"Be a Man"

My Daddy often said, though he is long since dead,

The day will come that you will be a man,

Part of my childhood dream, to me at least it seems,

Was I’d grow up and prove to Dad I can.

The cowboys that I knew, they all showed me, too,

That one day I’d be doing what they did,

They gave me a shot, I gave it all I got,

Did manly things when I was still a kid.

But now there’s been a change, and culture’s rearrange,

No longer think that gender’s very clear,

You can pick and choose, identify, take cues,

From whatever variation you hold dear.

The good old boys, with cowboy poise,

Have now passed from the scene,

And quite a sight, man buns wrapped tight,

The difference is obscene.

We need John Wayne, it’s very plain,

To rise up from the dead,

And bring us back, and that’s a fact,

Go quote just what I said.

‘Cause every day in countless ways,

God-given manhood’s stole,

We bow and scrape, and let ‘em take,

What God says is our role.

To serve and lead, and meet the need,

To defend and to provide,

Stand between, the wolves so mean,

While others run and hide.

And we don’t buy the devil’s lie,

That we should not be strong,

When every crime is redefined,

Because some man is wrong.

We have our faults, but these assaults,

On everything we are,

A godly man must take a stand,

Because it’s gone too far.

Here’s a thought, we have been taught,

About the One who rose,

What if we, said we would be,

The ones who heard and chose,

To read the Book, and simply look,

At what the pages say,

God’s Word can’t fail, male and female,

It still is God’s true way.

“So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27, NLT)

Our gender is God’s idea. God, the Creator, designed human beings to reflect who He is. The miracle and mystery of male and female expresses the image of God. If this is true, and the Bible says it is, then when we trifle with gender we are distorting something that is near and dear to God. The two will become one, united by God, and never divided by humanity. Moses affirmed it, and Jesus quoted it. When the early Christian church exploded under the ministry of the apostle Paul, he said that the marriage of male and female would reflect and illustrate the relationship between Christ and His Church. Is it any wonder, then, that the prevailing culture had taken an alternative view, redefining both gender and marriage? The closer we stay to what the scriptures teach the better off we will be. The more we speak the truth in love to those who are confused, the more God will use us.

Lord, help us to celebrate the truth of Your Word, in Jesus’ name.

Art by JaNeil Anderson, janeilanderson.com, used by permission. Thanks, JaNeil, and God bless you.