Thoughts on self-respecting manhood and the use of public language.

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Thoughts on self-respecting manhood and the use of public language. 

I Corinthians 16:13….”act like men”.

There are some things that have struck me over the past couple of years, as it relates to men in our culture. That is, the jettisoning of manly self-respect in what is said and what is not said public-ally. I think, by both common grace and saving grace (as a Christian has received), there is a distinction in manhood on how we see ourselves and the world around us. There are things that are unmanly, necessarily including the tone and content of our speech. Over the past generation, through the unrelenting assault upon men, the result has been an increasing class of men who seem to be willing to public ally emasculate themselves in their talk. There seems to be a void of self-respect as related to being a man, in our dress but also, particular to this post, in our language. For example, here are some types of statements and tones I have noticed that my conscience recoils against and will not allow me to participate in:

  1. I cannot give public “COVID” safety lectures (as written by the safety czars) beyond the basic reiteration of “use common sense.” I cannot lie nor give manipulative narratives regarding love or safety.

  2. I cannot make generalizations based upon a person’s ethnicity.

  3. I cannot use strawmen to gain authority, particularly when clarity is called for.

  4. I cannot make general public apologies according to the law and language of the culture.

  5. I cannot use the therapeutic language of “brokenness” “Lament” “trauma” or “toxic masculinity” to describe problems and solutions

  6. I cannot, as a pastor (and as a man) virtue signal via using the language of “weeping” or “lament” or “mourning” about general cultural situations in which I am not directly involved.

  7. I cannot use and will not sing effeminate, breathy songs in public worship.

 

Call me a product of toxic masculinity. There are some things which I, fundamentally, as a man, recoil against and cannot participate in, and when I see other men (particularly pastors) doing these things public ally, it screams as phony, insincere, and deceitful. Conversely, when a man turns to Christ Jesus and begins to take real responsibility, facing his fears, his language changes to simple, clear, bold, nuanced, and manly.