Introduction
Almost everyone in our country would agree that there is a problem with men. Some, flat out believe that men, in general, are the problem simply by virtue of their anatomy. However, if said accompanying anatomy doesn’t identify with that anatomy then that’s ok – Bud Light anyone? Also, if someone with non-male anatomy, we used to call them women, identifies as having male anatomy then that’s ok too. Basically, if you’re a dude, which means you have a penis and don’t call is a vagina and are unashamed of that then you are publicly enemy number one and also a white supremacist regardless of the color of your skin.
Others see the full-scale assault on men everywhere and believe that the problem isn’t with too much masculinity but with too little. Not only is masculinity not toxic, but it is absolutely necessary for the flourishing of society. And although men have been mocked and maligned and marginalized in every form of media for decades as the feminist brigade marches on, tranny story hour and trannies in locker rooms have led many to the conclusion that something is off. And has led them to ask, where are the men?...which presupposes a lot (in a good way).
As they look around at a society in shambles, they can’t help but come to the conclusion that there is something desperately wrong with men…not men as men, but with men. Everyone is aware of the trope of the man-boy that can shave that is still living in his momma’s basement, playing video games and watching porn, but everyone is aware of that because far too often it is true. For young men in their twenties who don’t have a job nearly 70% are actually still living with mom.
Now only 40% of college graduates are men. In large part, probably because secular education has taught young men ever since the age of four that if they want to pursue an education they need a vagina or at least have to act like they have one while also at the same time hate themselves for not actually having one. This has led many young men to conclude that they don’t want anything to do with education. And perhaps the worst virus of our times is fatherlessness.
The majority of children born to women under thirty are now born into fatherless homes. Not to mention the fact that drug overdoses have increased among men by over 250% in the last twenty years. This has led U.S. Senator from Missouri, Josh Hawley, to conclude (and rightly so),
“All is not well with men in America. And that spells trouble for the American Republic.”
Having grown up as, a “clueless bastard,” and desperately wanting to right the wrongs of my lineage and live a life that is pleasing to God by being a good husband and father and having ministered to men in pastoral ministry for twelve years, I was actually really excited to see that Hawley had written a book entitled, Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs. My first thoughts, were, “Awesome,” and “Welcome to the party.” That, and I was also very eager to hear what he had to say.
Then, I opened the book to the contents and was even more stoked…Chapter One: In the
Beginning; Chapter Two: A Man’s Mission; Chapter Three: A Man’s Battle; Chapter Four: A
Man’s Promise; Chapter Five: Husband; Chapter Six: Father; Chapter Seven: Warrior; Chapter Eight: Builder; Chapter Nine: Priest; Chapter Ten: King and the Epilogue: Of Temples and Men.
This outline is amazing. Just by looking at it I preached a ten-part series in my head. Every single chapter title is low hanging fruit to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. This outline basically holds your hands and brings you right to Christ.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-4.
Jesus is the perfect God-man. In Christ we see what God is like. In Christ, we see everything that man is supposed to be. He is the perfect eimi and icon – God and image. He came to seek and save the lost. He was victorious over our great enemy, death. Jesus promised that He would lose not one that the Father has given Him. The church is His Bride. To see Christ is to see the Father.
Jesus is “The” great warrior,
“He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” Revelation 19:13-16
Jesus is building His church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. Jesus is our Great High Priest who is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. Jesus is our great King ruling and reigning over the cosmos. All will give an account to Him and all will bend their knee before Him. The new temple of God, the Church of Jesus Christ, will fill the earth with the glory of the Lord, Christ Jesus being the cornerstone.
See, not hard at all. That took me two seconds to come up with…My point is, with that outline, the ball was basically thrown at Hawley’s bat. So does he hit a home run?…does he even get on base? Given the times that we live in…even that would be nice to see. The question is, does Hawley deliver?
Where’s the Beef?
By God’s grace, He brought me into this world in the 70’s, but I grew up in the 80’s. In 1984, The fast food chain, Wendy’s rolled out their, “Where’s the Beef?” campaign, and anyone who grew up in the eighties knows exactly what I’m talking about. You can probably still hear that little old lady ask, “Where’s the beef?” The idea was that if you bought a hamburger from a competing chain you are going to get all bun and no burger.
Thus, the eighties gave us this glorious catch phrase for something that lacks substance. For something that is all bun and no burger. Why do I bring this up? Because Hawley’s book is all bun and no burger.
Hawley begins in Genesis, and that’s all good, as far as it goes. He says,
“Adam’s story is a grand narrative of chaos and order, light and darkness: an origin story. And from it, we learn the origins of man’s purpose.”
He then describes God’s work in creation, bringing order from chaos, light from darkness and creating and building, and says that this becomes the pattern.
“What God does at the first he will ask man to help continue.”
Now, maybe this is just unfortunate language. However, there is a world of difference between having Jesus as your co-pilot or having Him as your Lord. Anthropologically, there is a world of difference between, man working together with God and man being a steward and viceregent. Unfortunately, I believe Hawley errors grievously throughout the entirely of this book.
He says things like,
“The universe has an order and purpose, a destiny, if you like – and men are integral to it. Each of us. A man need not scout about to find his significance. He is born with it, to a position of consequence; that’s the message of the Bible. He is born into a story underway. And his choices and his life will help determine the outcome. What a man does and how he lives will affect the destiny of the world.”
To say that man being born into a position of consequence, without any reference to Christ, is the message of the Bible is just flat out heretical.
Yes, as man goes so goes the world, but why? If we don’t see man created as a covenantal
representative and head…and yes, I said man, not woman – Hawley, asserts that both men and women are God’s representatives. If by this Hawley means to say that both men and women bear God’s image that would be true, but they are not both representatives in the covenantal sense. Adam represents humanity. The reason this matters tremendously is because if you are off a little bit on the front end, you’ll be embarrassingly off by the time you get to the end of the story.
Moral of the story, if your anthropology is off, it’s because your theology is already off. And if your theology and anthropology are off you can’t possibly hope to get your Christology correct and you end up with a Jesus is my Co-pilot bumper sticker, but maybe I should slow down and just let Jesus take the wheel on this one.
What’s the problem today? Hawley’s assessment is that we are basically acting like Epicureans pursuing self-fulfillment over duty and pleasure over sacrifice. What’s is the solution? To strive towards an excellence of character. By acting in a virtuous way. How? By doing your duty, and acting in a self-sacrificial way. And his assessment of Genesis three is that Adam didn’t do his duty. He did not fulfill his responsibility to guard and keep the garden and because of this he unleashed evil into the world in a “new and powerful way.” He says,
“Adam was supposed to help subdue the chaos. Instead, he unleashed it.”
Early on, I was hopeful. That perhaps Hawley was just setting the stage and building up to this great revelation of Christ being the ultimate standard of masculinity and that apart from Jesus there is no commendable standard of manhood. How can we know the masculine virtues that America needs if there is no standard for those virtues outside of one’s self?
If I could channel my inner eighties child, I would ask, “Where’s the beef?” In fact, I did ask myself that over and over again reading this book. Where is Christ? Where is Christ? Where is Christ? Yes, men need to do their duty. Yes, men need to be responsible with all that God has placed before them. Yes, men need to act in self-sacrificial ways. As Doug Wilson says,
“Masculinity is the glad assumption of sacrificial responsibility.”
Praise God, hallelujah and amen. But He’ll also tell you, clearly and without equivocation, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the standard of sacrificial responsibility and self-sacrifice. This was seen in His obedience to the Father in His condescension, and this is seen most clearly at the Cross.
Hawley’s biggest problem throughout the entirety of this book is that he makes Adam the
standard and not Christ. In fact, he never mentions Jesus throughout the entire book. I believe, His name appears two or three times, but it’s only through a few verses quoted. In short, no book on masculinity and manhood makes any sense apart from Jesus who is the standard of masculinity and manhood, not Adam. What is man, what’s wrong with man and how can he be made right are all questions that must be answered correctly if one is going to espouse the masculine virtues that America needs.
Conclusion
Like I said earlier, this is a book is low hanging fruit that could very easily preach Christ through and through and do so in a way that is easily understood. Hawley is not an unintelligent man, and his omission of Christ all through this book while still maintaining a thin veneer of Christian gloss is damning. Often times in life, it’s not the things we say that speak the loudest but the things we fail to say. Unfortunately, this book is a classic example of that.
If Hawley truly wants to restore masculinity in America, perhaps he should practice what he preaches by declaring that Jesus Christ is Lord, not only in this book, but also on the Senate floor…but then there is that thing about counting the cost and such…
Men should act in a virtuous way. By what standard? Men should do their duty. By what
standard? Men should act in a self-sacrificial way. By what standard? If one does not make
their appeal to the risen Christ repeatedly, emphatically and unapologetically it doesn’t much matter. Unfortunately, Hawley finds himself on the exact same grounding as the liberals he rails against. I can appreciate said railing, however, based on this work, I’m not so sure he isn’t standing on the same sinking sand.
Do I prefer Hawley’s brand of Americanized stoicism with some Christian pixy dust sprinkled over it as opposed the rank paganism of our culture? Absolutely, 100%. I would much rather live next too or work with a self-disciplined, hard worker over an entitled Marxist turd any day. However that works – no matter how accomplished, commendable, or disciplined American men may become, that will not save them or our country. For that, we need Jesus! The restoration and redemption that we have through Christ is not only the means through which masculinity will be restored, but so too everything else.
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