by Eric T. Young

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Real Men Needed in the Church Today — Phil Johnson

 Eric T. Young  September 25, 2015

“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” – 1 Corinthians 16:13

Phil Johnson, in a sermon titled Marching Orders, stated:

[In this verse] Paul uses the Greek verb andrizomai (an-DRID-zom-ahee) in the middle voice. It’s another one-word imperative, though it’s hard to make it one word in English. Literally, “play the man.” Or in modern terminology, “man up.”

It’s a word that speaks of masculinity as opposed to femininity. He’s not saying be grownups rather than children; he’s saying “act like men, not like girls.” And frankly, Corinth was an effeminate culture, so that was a fitting charge to give to the church at Corinth. And let’s be honest, it’s also a fitting admonition for a large segment of evangelicals today.

“Be courageous” is certainly an important aspect of what Paul means, but it’s really bigger than that. He is commending all those characteristics that we think of as masculine rather than feminine—even though it’s not politically correct these days to categorize character traits that way. Paul is sweeping up and including in that command attributes like courage, and strength, and boldness—stout-heartedness, heroism, daring, gallantry, machismo. There is, of course, a more pedestrian aspect to true machismo, and it’s the idea of work. When God created Adam, He made him to work—to tend the garden—even before the Fall. That’s something to remember in this age of leisure. We need to be redeeming the time. You can’t exclude that from this command.

But remember the context is militant. This is first of a call to arms and a summons to battle. “Fight like men; defend the faith in a manly way.” That is surely the cardinal idea here.

Now it’s worth noting that this verse is written to the whole church—it’s not addressed to men only—and much less does Paul single out only the elders and the church leaders. This apples to every Christian. There’s a sense in which even the women in Corinth needed to cultivate the strength and fortitude of a warrior—like Deborah in the book of judges.

But if this applies to everyone in the church, it is the particular duty of men to be spiritual leaders and to model the spirit of virile, vigorous, vigilant faith—steadfast and courageous. And I love it that Paul has no scruples about connecting those ideas with manliness. “Act like men!” Masculinity. That is certainly one of the missing qualities of churches today.

You know, the old King James Version of this verse says, “Quit you like men” and I fear that sometime in the late 20th century or so a lot of evangelical readers mistook the message and thought it meant “Quit being men.”

Several books have been written analyzing the feminization of evangelical churches. I gave a lengthy message on this subject two years ago at a Grace Church Men’s conference—that message is online if you want to download it. Some people got offended by what I had to say.

But I think it’s an incontrovertible fact that the typical evangelical church of this generation has become weak and womanly. Churchgoers demand that preachers be soft and dainty—especially when they are dealing with hard-edged truths. If you don’t sufficiently tone down every severe text or hard-to-receive doctrine in the Bible, the tone police will write you up for an infraction before you can get from the pulpit to the front door. All the rough edges of every truth must be carefully sanded smooth and painted in pastel tones. We’ve traded up to cushy seats instead of hard-bench pews and we expect our preachers to fashion their message accordingly. None of this sinners-in-the-hands-of-an-angry-God stuff.

Instead, today’s evangelicals favor feminine themes: Let’s talk about how we hurt; let’s discuss our personal relationships; we need to meet people’s felt needs; you need to feel what I feel before you can hit me with unvarnished truth. The church has begun to look weak, effeminate, frightened, sissified—like a society of dressmakers and interior decorators instead of soldiers.

We’re told relentlessly that we have to be always agreeable no matter what—seeker-sensitive, gender-neutral, and delicate in everything we say and do. Listen: the Christian life is not high tea with fancy biscuits. It’s a battle, and we need to think and act accordingly.

The feminization of the church has received a lot of attention in recent years, and more and more people are recognizing the problem. The church is not reaching and ministering to men—we’re actually driving them away. But those who see the problem more often than not have really bad solutions. You know: have the men’s Bible studies over beer, cigars, and poker games. Get your men watching cage-fighting and encourage them to develop a taste for blood sport. Or go out in the woods, put on war paint, and perfect the art of the primal scream. Salt your vocabulary with a sailor’s favorite expletives. Or (my favorite) Live Action Role Playing, or LARPing, where you dress up like a knight or a gladiator and assume that persona out in a vacant field somewhere with other people who are doing the same thing. Right. Dress up and pretend. As if that were the way to be masculine.

None of those things even comes close to the essence of true, virile masculinity. In fact, those are all things little boys do.

Paul has none of those things in mind when he tells the Corinthians to man up. He is telling them as simply and straightforwardly as possible to be bold, sober-minded, mature, and committed to their calling—like soldiers. Be valiant soldiers in the battle for truth. You don’t have to take up smoking or swearing or get a tattoo on your arm to fulfill that command. Those are all external things. The kind of masculinity Paul is calling for here is all about character and conduct; it’s not merely a costume you wear.

In fact, notice the two imperatives on either side of this command to act like men. They explain the true gist of it: “Be steadfast.” “Be strong.” Those are character qualities. And sandwiched between them is this: “Act like men.” The imperatives in that string of commands basically explain one another. Strength, steadfastness, courage, and even vigilance—these are all vital aspects of what Paul means when he says, “Act like men.”