Unicorns, Man, and a Four Leaf Clover

Okay, here I go. Making waves. 

"What do a unicorn, a man, and a four leaf clover have in common?" you might ask. Well, they are all either very rare, extinct, or fanciful (depending on the folklore that you prescribe to). “Men? Men are everywhere! How can you say they are rare or extinct?”

Well, let's start by defining the word “man." Oxford Language dictionary defines a man as “an adult human being”. 

Okay, now let's look at it on a deeper level. A human being, the creature created by God to rule over the earth. Hold it! Still more to define. “Rule over the earth.” What does that even mean? You see, we have taken the terms and understanding that once denoted a great deal of effort, care, and responsibility, and reduced it to simple power. We now live in a time when we desire to throw off the “ruling power” because any amount of power is associated with abuse. There are many groups of people, including Christians, who want to talk about how submission to authority is important. However, they are often the first to show disrespect to an authority of which they disapprove. (It’s true, get over it.) In the church, throughout time, men have held the power in their hands, even the power over life and death. The abuse of that power on any level has eroded the trust of those that once depended on that position for their survival. 

Power, in and of itself, has become synonymous with evil. But is it really? We watch movies and TV shows about superhumans endowed with great powers and abilities. But one of the most common running threads throughout is that these people are also held to a standard of self discipline, selflessness, and even denial of one's own desires for the betterment of those that need them. This is necessary. Such a strong moral center, and drive to help those that cannot help themselves, is what separates the hero from the bad guy. 

So, why is it then that we understand that concept and we like it, but we are not willing to accept that we need it? There is a great evil in this world. Never mind getting into it any deeper than what is right outside your door. What about what is going on in the schools, parks, down the street, next door, even in your own home? There is a constant fight to keep darkness at bay. What disturbs me most about the modern Christian movement is that it puts

a great emphasis on others, their wrong, their mistakes, their opinions, their salvation. But it does not cause us to look INWARD!  How is this possible? The scripture, at every junction, forces its reader into self reflection. But we don’t! We want to point out where everyone else is wrong before we acknowledge our own part to play in it! And gentlemen, I’m looking at you.

 

(Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 11:28-29, Psalm 26:2, Psalm 139:3, Job 13:23, Psalm 139: 23, Jeremiah 17: 9, 2 Corinthians 13:5, Galatians 6:3-4, Proverbs 4:23)

No, I am not man-bashing. No, I am not on a feminist rant. I am holding YOU to the God-given standard laid out for you by your creator. And it looks like this:

You were created in the image of God and given an example of power at its finest. Love with protection. Mercy in justice. Discipline and joy. Fierceness and gentleness. I am only listing a few of His natural qualities, which you were expected to follow in. By that standard man was given the right and responsibility to rule the earth and all in it. Meaning, that this being, Adam, was the greatest of all creation, and expected to rule as God exemplified. 

Simple! So simple! BUT, he failed. And as his first act of throwing off his responsibility, he threw out both woman and God himself as a sacrifice, in order to keep himself safe! 

I wish I could say it was a one time thing. I think we all wish that. But time and time again, we watch as men are willing to sacrifice those that love them and depend on them. There is so much more at stake here than just a term for masculinity. I wish I could lay it all out, but perhaps I will delve deeper into the topic of the slighted woman and how man's lack of responsibility has led to her demise and ultimate destruction. But this is what we are living in today. 

Men, if you feel an attack on masculinity, you are absolutely right. Why? Because masculinity, in its truest form, is what is meant to stand between evil and everything else! YOU! You were the first line of defense! You fail and your family goes with you! Some of you know this, but you buy into the bu#%$@^t of the world that says that you defend your family by “providing." Provision has become the greatest purpose for men, and so everything else is sacrificed to that end. It has become the definition of success for men, and we have laid love, purity, relationship, depth, personal growth, family dynamic, and every other precious thing on that altar. 

Well, the enemy knew that men were the first defense. Without man, women are next and then an entire generation is laid bare for the taking. So, as he does so often, when you cannot defeat your enemy through brute strength, you erode him. The enemy laid a trap for mankind and changed the very definition of his name and purpose so that he not only gave up his position but became the perpetrator. Men became lazy. They stopped being the protector and lover at home. Instead, seeking selfishness. However, their title and power were not so easy to give up. And so, while men still retain, in more ways than you may realize, their influence, they gave up the responsibility that went with it and became tyrants in their own homes. And that spread from home to home, from business to business, from political position to political position, until every corner of the globe was no longer run by those who understood the responsibility of being a man, but only desired the power. Power utilized for selfishness is deadly. And thus, the world we live in. Every issue, every death, every pain, every love lost, every ounce of human degradation can be traced back like a disease to the first one who had it and passed it on to their children. It spread, mutating with each generation, until it took everything in its wake. 

And so, Adam fell. 

Where do we go from here? Darkness has fallen and there is no hope. For every woman that has searched, and her heart desired the truth that is found in a real man, she knows. She knows how impossible it is to find that real man in a world overflowing with counterfeits. And when she finds something that carries even the faintest memory of what man once was, she falls prey to her own curse. “The desire of your heart will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To my fellow woman, I am there with you. I have cried at the cruelty of men, knowing that they are set as a head and yet that head desires ill for the body. 

But there is hope. It came in the form of a man. Not just any man.
A true one. A real one. One that called back to the greatness of his father Adam and beyond. One that so perfectly embodied masculinity, that he was, in fact, called, “The son of Man." 

Let me explain something very simply and, if you are able, please set aside your religious background, the foundation on which you have stood, and allow me to show you something. 

I do not follow him because his name is “God." I do not obey him because he is in charge. I have followed too many who were in charge, to the detriment of those they ruled over. I have been subject to plenty of tyranny. I follow him because, time and time, and time again, he has proven himself worthy of the name. Man. We take the phrase “fully man and fully God” and take it to mean that the term “man” is like his handicap. It was not. It was the part of him that he conquered and placed in authority, that he might renew what man once was and remind those made in his image of what they were meant to be. 

Men, you no longer have the excuse of not having a good example. HE is your example, he al
ways was. That is why the renewing of your heart is necessary. By blood you were born weak and selfish, but by spirit you are reborn to be powerful and loving. That means that women and children are no longer subject to the cruelty of those imposters that carry the name but don’t live out the responsibility of a true man. 

I have witnessed this, and I will tell you something, there is nothing, in all the earth, like man. A true man is…well, I’m having trouble even defining it. A true man is perfect. He is a shelter. He is a leader. He provides a level of protection that allows his family to be at peace, to grow, to prosper. He stands between his wife and the rest of the world on every front and takes joy in that perfect peaceful smile on her face when he comes home and knows that she KNOWS she is safe.

Let me tell you that this is so rare a thing that I don’t think most people would even know what to look for, but if it is something that has happened to you, you know. Even if you thought you had it before, having the real thing will blow your mind. 

I have experienced this. That is how I know. I meet with women all the time who struggle because their husband is working to meet a worldly standard of man, rather than a God standard. Being a man in the world is not hard, it's impossible. It is an ever-changing mark, never satisfied because the world will never be pleased with your sacrifice. You become frustrated and feel you have given everything to be a “good boy,” only to have it thrown back in your face. Often, such men will give up and turn to self indulgence on one level or another, giving into selfishness and further sacrificing those that need them. But Yeshua says, “Come to me, all you who are carrying heavy burdens.” He walks it out with you, teaching you, sharpening you, training you how to be a man, a real man. He then allows you to taste the sweet fruit of victory, the fruit that your father Adam once tasted. I cannot speak to this. I know what it looks like, but I don’t know how it feels. I’m a woman. But I know that watching it, being a part of it, is nothing short of paradise.