I read this article by Ken Drury on male spirituality that got me to wondering about spirituality in general and masculine spiritualty specifically. The author writes about obvious ways men relate to the world around them, but admits he really doesn’t know for sure what masculine spirituality is, so he really isn’t much help.
So what does it mean to be spiritual? In our postmodern world there is great interest in spirituality, and many ways to understand it. Spirituality is understood by many as having some tie to the spirit world, whatever that means. It often as described as a multi-dimensional awareness involving one or more deities.
I think genuine spirituality is tied to the biblical understanding that God created us in his image and likeness, to relate to him in some substantial way. God had ongoing interaction with Adam, walking with him in the cool of the day, until the fall. There was also the aspect of trust, responsibility, and accountability between God and Adam. God told Adam to tend the garden and avoid the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
In Hebrew thought the spiritual part of man is his inner core. His heart, mind, will, soul, and emotions. Everything that gives him identity and makes him who he is. It is his unifying center. “Keep your heart with all diligence,” warns the writer of Proverbs, “For out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). The state of health in our inner being affects what happens in life. It would seem to me that spirituality should be seen as the diligence we use to guard and protect our heart so that we can live into our calling and obey the Father. We employ what the church has called means of grace, or disciplines enabled by the Holy Spirit, to help us keep the integrity of our inner being as we follow God.
But what makes spirituality masculine? If masculinity is discovering who God created us to be and separating ourselves from ties that hinder that, then masculine spirituality must be the application of appropriate means of grace to accomplish that. It is living into the identity and purpose God has given us. It is guarding the heart and keeping it healthy, holy, and in communion with the Spirit of God.
Now Drury’s observations may become helpful. He essentially notes that men are wild, aggressive, risk-taking warriors. He says we are visually oriented and hands-on. We are earthy , informal, and somber sometimes to the point of grief. Our spirituality involves transforming these qualities through patriarchal responsibility.
Men should pray, but they shouldn’t feel compelled to pray long, wordy prayers. According to Jesus, the more private and brief the better (Matt. 6:5-13). As David and other writers of the Psalms did, they should feel free to express their pain and grief to God. Men should read and study the Scriptures, and seek to apply them to life and teach them to their families. Men should worship God and follow Jesus through sacrifice -- personal sacrifice as well as the sacrifice of the fruit of our work. This is a topic for another post, but biblical worship has little to do with what we get out of it, and much to do with what we sacrifice through it.
Masculine spirituality, I believe, is living into the call and purpose God has for us as men, to use our masculine qualities as gifts for the honor and glory of our God. It is guarding the deepest inner being within us so that we reflect and live out the imago dei, the very image of God within us, free from all restraint.
So what does it mean to be spiritual? In our postmodern world there is great interest in spirituality, and many ways to understand it. Spirituality is understood by many as having some tie to the spirit world, whatever that means. It often as described as a multi-dimensional awareness involving one or more deities.
I think genuine spirituality is tied to the biblical understanding that God created us in his image and likeness, to relate to him in some substantial way. God had ongoing interaction with Adam, walking with him in the cool of the day, until the fall. There was also the aspect of trust, responsibility, and accountability between God and Adam. God told Adam to tend the garden and avoid the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
In Hebrew thought the spiritual part of man is his inner core. His heart, mind, will, soul, and emotions. Everything that gives him identity and makes him who he is. It is his unifying center. “Keep your heart with all diligence,” warns the writer of Proverbs, “For out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). The state of health in our inner being affects what happens in life. It would seem to me that spirituality should be seen as the diligence we use to guard and protect our heart so that we can live into our calling and obey the Father. We employ what the church has called means of grace, or disciplines enabled by the Holy Spirit, to help us keep the integrity of our inner being as we follow God.
But what makes spirituality masculine? If masculinity is discovering who God created us to be and separating ourselves from ties that hinder that, then masculine spirituality must be the application of appropriate means of grace to accomplish that. It is living into the identity and purpose God has given us. It is guarding the heart and keeping it healthy, holy, and in communion with the Spirit of God.
Now Drury’s observations may become helpful. He essentially notes that men are wild, aggressive, risk-taking warriors. He says we are visually oriented and hands-on. We are earthy , informal, and somber sometimes to the point of grief. Our spirituality involves transforming these qualities through patriarchal responsibility.
Men should pray, but they shouldn’t feel compelled to pray long, wordy prayers. According to Jesus, the more private and brief the better (Matt. 6:5-13). As David and other writers of the Psalms did, they should feel free to express their pain and grief to God. Men should read and study the Scriptures, and seek to apply them to life and teach them to their families. Men should worship God and follow Jesus through sacrifice -- personal sacrifice as well as the sacrifice of the fruit of our work. This is a topic for another post, but biblical worship has little to do with what we get out of it, and much to do with what we sacrifice through it.
Masculine spirituality, I believe, is living into the call and purpose God has for us as men, to use our masculine qualities as gifts for the honor and glory of our God. It is guarding the deepest inner being within us so that we reflect and live out the imago dei, the very image of God within us, free from all restraint.
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