The art of manliness?

In today's society, when we think about being "manly", in a lot of people, it conjures up images of rednecks--at least in the south. When you joke about being "manly", you usually are joking and you poke out your chest and use the deepest voice you can muster and exaggerate your southern drawl. Now, as funny as that is in the moment, it's a sad state of affairs when you sit back and think about what the image of a "real man" has become. Are there really any true "real men" out there? As a Christian, there are lots of things that the Bible teaches me about being a real man and none of them have anything to do with chewing tobacky or chopping wood.

Real men love and lead.

They love the One True Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ. And because of that "first love", they love their wives, their children, their country, the church and justice. They respect authority. The believe in the American way and the principles that our founding fathers believed in when they forged this great nation. Real men...love.

They lead their families based upon the love that guides them. They lead their wives as God directs--not lording it over them but guiding them and partnering with them as their "help meet". They lead their children and guide them in the Biblical principles that are tried, true and tested since the foundation of this world. They lead in the workplace. Real men are honest and hard-working. They are "servant leaders" as the Bible teaches. They don't ask others to do what they are unwilling to do themselves. Real men...lead.

I would like to point you to a website I found a while back that I've really enjoyed. While not a "Christian website", per se, it does hit on some of the more "secular" principles and "manly" things that I believe are being lost in our society that continually promotes an agenda far from the Bible and even that of our great society even a mere 20, 10, 5 years ago.

While I don't agree with everything they have to say, The Art of Manliness is a cool website, nonetheless. Give it a look-see and tell me what you think of some of their articles.

photo by jcoterhals