Sometimes it’s better to say nothing. This may well be one of those times. Men in this country have been doing unspeakable things to women. And not just in the last news cycle – for decades. Our women have been carrying this country on their backs and all they have been getting in return is abuse and oppression of the most heinous and degrading kind. They have had enough. And they don’t need another man to tell them it is so, or what’s what. So that is not what this is. This I address to the men. A Christian man speaking to his brothers, quietly, with his head held low. I invite any woman to listen in if she so choses. And I welcome her opinion as one of those we have disregarded for too long, to our shame and ignorance. But I fully respect and understand if she wants no part of it.
#Men are trash.
No excuse, no justification, no counter-arguments. And this is not a new idea. The bible has been saying this very thing for thousands of years, and in more than 140 characters. In our “enlightenment” we have lost the concept of sin, and with it any hope of self-understanding. We’ve lost any grasp of the basic human condition, and so all our social problems reduce to “us vs them”. How sad that we are turning to twitter to remind us who we really are.
#Does God know?
God knows men are trash. It matters to him. It grieves our Father to see his daughters mistreated in any way. It makes him very, very angry. And that anger he pours out on men, by executing their leader in the most shameful way imaginable: crucifixion. Men get what they deserve at the cross. It’s true that both men and women were complicit in the human rejection of God. But the final responsibility lies with men. And so…
#The man.
I think part of the reason our women are so rightly outraged is this: it’s not just that things shouldn’t be as they are, but also the profound sense that things weren’t always as they are. God made humanity in the dual image of male and female and we were very good, together. There was harmony in the relationship. There was a very brief time in human history when men didn’t abuse physical advantage to dominate and coerce and compensate for our shame and impotence. We’ve lost all that. We abdicated responsibility. We’ve been doing it ever sense. BUT JESUS. He exercised infinite power in humble service. He took full responsibility. He took it all the way to the cross. He treated women with nothing but the deepest love and care. He rescued manhood from the trash-heap. He has shown us what it is, and what it’s for.
#…?
What next? What are we going to do about it? Our women are angry. They are right to be angry. We need to let them be angry. We have broken their trust in so many ways. We need to win it back. It’s going to be a long road. We take the first step by acknowledging our guilt. And then we take the lead, not in bullying, coercion or domination, but in humble service of our sisters, in the hope of reconciliation. And when we fail, as we will, we need to turn to Jesus for the grace and strength to be men, and carry on. Jesus Christ has rescued manhood from the trash-heap. We cannot continue to live as if he hasn’t.
By Roydon Frost, with gracious, loving input from Leah Maseko and Blaque Nubon.
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