I lamented a month ago to my mom about how often it seems that godly men don’t finish well, because let’s be honest this stuff isn’t isolated to the world out there. It’s in our pews as well. But she reminded me, helpfully, that not all men finish with brokenness in their wake. Some are like Caleb and Joshua. Some men are like Boaz. Some men are like Paul. Some men are even like Peter, a little rocky in the beginning, but steadfast in the end. Some men are like Jesus—walking the hard road with a laser like focus on the finish line.
Which is why it was providential that the very next week our women’s Bible study was focusing on Caleb and Joshua’s final rest in the promised land at the end of the book. I needed that reminder that even when everyone else around them fell away into complete rebellion, God preserved a few.
And that’s our hope. God keeps working in a world marred by sin. I’m the product of faithful men, brothers, a dad, pastors and a husband. I’ve been loved, encouraged and supported. I’ve been respected. I’ve been treated with dignity. Lord willing, we will pass that legacy on to our boys.
We cannot stand apart unless we truly stand apart. For a long time the unfaithful have been allowed to dwell among the faithful with no requirement of repentance or change. God has a timetable on sin and I think we are seeing that play out in our churches and in our culture. This reckoning is good and hard, I think. The darkness must be exposed for the light to come through. But when it’s over I pray that the faithful are left standing reminding all of us what it means to walk the way of the Savior. I’ll point my sons to them.
I want to raise men who are courageous, honorable and kind. And this is hardly the example we get, especially when you can be elected president and be the exact opposite. I don’t know how they will all turn out. I’m not in control of that ultimately. But I want to do my part. Feminism emerged because of the whole “boys will be boys” mentality and women had enough. As a mom of boys I say “not on my watch.” We will not be the problem that makes women throw up their hands in disgust, or worse, run away in fear because of the bad deeds done to them.
I’ve been sobered by this calling lately. Raising four sons in a world of such darkness does that to you. But as I’ve come to see over and over again these last few months, even in the darkness, light remains. There is a definition of manhood that transcends time, culture and even caricatures. His name is Jesus: faithful, humble and always good.
This article originally appeared here.
