Considering The Masculine Mandate

I’ve lost track of the avalanche of men’s books over the years. That’s because I wasn’t too impressed with what I was seeing. Neither was Rick Phillips. In particular, he was not happy with some of what John Eldredge says in his book Wild At Heart, and how he runs his wilderness retreats. So he ended up writing The Masculine Mandate: God’s Calling to Men.

But, while you might expect a reactionary book this really isn’t. He only mentions Eldredge in the first chapter. His point is that what John says concerning Adam and the Garden  is not really defensible. Eldredge argues that man finds his identity outside the garden, that men are not domesticated. If you mean “feminized”, then Phillips agrees with you. But he notes:

“The garden is the place where God relates covenantally to his creature man and where God brings the man into covenantal relationships and obligations. … God put the man in the garden. … If God intends men to be wild at heart, how strange that he placed man in the garden, where his life would be shaped not by self-centered identity quests but by covenantal bonds and blessings.”

Phillips’ thesis is that man’s calling is to live responsibly within those bonds and enjoying those blessings. The call of man is found in the creation mandate “to work and keep” which is lived out in work, marriage, parenting and church.

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Considering Courageous

Last night CavWife and I, along with other friends in ministry and their wives, were invited to a screening of the soon to be release movie (9/30) Courageous.  This is the latest movie to come out of Sherwood Baptist Church.  They started with Facing the Giants, then Fireproof.  The quality of production improved, as has the Hendricks brothers ability.  The first deal with committing one’s life to Christ, the second addressed marriage.  And this new one addresses the issue of parenting, particularly fatherhood.

They write what they know, small town Georgia.  This movie starts off with excitement as some gang members try to carjack a car at the gas station.  The man, so we are lead to believe, over-reacts.  But he has good cause, as you’ll discover.  The actor was also in Fireproof.  They tend to build relationships with the actors, so they brought him back for the role of Nathan.  Nathan is the new man on the police force, and a committed family man.

Alex Hendrick, who co-wrote and produced it with his brother, directs and returns as its main character, Adam.  He’s a police officer who is worn out by the time he comes home.  He doesn’t seem to have time for his kids.  He’s often self-conscious, pulling back from fully engaging with them.  Their partners are a single man, and a divorced man.  We never see their fathers, though we hear about some of them.  These men were largely raised without fathers, and they are just coming to grips with the gaps in their lives through the choices they’ve made.

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Considering Fathers

Braveheart is one of my favorite movies.  Mel Gibson was on a great run there for awhile.  It is a movie about the value and price for freedom, and it is a stirring film (historical inaccuracies aside).

But what is often missed is the important roles fathers (and father figures) play in the lives of the characters.  It may come across to some as simplistic but the men with the bravest hearts were raised by brave men.  The cowardly, self-serving men were raised by overbearing, abusive fathers.  Fathers play an important role in shaping the lives of sons into young men.  That role can’t be overstated.

So let’s take some peeks into this story and see the impact of fathers on sons.

Braveheart opens with a young William Wallace watching his father, Malcolm, preparing to go into battle.  His older brother is also joining his father.

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  • William: I’m going with you?
  • Malcolm: A good help ye be too.
  • William: I can fight.
  • Malcolm: I know you can fight.  (pause) But it’s our wits that make us men.

His father does not mock him, but affirms him.  But in the process teaches him that there is more to being a man than fighting.  And more to fighting than mere strength and skill.  William must still learn to use his wits to be a man.  It appears as though he has the right father to teach him, but tragedy strikes.  I wonder if it was this broken heart that made him so pliable.

Into this void steps his Uncle Argylle.  He isn’t quite sure about Argylle at first, but soon learns that he is in good hands.

“You don’t speak Latin?  Well, that’s something we’ll have to remedy, isn’t it?”

His uncle does not belittle him, but sees this as an indication that young William can and will learn.  Together they will address this lack of knowledge.  William is not alone, but his uncle will stand with him and teach him what he lacks.

“It was the same for me and your father when our daddy died.  First learn to use this (points to his head), then I’ll teach you how to use this.”

Uncle Argylle is one who has trod the path that lies before William.  He and his brother lost their father.  He puts the priority on using his head so that he will not only use his weapons skillfully but wisely.

But Malcom does not disappear from the film.  He shows up in a dream to offer direction  to his son.

“Your heart is free; have the courage to follow it.”

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