Manliness

I'm facing a really big challenge these days that has me all stressed out! It's teaching a Sunday School course, "Godly Men, Godly Women." For me, this subject began as a sermon developed from a study of the Hebrew word for "male" (Genesis 1:27). It seems that God has a special calling and purpose for a man which is distinct from his calling and purpose for a woman. Both bear the image of God in specific ways. Not understanding or more precisely, not living in accord with this image is and continues to be the beginning of all sorts of problems for men and women. I am somewhat more than a little familiar with such problems because I am exactly that man who has not understood or lived out what God created me for. That I am now teaching about what I fall so short of, and of which I have only a budding understanding makes me really scared!

The subject matter is very interesting - at least to me it is. I'm getting an opportunity to discover together with others the journey towards being a godly man. We are asking questions like, "Where are we now?" "How do we move forward?" "What is the destination?" It will not be easy because I will need to be brutally honest about the man that I am, including undesirable patterns of thinking and behaviour, some of which are sinful. What has been amazing, however, is that, in his word, God does give a vision for what it is to be a godly man that is much deeper than most of us realize. It is not just living up to a standard or fulfilling a code, but includes coming to grips with why I so often fall short and what it looks like to keep moving nonetheless. There are other guys in the class who struggle as I do and it is wonderful to be in conversation with them as well as the women. May the Lord bless our study.

Another thing that is stressing me out is that I only have the first part of the course prepared - the part about men. At this stage, I have no idea what I can possibly say about women. And for some reason, I feel curiously unqualified to say anything about women. Hopefully the women in the class will help. I have asked my wife if she would get involved in teaching the second part of the course. Pray for us!

I haven't really said anything about the content of the course. Perhaps it's because I'm still early on in the journey. Maybe later on, if the course has a good response, I will consider saying more. All I know is that we are in dire need of men and women of God in our families and community. May God pour out his grace on us for this need.