How has our once flourishing culture fallen to such a level that many men feel unable even to approach a woman for fear of sexual harassment? Or that offering to simply hold open a door, carry a heavy object, or pick up the tab can lead to the charge of misogyny? Worse still, many men are dealing with the frustrations of our feminized world by either receding into a life of escape and seclusion or venting their anger on the mistreatment, abuse, or exploitation of women. Perhaps worst of all, the church has consistently failed to both confront the heresies of feminism and to call men to the responsibility that God has entrusted to them. Sadly, the church has primarily become a breeding ground for men who are passive in their families, churches, and communities.
The religious ideology of feminism has conquered our culture and has become the default lens in our once-patriarchal society. While the circumstances which gave rise to feminism over the past century can be debated, the product of its influence cannot be. Feminism has helped to produce a passive, hyper-sensitive, and directionless society. Yet while all this may be affirmed, it cannot be said that men themselves are not accountable for the crisis of masculinity that helped lead to the rise of feminism, nor to the current crisis of masculinity, which is its fruit. Whatever the circumstances of the present situation may be, and whatever history bore them, the only course forward is for husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers to take responsibility and heed the apostle’s call to “act like men.”
The modern world would have us believe that a man may be either a chauvinistic bully or a passive companion. Yet both are profound errors, and neither can be called masculinity. However, the Bible and the creation order provide true instruction in masculinity and a portrait of genuine manhood worth imitating. God created men for a very good purpose—indeed, for an indispensable purpose—and when that purpose is misunderstood, neglected, or abused, culture collapses, and things fall apart. The recovery of biblical masculinity, therefore, is essential to rebuild and sustain the decimated world we find ourselves in.
The focus of this seminar will be just that: to encourage and equip men to be the bold, courageous, wise, and humble leaders God created and calls us to be and to embrace our roles within the home, the church, and the community as God intends. In this lost generation, in this world crying out for strong leadership, we must regain the mantle of authentic biblical manhood and, at this time, more than ever, “act like men.”
