It’s a lot more than just human…
This manliness project we’re on focuses obsessively on human virtues – those good habits that any human being of any time, from anywhere, of any age, with whatever social, economic, religious or educational background should cultivate. They are the good habits that precisely make us good humans. And here’s the good news: you can grow in them (assuming correct theory) through sheer human effort. Here’s the bad news: you can grow in them through sheer human effort; i.e. you can blame no one else in the event of stunted growth or failure.
And this is where the catch is – especially for those of us who are not striving simply to be men, but to be Christian men. God will not grant you supernaturally what He has already made available to you naturally. God does not waste spiritual resources. He does not engage in spiritual corruption and kind of agree to a shadowy deal that allows us to cut spiritual corners in human matters. He loves us far too much for that! He is looking for sons. Manly sons! Who will inherit not just a new heaven and a new earth, but His very life. He’s not going to give Himself to some push-overs. Push-overs can’t handle the intense dynamism of God’s own life, just like the unaided human eye can’t handle the intensity of the noon-day sun. Push-overs, like that unaided human eye, would end up damaged permanently. He needsmanly sons!
Many Christians think what they need is deliverance, when what they really need is discipline.
It is not by coincidence that Christians still on earth, engaged in mortal combat against sin and the devil are referred to as “the Church militant”. Have a look at yourself and at your life: is there anything military-like about you or the way you live? Does your life as a Christian man, as a son of God, show a military-like discipline? From the way I make my bed, to the way I take care of my body, to how loyal I am to my norms or practices of piety, to the way I keep and eye out for my brothers-in-arms, to the way I execute my duties whether academic or professional, to the way I enjoy some drinks and some intense fun soberly?
Read today’s annex, taken from the book “Man the Saint”.
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