There has been much debate in our current age about the issue of masculinity. The traditional cultural image is one of a man who bravely shoulders the burden of providing and caring for his family, working hard with his hands, being a warrior who defends the home front, and who does all these things with nary a quiver in his emotional state. In other words, the quintessential man’s man. However, there have been many voices influenced by godless secularism that have decried this image and called it toxic and destructive. Those who do so claim this form of masculinity is responsible for untold damage to women, children, and persons of varying gender ideologies. They have sought to unseat the man’s man ideal and insert a definition of masculinity that far more resembles femininity than anything else. Men and their identities have become the battleground for our cultural future.

The question for the Christian is not how culture defines manhood but what Scripture says. To that end, the best example we should consider is the God-Man Himself, Jesus Christ. We must look to the examples Christ gave us in His life on this earth so that we might emulate Him above all else. In this examination, we need to look at His work in totality, not focusing merely on one character trait over others. This has happened far too often in Christian circles where the intent is to co-opt Christ to forward a particular agenda. Progressives may seek to apply Jesus’s compassion and kindness to claim Jesus would be a feminist, for example. Those hyper-focused on patriarchal ideals may seek to find rugged manliness in Jesus to promote the traditional man’s man image. Yet, in looking at the whole picture of Scripture, we find something far more biblically balanced.

There is little question that Jesus grew up in a world where working hard with His hands would have been the norm. His earthly father, Joseph, was a carpenter (Matt. 13:55). Jesus would have learned the trade and worked with him over the years. Likely, Jesus was even working in this trade before entering His itinerant ministry at thirty years old. Carpentry was not easy work; it would have been rugged work done with His hands. Jesus labored hard as a man, living out the very commandment Adam was given in the garden when God told him to work and keep it (Gen 2:15). Man was made to work, and in doing so, he gives glory to God. Those years of hard work and their impact on Jesus’ earthly body are demonstrated in John 2:14-17 when He made a cord of whips and chased the money changers out of the temple. This was no trifling task, as he would have needed the skill to make the whip and the strength to overturn tables and drive the thieves out of the temple area. Not only did this act reveal His physical strength but His spiritual and mental commitment to His Father. Jesus demonstrated truly righteous indignation, justifiable anger, at those who would make a mockery of the very place where men were to draw close to God.

Jesus further showed godly use of anger when faced with the religious leaders who sought to accuse Him when He was healing on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-5). These leaders cared very little for the flocks they were to be leading, caring only to be exalted for their traditions, which they added to the law. Christ came to seek and save that which was lost, demonstrating His power over sickness and death by His repeated miraculous healings. He looked at these hard-hearted leaders with righteous anger as he healed the very man they would have denied just to preserve their positions and traditions. Jesus had repeated conflicts with the scribes and Pharisees throughout His walk on this earth, in each case showing courage and boldness unseen in His day. Though the Pharisees repeatedly tried to entangle Him in words and threatened those who would follow Him, Christ would not be deterred; He would not back down. So much so that in Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces several woes on them, judgments they would face for their hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Jesus showed no fear before them, demonstrating uncommon courage for all to see.

With such examples, is it not clear that Christian men should be strong, hard-working, courageous heroes who are angry at those who would defy God? Yes, these are ideal traits that all men should strive for, but they are not the only ones. Jesus also showed characteristics that are all too easily overlooked in this debate. Firstly, Jesus showed kindness that many would see as weakness. In Matthew 8:2, we see such a display. A leper, one who was an outcast in society, who could not be near others, much less touched, lest he communicate his disease to others, comes before Jesus. While this man asks for healing, Jesus takes the matter one step further. While He could have healed the man merely by a word, Jesus touched the man. This man, who had not been touched by another human being for an untold amount of time, received the touch of Christ. Such beautiful kindness was not required, yet our Savior extended it out of love.

In another act of gracious healing, Jesus, on His way to heal Jairus’s daughter, is pressed on every side by a crowd (Luke 8:40-48). Being bumped and jostled by every person in His path, Jesus stops and asks who touched Him. It is not for lack of knowledge, for He knew, but to draw out the one who so desired healing. A woman who had “an issue of blood” for twelve years steps out from the crowd. She was terrified for, in faith, she had touched the hem of Christ’s garment, knowing He could heal her when all others had failed. Yet, like the leper, she could have faced dire consequences, for under the law, anyone who touched her was made unclean. Christ does not pronounce judgment on her but, with compassion and love, tells her, “Your faith has made you well; go in peace” (v. 48) This kind of love and grace is not called for in the man’s man ideology, yet Jesus stops an entire crowd and halts His journey to save a little girl just to ease the physical and emotional burden of a woman who had endured so much.

This kind of lovingkindness was repeatedly displayed by Christ during His ministry. Yet, we see two other acts when He suffered on the cross that help us cement our understanding of His fully orbed masculinity. After enduring an illegal trial, the mockery of the crowds, and the scourging of Pilate, Jesus is hammered to the cross, left to die for crimes He had not committed. While hanging there and suffering, He is ridiculed and mocked by those around Him, including two thieves. At some point during this excruciating experience, one thief comes to realize who Jesus truly is and repents (Luke 23:39-43). He rebukes his fellow thief, acknowledging their crimes have earned them a just punishment, yet Christ has done nothing to deserve His. He then asks Jesus to remember him when He enters into His kingdom. Jesus, who had endured the vile mockery from the man only a short time before, who could have called down righteous judgment for this man’s sins, says, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (v. 43). Where most would argue that men should stand firm and hold others wickedness into account, Jesus shows mercy on the most undeserving. And, as one of His last acts, before He yielded up His spirit, Jesus showed compassion on the earthly mother who birthed and cared for Him all His life. After hours of suffering at the hands of evil men, Jesus looks to His mother and the Apostle John, calling for the Apostle to care for her as his own mother (John 19:26-27). Jesus showed in His death that He would care for those most dear to Him and that His mother would never be without someone to watch over her. So, we, as men in Christ, should likewise love those under our care, regardless of whatever it may cost us.

Genuine Christian manliness is not merely about toughness, boldness, and speaking without fear; it is also about gentleness, kindness, and mercy. In Christ, the perfect picture of the godly Man, we have the perfect example of genuine masculinity. No trait outshines the other, all are in perfect balance and used accordingly. Christian men should certainly stand against secular godlessness, which seeks to emasculate men, rendering them into genderless drones. However, this cannot be done by neglecting the fully orbed masculinity given to us by Christ in the Scriptures. We dare not fail to balance our boldness with our patience. We must temper our righteous indignation with our love for the lost. And while we seek to war against all that is ungodly, we must never fail to show kindness to those around us so that they may see Christ in us.

 

This article has also been published on X.com.