The recent craze surrounding self-appointed masculinity expert, Andrew Tate, continues to garner public attention. Tate built his financial wealth by prostituting women through websites such as “Only Fans.” He has made a name for himself by encouraging men to be physically fit and desirable to women. Furthermore, he has drawn public attention through bold speech, arguing that men must be willing to fight for what they want, must work hard, and stand up for nationalistic ideologies. His brashness, appearance of being tough, and unapologetic pride have drawn many young men into his wake. For them, Tate is the epitome of manliness. This has resulted in his being accepted and sought after by politically conservative personalities as a spokesman for masculinity.
However, Tate has a dark side. Allegations with accompanying videos and testimonies abound regarding his physical violence toward women. He regards marriage as a worthless institution and claims that men should seek to have numerous sexual encounters with a variety of women, so much so that he has accused men who seek marriage of being homosexual. He has stated that pastors who rebuke his practices are envious of him because he has made numerous women pregnant. Furthermore, Tate is facing numerous criminal allegations regarding his pandering and physical violence toward women. The stark reality is that Andrew Tate is a man of uncontrolled lust, anger, and speech, none of which meets the standard of masculinity set by Scripture.
The pursuits of men such as Tate are the works of the flesh according to Scripture (Gal. 5:19-21). While God indeed made women to be the perfect helper for men (Gen. 2:18-23), that relationship was to be confined to one man and one woman in a lifelong relationship called marriage (vv. 24-25). Tate’s pursuit of multiple partners is an utter rejection of God’s design for men. Furthermore, his rejection of marriage demonstrates how he despises God’s command that men are to love their wives in a self-sacrificing manner, putting her needs before his own (Eph. 5:25). A man who pursues multiple women purely to satisfy his sexual desire demonstrates that he is self-centered and could not care less about what God has called him to be. Additionally, Tate’s marketing of women to men looking for the easy gratification of online porn is drawing men into the sin of lust in the heart, which Christ condemned in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:28). Everything about Tate is a man who not only celebrates sin but demands other men join him in his rebellion against God (1 Peter 4:4).
Another matter of concern is Andrew Tate’s unmatched pride and arrogance. He has repeatedly demonstrated that there is never a time when anyone can teach him anything. The manner in which he not only promotes himself as an idol to model oneself after but also denigrates any person who challenges his position reveals much about the pride in his heart. God hates pride. It is the sin that drew Satan and the fallen angels into rebellion before God. It is the sin by which Adam was tempted to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Pride is the very root of sin in the heart of man and the core of almost all other sins. It is the sin of self-aggrandizement, believing oneself to be higher and better than all others. It denies the truth of Scripture which calls the heart of man “deceitful above all things and desperately sick” (Jer. 17:9) and thinks itself to be better than even God declares man to be. But, Proverbs 18:18 tells us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Those who trust in themselves will one day face the God they refused to humble themselves before.
Biblical manliness is found in the heart of the man who does not exalt self, rather he exalts the God who has redeemed him. James reminds us that, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” (4:6) and that men are to humble themselves before God, doing the works that He gives us, trusting that it is He that will exalt us in His timing (4:10). True masculinity emulates the perfect God-man, Jesus Christ, who emptied himself by stepping out of the throne of Heaven, becoming a servant and obeying all that the Father commanded, even to the point of death (Phil. 2:5-8). In all that he did, Jesus never trumpeted himself as the King all men were to follow. Rather, he taught and served exactly as the Father commanded, allowing himself to be exalted at the proper time, waiting for the day that every knee will bow and all men will worship him as Lord and Savior (2:9-11). Christ has made it clear that those who mimic Tate in pursuing pride and self-exaltation will one day find themselves humbled by the hand of God when they face his judgment (Matt. 23:12).
Lastly to be considered is that Tate is a man of unwarranted violence. His verbal and physical abuse has been documented and demonstrated publicly. While physical violence may be warranted in defense of self or others, or the defense of one’s nation in a just war, God gave numerous commandments in the law (as seen in Exodus 21:12-27) regarding the punishments one would receive for striking another. When men strike other people unjustly, when they cause physical harm to one another, it is a sin against God himself. Yet, it is not merely the act of unjust violence that condemns a man, it is the unwarranted hatred and anger within one’s heart for which God will judge men (see Matt. 5:21-22 and 1 John 3:15). Hatred is born out from from the heart which is tempted by envy and disdain for others. Over time, that hatred and disgust boil over into one’s speech and actions, resulting in the wickedness of violence against another (see James 1:14-15). Men such as Tate show the evil within their hearts when they verbally tear down others and act out with physical aggression against them. Biblically masculine men are those who esteem others better than themselves (Phil. 2:3) and seek to love others as they love themselves (Mark 12:31). Unjust hatred, anger, and violence are rejected because men are to love God and love others as he has commanded us. Those men who demonstrate anger and violence toward others are not masculine, they are brute beasts who reject God’s reign over their lives.
Andrew Tate is not masculine by any biblical definition. He is a proud, angry, and lust-filled man who believes himself to be better than everyone else. He despises God and his word, believing his own depraved mind to be better counsel than God can offer to mankind. His influence over men in this world should be rejected at every level. He should be given no platform from which to espouse his godless and wicked ideology. Christians should expose his evil for what it is, calling on him and all who follow him to repent of their lawlessness. Christians should reject any politically conservative influencer who promotes Tate and his crowd, for those who promote him share in his wickedness. The church should instead preach true biblical masculinity which commands men to serve God humbly, loving others, restraining their minds and lusts, and leading as Christ has done, as the perfect servant-leader. Those who do so demonstrate truly biblical manliness.
Note: This article was also published at X.com.
There has been a lot of discussion as of late within Christian circles about the nature of masculinity. Part of this discussion centers around the notoriety of a particular social media influencer known as Andrew Tate. This person is well known for being outspoken on what it means to be a man, which mostly involves muscles, women, and money. Tate made a lot of wealth as an Only Fans pimp, pushing women into sexually depraved acts online for money. While he claims to be of the Muslim faith, he spends a great deal of time bragging about his sexual escapades and denouncing marriage as “gay.” Some individuals, including professing Christians, try to find upstanding qualities in Tate by pointing out things such as his encouraging young men to get physically fit and to be willing to fight against a culture that hates men and seeks to demoralize them. These defenses are offered as a great need within the church to emulate persons like Tate so that men within the church pursue genuine masculinity.
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.
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