i think i wish being a man consisted of what TV makes it out to be. if it involved being great at sports, this month, our guys beat the thai u20 national champ soccer team (yes, i will make a comment about this in every blog for the next 2 or 3 months). maybe it involves being adventurous, and this month we climbed two waterfalls, trekked through a cave, and road a truck about an hour up a river. or maybe it’s not being afraid of anything, or showing you can provide by hunting – and we went snake hunting and found a python and i even ate part of a cobra this month.
sometimes i wish that was the standard i was being measured by. maybe to a lot of the world, it is, but i’m being measured in a totally different way by my Father.
As a man, he’s called me to lead. If i were to define leadership, i think i’d sum it up in one word, responsibility. responsibility says that things mat not be my fault, but i’m still the one that answers to questions at the end of the day. when i become a father, my children may make poor decisions, and they may not be my fault (they may be, and that’s a whole different issue) but either way, they are my responsibility. when i become a husband, i’m responsible for my wife – for her safety, spiritual well being, decisions, emotional health, etc. as i currently fill the role of a team leader and squad leader for this world race, i’m responsible for the decisions and direction of this group of 51 people.
but i think we’re called to lead as men led. one of the true signs of manhood is being willing to submit to authority over us. you cannot be authority if you are not under authority. most men have the james dean desire to ride free and answer to no one, but in the end, answering to no one allows you to lead no one, which makes your existance as a man futile.
And as that authority directs, another sign of manhood is obedience. God has spoken to the men on our team in dreams and visions this month, and the reality is that we need to obey. God provides when we obey. He meets our needs, then is able to ask for our next step of obedience. time with V this month showed us what it meant to be a man obedient to the leadership of the Lord. obedience to a command stems from the warrior inside of every man. we want to go to battle, and that need or desire is satisfied as we follow our King, the rider of the white horse, into battle to see His Kingdom come.
paul asked people to follow his example as he followed Christ. is my life full of enough integrity to boast the same claim? is my life submitted, even if the directives i get from the Lord catch me off guard and aren’t what i would choose? i pray the answer to both of those is yes, and that as a man of God, obedience, integrity, submission and responsibility define me.
