faith that the fullness
of God resided in the form of Jesus Christ. But I propose to you that the
fullness of man can be found in Jesus also. The opening verses of Hebrews
12 describe our life as being like a race. We are told to discard anything
that would slow us down and prevent us from reaching the goal set before
us. And what is that goal? Jesus Christ.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witness, let
us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our
eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...
- Hebrews 12:1,2
The goal of every Christian man should be to conform to the character of
Jesus Christ. Quit you like men means to be like Jesus.
Be Strong - from the Greek word kratai�� which means to increase in vigor..
The primary definition for vigor that is found in Webster's Encyclopedic
Dictionary is "active strength".
So how does a man increase in active strength? By using that strength
continually. We increase our physical strength by using our muscles,
pushing them to their limits and beyond. The same can be said for any kind
of strength.
The Bible doesn't specify the kind of vigor in which we are to increase,
neither will I. We would do well to increase our strength in all areas.
Physical strength - Jesus was no couch potato. As a carpenter he was
used to hard work (remember He couldn't just run
over to the lumber yard for wood, and no power
tools either). Hard work builds godly character
as well as a healthy body.
Mental strength - Using your mind will increase its strength. Reading,
creative activities and hobbies, and interaction with
intelligent people will help stimulate the mind. But
by far the best thing you can do for your mental
well being is to study (not just read) the Bible. Not
only will it help you spiritually but it cleanses the
mind as well. The answers to all of mankind's problems
and the entire plan of God for man is found in the
pages of Scripture.
Sure, I know you know all this, but let's put some
"active strength" into it.
Spiritual strength comes from being in the presence of God through
prayer and being in the Word of God. It is
supplemented by standing up for godly convictions,
sharing publicly what God has done for us, and
actively overcoming evil with good.
Let all your things be done with charity The key words here are "things"
(Greek: agath�s meaning good - used as a noun like good thing or good deeds)
and "charity" (Greek: agap�, meaning love(feast) or (feast of) charity).
It's probably no coincidence that these two words have similar spellings,
since they go hand in hand.
So then I am to do all my good works with a feast (abundance) of love. As
I go about doing the things required of a Christian man I should do so with
a great deal of love. Love then, and not duty or anything else, should be my
motivation.
I learned quite a bit digging a bit into these verses. I'll admit that I'm
no scholar and my translation of the Greek words may not be totally
accurate. I'll also say that I don't have my act together in any of the
areas I've just written about. However, this does not in any way negate the
burden that the Lord has placed on my heart concerning the men of this
church.
My burden in this case is the same as the Lord's: to see this church filled
with vital, mature, powerful men leading their families, reaching out to
others, ministering unto God.
But how do we get there from here?
It's one thing to tell you what you should do but quite another to tell
you *how* to do it. I have read books and listened to sermons about men
waking up and taking on their rightful roles but almost none of them give
men any real tools to use to accomplish this. Christian book catalogs are
filled with books geared to "women's needs", women's Bible studies, and
even women's Bibles (pink leather-flex, of course). But there is very little
specifically geared toward helping men be godly men.
What I propose is that we men of this church get together and do something
about our own deficiencies.
[What's that? You say you're doing okay as a husband/father and don't need
any help. Before you dismiss me entirely, let me suggest that you ask your
wife and the Lord for an honest assessment of how you're doing.. These will
be your toughest but most supportive critics. If you can still say that you
don't need help after this, I'd like to shake your hand and ask you to
disciple the rest of us, please. (I'm serious!)]
As I was saying, let's do something about this. How about we use each
other's strengths to overcome our weaknesses?
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The rest of the letter was an appeal to the men to get together on a
regular basis for study, prayer and sharing with each other as we seek
what God's word has to tell us about being manly men from the Biblical
view. It also addressed some specific areas of need.
It's been 2 weeks and as of yet I have had no response from any man in
my churh concerning a desire to pursue the topic of this letter.
Please pray that this letter won't be dismissed as a cute little bible
study but that the Lord may use it to strengthen all of the men of my
church.
-Gil
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