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On a weekend in early February, I had the privilege of speaking to about sixty men at a men’s retreat in Mendocino County, California. We all enjoyed encouraging fellowship, ate some excellent food, and worshipped the living God together. Some of us even found time to shoot guns, hike the nearby trails, and smack the golf ball around. It was a wonderful time.
I spoke to the men about the essential aspects of godly manhood. In relation to women, God has created men and recreated men in Christ to lead, protect, and provide for those under their care. These responsibilities are not a mere cultural hangover from a patriarchal era of history. No, God established these responsibilities for men at the beginning of creation.
God made men to lead.
For example, the very fact that man was created before the woman indicates that he bears the unique responsibility to lead in relation to her (see Gen. 2:7; cf. 1:26-27). In his first letter to Timothy, Paul restricts the authoritative teaching role in the church only to men, grounding his statements in this order of creation. “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve” (1 Tim. 2:12-13; emphasis added). When God created Adam, he was signaling to the universe that he had vested man, by virtue of his manhood, with the responsibility of leadership in relation to the woman (see also 1 Cor. 11:6-8).
God made men to provide.
But we also see in the Genesis narrative that God tasked the man with providing for the woman. Immediately after God created Adam he placed him in the Garden of Eden to “work it and to keep it” (Gen. 2:15). Adam’s “work” would have included cultivation of the garden and many other aspects related to exercising dominion (see Gen. 1:26-31). Work and the responsibility to provide material sustenance for his family would be a fundamental aspect of the man’s existence. This truth is re-affirmed throughout Scripture (see below).
God made men to protect.
The word translated “keep” is used in the Old Testament to refer to protecting others. For example, after David crept undetected into and out of Saul’s camp, he rebuked Abner (the soldier charged with protecting Saul) for allowing a breach in the perimeter. David uses the word translated “keep” in Genesis 2:15 twice in his admonition to Abner.
Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. This thing that you have done is not good. As the LORD lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the LORD’S anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.” (1 Sam. 26:13-16; emphasis added)
Abner was worthy of death because he failed to “keep watch” over Saul; David could have killed Saul had he wanted to. Similarly, God tasked Adam to “keep” the garden. This means Adam was to guard the garden from intruders. This protection would be physical, of course, but it would also be spiritual. Even before God brought Eve into existence, God entrusted Adam with divine revelation (Gen. 2:15-16). The expectation was that Adam would teach his wife the Word of God and make sure that no one undermined the truth of what God had spoken.
Sadly, Adam soon fails in all three aspects of manhood. Even as the serpent slithers up to Eve and misrepresents God’s Word (“Did God really say?”; Gen. 3:1) and then flatly contradicts it (“You will not surely die!”; Gen. 3:4), Adam neglects to step in and offer physical and spiritual protection for his wife. Rather than leading Eve in righteousness, he followed her into unrighteousness (Gen. 3:6). Instead of providing her with the divinely-sanctioned sustenance (see Gen. 2:9), he let her supply herself with forbidden goods (Gen. 3:6).
God reaffirmed Adam’s role as leader and protector by the way he subsequently addressed the couple’s sin. Although Eve had eaten of the fruit before her husband and led him into disobedience, God goes to Adam first (Gen. 3:8-9). Adam may have eaten the fruit after his wife, but he was still fully responsible for allowing the sin to occur.
God also affirms Adam’s calling as provider by the way he disciplines Adam and Eve for their rebellion. Specifically, God would curse each of his children according to their respective callings. Eve would bear the curse in her calling to bring forth children from her womb (Gen. 3:16). Adam would bear the curse in his calling to bring forth bread from the ground (Gen. 3:17-18).
The man’s calling in relationship to the woman is reaffirmed throughout redemptive history. Man is tasked in Scripture with spiritual and institutional leadership (Lev. 4:22; Judg. 11:6; 2 Sam. 23:2-4; 1 Kings 14:7; 1 Chron. 15:27; Neh. 11:17; Eph. 5:23; 1 Tim. 2:12-14; 3:1-8; Titus 1:5-9), as the physical and spiritual protector (2 Chron. 17:13; Jer. 41:16; Eph. 5:25-27; Philem. 2; 2 Tim. 4:1-2), and provider (Prov. 10:4; 12:24; 21:5 [Proverbs are addressed to Solomon’s son]; 1 Tim. 5:8; 2 Thess. 3:6-12).
Sadly, however, these essential qualities of godly manhood are under direct assault today from both outside and inside the church. It shouldn’t surprise us that many in our contemporary society reject the idea that men are inherently and uniquely tasked with the responsibility to lead, protect, and provide in relation to women. But it is especially grievous when professing Christians join in the assault by questioning the legitimacy of the vision of manhood I’ve offered above—a vision that flows directly from the pages of Scripture.
Rejecting biblical manhood hurts men and women.
But the downgrading of biblical manhood is not good for men or women. It’s not good for men because it undermines our God-given calling and design which will always lead to frustration and confusion. If you’ve been uniquely made and tasked by God to lead, protect, and provide in relation to women, then you will experience constant cognitive dissonance, dissatisfaction, and even resentment as these fundamental aspects of your manhood are subverted. Many men today experience this frustration as they find their inner-drive to lead, protect, and provide questioned and even impugned by many in our society.
But undermining a man’s calling to lead, protect, and provide is also not good for the woman because it places upon her burdens that God never intended her to bear. It’s no coincidence that Satan sought to overturn created order when he launched his attack against God’s image-bearers, first going to the woman and loading her with the responsibility of spiritual leadership, protection, and provision. Not equipped to bear such responsibilities, she was soon deceived into disobeying her Creator (1 see Gen. 3:6; cf. 1 Tim. 2:12-14).
In the end, however, all of God’s people miss out on blessing when men are discouraged from exercising their God-given calling to lead, protect, and provide for the people under their care. Consider how David describes the blessing that befalls a people when they are led by a godly man:
The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me;
his word is on my tongue.
The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men,
ruling in the fear of God,
he dawns on them like the morning light,
like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. (2 Sam. 23:2-4)
When a man fears the Lord and exercises his calling—at home, in the church, in the workplace, in the public square—the people under his leadership, protection, and provision experience significant blessing. Like warm sun and pleasant life-giving rain, a godly man’s leadership produces life, comfort, and fruitfulness for those under his care.
Conclusion
Men, if the cultural onslaught against your manhood has started to dampen your ambition to lead, protect, and provide for the people under your care, let Scripture renew your desire to fulfill this glorious calling. Remember, this calling is not a right to claim, but a burden to bear for the benefit of others. We don’t wield it for our exaltation, but for the good of the women and children in our lives. The cultivation of godly manhood is hard, and it requires great courage and sacrifice, so we must regularly go to Christ for fresh reserves of grace. But godly manhood is vital for the health of our homes, churches, and our nation, and God will grant us great joy and satisfaction as we pursue this calling.
This article was originally published under the title: “A Few Essential Truths about Manhood” at withallwisdom.com.
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