We are completely missing something. The church is hurting like never before and it seems to be ok with it. To most being a Christian is nothing more than going to church on Sunday's and, as Matt Chandler put it, have made Christianity a hobby. Seriously? We get a relationship with the Creator of the universe who spoke everything in to existence. He's the Creator of every breath we breathe yet we treat Him like He is an inconvenience. The attitude we have towards Christ it seems is that He's a mere accessory to our life, a genie rather than a Savior. This is a problem that we as the bride of Christ need to fix and it needs to start with the Men of God. God needs to be enough for us as men and our passion NEEDS and HAS to be Him. We should desire to know what He calls a man to be and the way we do that is digging into His word and shaping our lives based on that. Jesus needs to be our everything if we are ever going to be the men that God has called us to be, the husbands that God has called us to be, and the fathers God has called us to be.
Lets look at Adam. I think this is probably one of the most important men in scripture to look at and learn from. Adam's life shows us some amazing truths that we as men need to grab onto and shape our lives around. God makes Adam and He places him in the garden of Eden but Adam is not just there to chill and hang out in paradise. He was there for a specific reason and we see that in Genesis 2:15.
"Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it."
Genesis 2:15
The first thing we must learn from Adam's life is that he was given responsibility. God gave Adam a job to do and He has given us as men jobs to do. God has called us to be leaders and to be responsible with what He's given us. We as men have to step into responsibility and really grasp what that looks like. Responsibility is the idea of being accountable for things in life. Adam was accountable for his job in the garden. He couldn't pass the blame onto anyone else for doing a crappy job or just plain not doing his job it was all on him. If he didn't do it right, it was on him and he would have to take the blame for it. In the same way as men of God we need to step into responsibility. Too many times do we shift the blame on other things in life to excuse for us not being men. Whether it's things from our past, things that are going on in the present or whatever it might be it's time for men to stop making excuses. Adam's life is a perfect picture of a man not taking responsibility and the result of that is catastrophic; just as it is in the world today as men have given into timidity and self-indulgence being led by their emotions and desires.
When the woman came onto the scene needless to say, it was very good for man. For obvious reason Adam was a fan of what he saw and affectionately names her woman (or Woah Man!...get it? Bible Humor for the win!). See what the text doesn't come out and say is by Adam doing this what he was actually doing is taking responsibility (see there's that word again) for her. In the culture when you named something you took responsibility for it and this was Adam doing that with his lovely bride. Things were perfect, the couple was happy and God was happy and they all lived happily ever after..right up until the next chapter. Satan shows up tempts the woman and with her loving Husband sitting right there with her they condemns us to the world we now see around us. Adam and the woman freak out once they both eat the fruit and see themselves naked and on cue God shows up asking where His people were. This part is the most crucial part for understanding what is going on. Who does God come looking for first? Adam. Adam is the first person God talks to because Adam is the one in charge. Adam is the one who is responsible for what goes on in the garden and Adam is the one that God is going to hold accountable.
He goes to Adam and asks what's going on. Adam steps up to the plate and takes responsibility for his actions. He tells God that is was his fault that the woman fell into temptation because he as a man didn't protect her. It was his job to keep her away from the tree and it was his job to protect her and he dropped the ball. He failed at his responsibility and it was all his fault but hey at least he owned up to it...right?
Wrong.
Adam plays the blame game. It's our go to move in this world as men. It's not my fault, my boss is ridiculous. It's not my fault my wife isn't supportive enough. It's not my fault, my father wasn't there for me. It's not my fault, (insert excuse here). The problem is it was Adam's fault. And if we are completely honest with ourselves as men, the reason the American church is so screwed up falls on us. The divorce rate is 50% in churches and it's our fault. Woman in this world are searching for love everywhere in this world except for the Lord and that is our fault. The gospel has been misconstrued and truth has gone from absolute to whatever we feel and that is our fault. Our kids have no idea what it is to have a walk with the Lord and because of that could care less about God and are led by their desires and wants and that's our fault.
How?
The same way the fall was Adam's fault.
Men have remained silent and have refused to be responsible. We have refused to be leaders and stand firm on the things God has called us to when it was our responsibility to do so.
That's why we MUST start taking responsibility as men. It has to start somewhere and the enemy wants us to think it's someone else fault. No men it's ours and it's time for us to start taking back what it means to be men of God. That starts where Adam failed and it means us taking responsibility and accepting the gravity of what being a man is!
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