As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Too many boys and men waste time in pointless and soulless activities, unmindful of their responsibilities, uncaring in their pursuits. Have we forgotten how to raise men, how to lead our boys into manhood? In “The Book of Man,” I try to chart a clearer course, offering a positive, encouraging, uplifting, realizable idea of manhood, redolent of history and human nature, and practical for contemporary life.
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Ever see a sign that said “Men Needed”? Probably not, but we certainly should see them. In his new book The Masculine Mandate: God’s Calling to Men, Richard Phillips says this is exactly what we need—men. Phillips contends that we don’t merely need the kind of men that like to hike, camp or hunt, but the kind of men that God has called men to be: godly, manly men. Phillips believes that both the secular and Christian cultures have watered down and miscommunicated God’s idea of a man. Using both exegesis and application, Phillips explains the “masculine mandate” and how it applies to the life of a man.
In the first section, Phillips starts in Genesis 2 and identifies four essential aspects of a man.
It is the fourth aspect of man—obedience through work—which Phillips concentrates on during the first section of the book. With Genesis 2:15 as the foundation, Phillips says, “We are to devote ourselves to working/building and keeping/protecting everything placed into our charge” (p. 12). The two concepts of working and keeping are the basis around which God gives man his calling and purpose. Similarly foundational to these concepts is the fact that man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-17). From this, Phillips states the purpose of man:
[It is] revealing the glory of God to a sin-darkened world so that He will be praised and that lost sinners will be saved by coming to know the Lord. The great purpose of our lives is to reveal the glory and grace of God both by what we do and who we are. (p. 34)
It was just a few weeks into my senior year in high school. I was sitting in Advanced Math class when the door opened and the school secretary motioned for me to come out for a minute. Oh, of course, that form, I thought. “Sorry, I totally forgot about that form! I’ll bring it tomorrow, I promise.” She shook her head as she again motioned for me to come out in the hall. “It’s not the form.” I got up and left, a little embarrassed in front of all my classmates and wondering what kind of trouble I was in—it was still pretty early in the school year for anything major.
Crossing the threshold from the classroom into the hallway, I saw my dad standing there. And as soon as I saw my dad, I knew I wasn’t in trouble. Yet I suddenly, sincerely wished I were, because the look on his face told me that whatever had prompted this visit was much worse than any trouble I could’ve been in. Today, I can’t remember exactly what he said, but I think it might simply have been, “Poppie’s gone.”
We had been quite a threesome, Poppie, my dad and I. Hunting, fishing, cookouts, football games—you name it. No grandfather was in better shape than mine. He was tough as nails. Exercised every day. Not afraid to stand up to anyone, in the right way—like the time he stood toe-to-toe with a man twice his size who had a reputation of being less-than-nice to his wife. No blows were struck, but none were needed. He knew the difference between a real man and a coward, and the coward backed down. His leaving us in his mid-sixties was a completely unexpected shock to everyone who knew him.
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