Great verbs

Men...grab a pen. I am about to give you a list of verbs. This is a list of things you get to do as Christian men. Not just things you GET to do, but also things you are SUPPOSED to do. I think this list may surprise some of you so I encourage you again to grab a pen.

One of my frustrations with Churchianity is the role they expect men to play. In too many Churches, men are there to do the heavy lifting, to stack the chairs, to roll out and set up the baptismal pool when needed, to set up the tents for VBS and to sit quietly in the meantime. Men have been relegated to the role of house pet. Don't mess on the carpet, watch your language, put your good shirt on, comb your hair and behave yourself. Well, if I may speak for all the guys out there, that's not much fun. We can do more than that. We have much more to contribute to the cause of Christ. If only someone would demand it from us.

See the problem isn't we aren't willing to do more, the problem is no one is expecting more from us. Too many churches act like you're asking too much of us to show up on a regular and don't want to rock the boat. The truth is, God expects more from us than Churches have been willing to tell us. God expects us to act like bringing our family to church is the most important thing we do all week. God expects men to put the spiritual needs and nourishment above EVERY other priority, including food and clothing. God expects us to live like the revelation we receive on Sunday mornings is more valuable than the paycheck we get on Friday. God expects us to act like we are going to meet with someone of great importance on Sunday mornings and shouldn't be excused from that duty because we had to work overtime this week.

While it seems to be part of our culture to leave the Churchin' and Bible trainin' to our wives, God expects us men to take very seriously our role of spiritual head of the household. The really aggravating part of these lowered expectations is being the spiritual head of the household means engaging in some of the best verbs. We men could be having the time of our lives. The Bible tells us to do exciting swashbuckling things. Things like take captive, cast down and put to death. Not stack chairs! Don't get me wrong, someone needs to stack the chairs and it might as well be the guys because we're strong and like to show off. But guys, in between services you are supposed to be grappling in mortal combat for your family's spiritual well-being.

While you are working, Satan is plotting your child's destruction. When you're not looking, he's whispering things into their ears through their peers and TV shows and music and the internet. One way to combat all this would be shut your kids into isolation and hope he doesn't find a way in. That's not only wishful thinking, it's also kinda lazy and weak. The more excellent way is to square your shoulders and face this enemy head on in prayer and demand that he respect your authority. Stand in the middle of your house and tell Satan to keep his hands off your kids. When a fearful thought creeps into your mind about what kind of mischief they could get into, take that thought captive and cast it down. And then confess a blessing over them, tell Satan that your kids are going to escape his schemes and will go onto accomplish great things in their lives. That's a hedge of protection that God himself will patrol with powerful angels while you go about your duties at your job.

When you get home from your job, make sure you've put your flesh under and put to death every behavior that would harm your kids if they saw you demonstrate it. Whether you want to accept the role or not, you are a role model and your kids will mimic your bad behaviors. Worse than that, they will try to outdo your performance and take it at least one-step further. Wouldn't it be terrible to find out you were the hole in the fence. Just imagine how horrified you'd me with yourself if you found out that the bad behaviors they picked up didn't come from the drug dealer at school but from you.

I usually don't go in for scare tactics. I just think there's something insulting about trying to scare people into behaving a certain way but I'm not trying to get you to change just behavior. I'm trying to change everyone's perspective on a man's role in the body of Christ. I don't want men to think that all they need to do is watch their language and wear their best clothes on Sundays to fulfill their role as spiritual head of the household. Men you are called to do much more than that. You are supposed to ensure there's a well-guarded fence around your family and it's your job to do vicious battle with anything that would dare breach that perimeter. YOU are supposed to speak a wall of protection, prosperity, health, abundance around your family. This is your responsibility. You'll be held accountable for this someday. Jesus demands that you shoulder this duty. This is why you are studying your Bible on a regular basis, not so you can give yourself a "good-boy gold star" on the calendar. Not so you can feel good about yourself but because someone has to do it. If you don't do it, who will? Who will keep your kids and spouse protected while they grow into all the potential God has prepared for them? This is your role in the church men. This is a grand and worthy purpose in life. Doing this is far more excellent than any kind of trophy the world can offer you.

Remember these verbs, take captive, put under, cast down and put to death. These are the things you GET to do as a Christian man. Do them eagerly, do them daily, do them well.