FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Manhood and Spiritual Leadership Guest:                        Dennis RaineyFrom the series:       Stepping Up (day 4 of 5) Bob:  Being a man involves taking some risks: stepping up, being courageous, leading, initiating.  Here is Dennis Rainey: Dennis:  What if I failed every time I’ve initiated?  Well, the easiest thing to do is nothing and to stop initiating.  The reason we fail to initiate is we may have trained our wives to just jump in and do it for us because we haven’t stepped up and taken responsibility for our finances, for the spiritual well-being of our family, for the direction we’re headed as a couple.  All of these demand initiative from a man who knows where he’s going. Bob:  This is FamilyLife Today for Thursday, March 10th.  Our host is the President of FamilyLife Dennis Rainey, and I’m Bob Lepine.  We’re going to begin today to unpack some of the essentials that make up biblical manhood.   Welcome to FamilyLife Today; thanks for joining us on the Thursday edition.  Do you think men know what it is they’re looking for, they’re aiming for?  I mean, do you think they understand what manhood looks like? Dennis:  No.  I don’t.  In fact, I think there is so much taking place in our culture today it is like real manhood, as God designed a man to be, is an elusive goal at best.  For most, they have no—they haven’t even got the foggiest idea what that looks like. Bob:  Well, I remember—this will date me a little bit, but I remember trying to figure it out myself and thinking, “So, as a real man the tough John Wayne, Rambo, you don’t share your feelings; you just go out and get it done.”  Is that a real man? Dennis:  Don’t eat quiche.   Bob:  Yes.  Or is a real man a sensitive, caring, kind of person who is tender and who is kind and who pays attention and listens to the heart of his wife?  Is that a real man?  We get such mixed messages in the culture that I think that a lot of guys are looking around going, “I want to be a man.  I’m just not exactly sure what that means.” Dennis:  Well, I don’t often quote from advertisers, especially advertisers that advertise jeans, as an authority; but I ran across an advertisement for Dockers jeans where I just felt like they nailed it.  In fact— Bob:  Now hang on.  I’m wearing Dockers right now.Dennis:  Are you? Bob:  Okay.  Yes. Dennis:  Well, this is a good ad for Dockers jeans, but I want you to listen to this because this appeared in an advertisement for their jeans.  You tell me if you don’t feel like they nailed it.  Once upon a time, men wore the pants and wore them well.  Women rarely had to open doors, and little old ladies never had to cross the street alone.  Men took charge because that is what they did, but somewhere along the way the world decided it no longer needed men.   Disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khakis and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny; but today, there are questions are genderless society has no answers for. Now, I’m going to finish this, Bob, but can you believe this is for jeans?  Now I know Dockers makes other things too— Bob:  Right. Dennis:  But this is advertising their jeans.  They continue:             The world sets idly by as cities crumble, children misbehave, and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street.  For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes.  We need grown-ups.  We need men to put down the plastic forks, step away from the salad bar, and untie the world from the tracks of complacency.  It is time for you to get your hands dirty. It is time to answer the call of manhood.  It is time to wear the pants. Talk about politically incorrect.   Bob:  They’ve been reading your book haven’t they?   <laughter> Dennis:  Here’s what they are saying, and again, an advertisement is not my authority.  I’m about to go to Scripture, but they are picking up on the theme of Scripture that there is a lot about manhood that is all about a man taking initiative.  Manhood is about initiative. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 talks about standing firm in the faith, acting like men.  Be a man, it says.  1 Kings 2 David is about to die.  He charges his son, Solomon.  He says, “Show yourself a man and keep the charge of the Lord your God walking in His ways, keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rules, His testimonies.”  I mean, he’s calling his son up: be a man; step up, son; don’t fritter away your manhood on lesser callings.   Yet, this culture is sending messages to boys that make the waters incredibly murky.  If there is someone that needs to be clarifying what it means to be a real man today, it ought to be followers of Jesus Christ who are tethered to the Scripture. Bob:  So, you would say that the Scriptures give us a clear picture of what mature manhood is? Dennis:  Right. Bob:  Okay.  So, unpack it for us. Dennis:  Well, first of all, let me tell you what it isn’t: it’s not passivity.  It has been suggested in the Garden in Genesis chapter 3, that when the serpent came to Eve that Adam was standing there.  Adam was present, but he did nothing.  It has been suggested that perhaps the first sin of man was passivity.   If you think about it, if initiative is the essence of manhood, could it be that the sin of arrogance and pride of doing nothing and just standing back watching may be the opposite?   I think there are three reasons—actually I’m going to give you a bonus reason.  Four reasons why men are passive today, they don’t take the initiative.   First of all, taking the initiative is hard work, and I’m tired.  It is the end of the day.  I don’t feel like leading my family in a devotion at the dinner table.  I don’t feel like putting the kids to bed and serving my wife by helping the kids be tucked in and praying with them.  The easiest thing for me to do is to sit in my easy chair and become a giant amoeba and just do nothing. It is hard work to lead.  Being a man calls us out of our passivity, out of doing nothing into engageme...