Last week we looked at the fact that many men do not attend church because they feel that they church is geared to women, children and older people because it teaches the ideas of kindness, of security and comfort. However, we noted that the Biblical definition of faith demands that we risk, and that we challenge ourselves in our faith to become more focused, and fearless in loving lives of faith.

It seems that many others seem to be picking up on this, for other articles and books I have been reading have emphasized, for example, that the prophets of the Old Testament were fearless, strong and courageous men who stood against the tide of popular opinion and preached what the people needed, not necessarily what they wanted. Further, in an article I received this week, one person wrote of the “Manly Jesus.” He makes these points of Jesus background and masculinity:

•He worked in a carpenter’s shop (Mark 6:3), with no motorized equipment. It was heavy, manual labor. He was physically strong.

•Being from a relatively poor family he did not dine on luxurious foods nor did he have fine clothing. He was a working man.

•Jesus walked everywhere he went – only once do we read of him riding (Luke 19:35). Only a strong, physical constitution could endure such rigors.

•Think about the men he chose to be his disciples – fishermen, who knew the meaning of long, hot days in the sun; hot headed young men like James and John (Mark 3:17) and one revolutionary (Luke 6:15). These men adored him and died for his cause.

•A multitude of women followed Jesus. Women are not attracted to weak, feminine men.

•Twice in his ministry he drove moneychangers out of the Temple. No one dared oppose him. They were intimidated by his manliness, strength and courage. Further, he fearlessly rebuked the Pharisees for being openly hypocritical, and called them a generation of vipers (Matthew 23:29-33).

•When the soldiers came to arrest him, he, being unarmed, bravely stood up and confronted them.

•When he was scourged and physically abused, he endured their wrath without tears or cries of mercy. Only after hours of abuse did he collapse under the weight of the cross.

•When they drove the spikes in his hands and feet, he did not beg for mercy, but rather forgave them and showed a great deal of concern for his mother. After six hours of agony, he “yielded up his spirit,” as the powers of life and death were his.

This is the Jesus preached by the apostles. This is the Jesus countless multitudes have turned to, and have died for! Men of every rank have reverenced, loved, honored, obeyed and died for Him. And today he is the author of our salvation (Hebrews 5:9); the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22) and has all authority (Matthew 28:18) by which He will one day judge the world (John 12:48; Acts 17:30).

Thought taken from John Waddey, Christianity Then and Now, February 1, 2007