Men. It's "T-time".
"Testosterone" time. I'm NOT talking about being an idiot...acting like a CHAUVINIST or a COWARD. I'm talking about "HOLY Testosterone; Sanctified Testosterone." I'm talking about being a MAN like CHRIST. Men, we have 3 options, as one pastor says...to be a Chauvinist, a Coward, or Christ like.
"T-time" is about being Christ like.
There was and is NO greater MAN than Jesus Christ. Of course, He was and is the "GOD-MAN". 100% GOD. 100% MAN. Other great men in the historical, accurate, and reliable documents of the Bible were John the Baptist and Boaz.
GOING BOAZ
Boaz is one of my heroes. He is a great picture of Jesus Christ. His name means, "strength, mighty man". In other words, he didn't drink "decaf" and drive a mini van (just kidding - driving a mini van actually shows you are more of a man because you are laying your life down for your wife and kids, you're willing to bleed; seriously - that's my view on mini vans). "BOAZ" is where we get the term, "BO-UP". Not really; but it sounds good!
A WORTHY MAN
Boaz's story is interesting. He's a man's man; a dude's dude, according to one preacher; yet his story is found in an Old Testament Scripture with a woman's name as the title, the book of Ruth. Chapter 2 verse 1 of Ruth tells the Boaz's story and it begins by describing him as "a worthy man".
WORTHY or WIMPY?
That's the FIRST things said of this guy. I don't know what the first thing that would be said or thought of me...or you...I hope it would be something like that. Men, what is the FIRST thing your wife or the those closet to you would say about you and me? I hope it's a "worthy man and not wimpy man." Are we "worthy men"? Does the church have any "worthy men"?
BLOG SERIES - going Boaz
I'm starting a blog series of what a "worthy man" is. We'll look at the life of Boaz and see how he is a picture of Jesus Christ, the WORTHIEST MAN OF ALL TIME! We'll look at the characteristics that the Book of Ruth lay out for us. Just to give you a sneak peek: Boaz was a:
- "Fighter",
- "Lover",
- "Redeemer",
- "Protector",
- "Planner",
- "Leader"
- "Bless-er"
- AND MANY MORE!
In other words, when he was a little boy, he was "bi-lingual". He could speak English and "Tonka"..."vrummm, vrumm'. If he was alive today, he would work out to "insanity workout videos"; he would have loved Chuck Norris movies; he would watch WWE on Monday nights and College Gameday ESPN on Saturday mornings; he most likely would have had lots of camouflage in his closet; and because he was the kind of MAN we need today; he would have fought for sexual purity/holiness. That's a real man.We don't have enough "real men; worthy men" in the church today. Sure, we have some. Not enough. I want to be a "worthy man." I want to be a picture of Jesus. Dude, do you?
CASTRATION
I recently came upon an article written by Brian Mavis on how to reach men in the church...how to "fix" men (it gave me the vrumm, vrumm illustration idea by the way). The article talked about how the church is failing in this endeavor. The following paragraph is an INCREDIBLE - and I think, ACCURATE explanation of what the church has done to MEN...PLEASE READ...
"In many cases the church hasn’t done much better than the world at “fixing men.” They’ve put a 21st century spin on a similar first-century problem. Two thousand years ago, there was some confusion about what it took to become a Christian man. Some people believed that Gentile men had to be circumcised to be real Christians. Today the church has moved the knife a few inches, no longer performing a circumcision but a castration. I’m speaking metaphorically of course. But the problem is real. Just like the world, the church often tries to take the “manliness” out of a man instead of taking his God-given strengths and finding their rightful use in the kingdom. God wants man as He made him. Man isn’t meant to chase skirts, but he’s not meant to be in one either (unless you’re Scottish—and it still looks weird)."
NO SKIRTS ALLOWED
I believe all churches should post a sign outside it's doors for men: MEN, NO SKIRTS ALLOWED. I'm all for the "metro-man". I'm one myself. Metro does not mean you wear skirts though. It simply means you have enough fashion sense to stop tight rolling your jeans. You can be a metro man and still drive a GMC Sierra.
In the next couple of posts, we'll begin to look at "going Boaz." I hope you'll check in. It's "T-time."
