MAN UP!

Matt. 16:23, “But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

I think one of my biggest frustrations within the Christian faith today is with men who call themselves Christians and yet walk like little children; those men who are timid in their faith. They think in only social reforms, or a more feminized (no offense ladies) form of the Gospel. I gotta tell you, it is getting old and it is hurting the church. It is also one of the biggest complaints I hear from women nowadays. Where are all the strong Christian men? Men who are not afraid to stand up for the faith, not only in doing “good,” but in holding each other accountable. I was going to call this blog, “Where are all the men,” but instead I think “Man Up” fits better.

I have read Ghandi, and Christians try to use him all the time, saying that he almost became Christian and the reason he did not is because of Christians themselves, or that the only ones that do not see Jesus as non-violent are Christians. I have heard this from other new age Christians. Many emergent leaders, neo-orthodox, and liberal Christians are always talking about this and love to make Jesus a pacifist, but that is far from the truth. In Matthew 10:34-39 Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” This does not sound non-violent. Why do we insist at only looking at certain verses and not all the verses, as these are certainly not pacifist verses. This is Jesus telling it like it is.

I went through the Epistles, Gospels and the letters to the churches in Revelation, and if I put up all the verses that are in your face, hard, judgmental, and holding men and women accountable in a very strict way, this blog would be over 10 pages just in verses. Jesus was by no means a person that let others walk all over Him without reason, or someone that just sat back and did nothing. He was in your face and very frank much of the time.

Just look at these examples:

Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

Matt. 10:14-15, “And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

Matt. 11:23-24, “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

John 4:17, “The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” – doesn’t seem too nice to call out the sin of someone you just met.

Matt. 16:3, “Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:14-16, “I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas.”

1 Cor. 4:18-21, “Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?”

1 Cor. 5:6-7, “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Gal. 1:6, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,”

Gal. 1:10, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

Gal. 2:11, “Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;”

Titus 1:10, “there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.”

This is just a smattering of verses, as there are many, many, many more that could be listed. Don’t get me wrong, I am not negating the love that Jesus showed, or at least the love that many like to talk about, all the emotional, feeling based emotions. Love sometimes meaning saying the hard things so people learn and grow in Christ, and not because we are worried about what people may think of you. It is not man you will stand before, but God.

I am not going to spend too much time on talking about what all the verses already say, as it says it, but men better start standing up and taking point in the Christian faith. It is time to Man Up within the church and start holding one another accountable and not be afraid to debate and call out those that are teaching heresy, poor theology and doing things that are not on par with Scripture, especially from the pulpit. There is a difference between talking to a non-Christian about issues and Christians. 1 Cor. 5:13-15, “For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person.”

I think the men of the faith need to start making a stand. Enough with groups and gatherings, as those are well and good in and of themselves, but we also need men to be outside and being the men Jesus, Peter, Paul and all the other apostles were. They did not cower because of feelings, or because someone might be mad, but when a Christian was teaching, preaching or acting foolishly, they called them out.

John 2:14-17, “And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

If you see a Christian man watching shows like Family Guy, Girls Next Door, or many others, then they need to be told they are sinning, as those shows denounce the name of Christ all the time and to give it your time is to participate. If a Christian man is teaching Emergent Church teachings (Rob Bell & Brian McClaren), Word of Faith Teaching (Benny Hinn & Kenneth Copeland), Liberal teachings (Bishop Spong & Clark Pinnock) or any other heretical movements then they need pulled off the pulpit, out of Sunday schools or Bible studies, unless they are teaching why these movements are wrong and heretical, and they should not be allowed back in those positions until they understand clearly the errors. If a Christian man is not loving his wife like the church, or is not treating women in general as they should, then they need told. Who cares if they are mad at you? Would you rather have God or man mad at you for those He put in your path? Just like I said, it is for Christian men to hold other Christian men accountable that God has put in your path. The time has come to Man Up and be strong for Christ. John 5:22-23, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” Read Matthew 23:13-39 and then read the letters to the churches in Revelation, almost every church is called out on some sin or another.

John 7:24, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”