The search for biblical patriarchy calls for a good understanding of masculinity, and what it means to be a man. I am beginning to believe that masculinity is the essence or spirit of what God has placed within us, and patriarchy is the proper application of that within our lives.
In Hebrew thought, the manner of thinking behind the Scriptures, masculinity is associated with creation by separation. Masculinity as an essence is observed in God, who created the world with spoken words that divided and separated. God divided light from darkness, land from water. Out of the earth he fashioned us, and set us apart from the rest of creation with the imago dei, the very imprint of God deep within. He then gave us the task of separating and dividing, of creating from the raw material he gave us a world to cultivate and develop and fill with children.
Because of our sin, God needed to separate time and again. He cut covenant with a man named Abram, a true patriarch. “Separate yourself from your father’s household, and go apart to a place I will show you.” The nation that came of Abraham was separated, or sanctified by God to be a kingdom of priests. “Don’t be like the nations around you, but be holy,” he demanded.
Jesus was a separator also. “Did you think I came to bring peace?” he asked. “I tell you, I came to bring a sword, and to separate households in the name of the kingdom!” Paul reminds us to not be conformed to the world around us but to be transformed, set apart from it, in service and worship to God.
As I apply this to my life, I discover that living into biblical masculinity means to have the capacity to continually separate in a healthy way. A man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to a wife. This statement is so critical it is declared in Genesis chapter 2 and quoted by both Jesus and Paul. I’ve already alluded to Jesus separating father and son, mother and daughter in terms of building the kingdom.
Masculinity is what is endowed when a man discovers who he is and the journey to which God has called him. It is the inner strength to cut apron strings from mama, leave daddy’s house, and discern what God is leading him to do. It is the discovery of identity and purpose and conviction. It is the ability to define and clarify, “this is who I am, and this is what I am called to do,” and to relate to others on those terms. This is what we call self-differentiation, and the more self-differentiated we are the healthier and more productive we are. We are more free to fill the earth with fruitfulness and value in obedience to the cultural mandate given to us at creation.
In Hebrew thought, the manner of thinking behind the Scriptures, masculinity is associated with creation by separation. Masculinity as an essence is observed in God, who created the world with spoken words that divided and separated. God divided light from darkness, land from water. Out of the earth he fashioned us, and set us apart from the rest of creation with the imago dei, the very imprint of God deep within. He then gave us the task of separating and dividing, of creating from the raw material he gave us a world to cultivate and develop and fill with children.
Because of our sin, God needed to separate time and again. He cut covenant with a man named Abram, a true patriarch. “Separate yourself from your father’s household, and go apart to a place I will show you.” The nation that came of Abraham was separated, or sanctified by God to be a kingdom of priests. “Don’t be like the nations around you, but be holy,” he demanded.
Jesus was a separator also. “Did you think I came to bring peace?” he asked. “I tell you, I came to bring a sword, and to separate households in the name of the kingdom!” Paul reminds us to not be conformed to the world around us but to be transformed, set apart from it, in service and worship to God.
As I apply this to my life, I discover that living into biblical masculinity means to have the capacity to continually separate in a healthy way. A man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to a wife. This statement is so critical it is declared in Genesis chapter 2 and quoted by both Jesus and Paul. I’ve already alluded to Jesus separating father and son, mother and daughter in terms of building the kingdom.
Masculinity is what is endowed when a man discovers who he is and the journey to which God has called him. It is the inner strength to cut apron strings from mama, leave daddy’s house, and discern what God is leading him to do. It is the discovery of identity and purpose and conviction. It is the ability to define and clarify, “this is who I am, and this is what I am called to do,” and to relate to others on those terms. This is what we call self-differentiation, and the more self-differentiated we are the healthier and more productive we are. We are more free to fill the earth with fruitfulness and value in obedience to the cultural mandate given to us at creation.
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