Men: A Challenge and a Dare

I found out a couple hours ago that apparently today is National Man Day. I chuckle as I'm amused by that. However, what is interesting is that I was inspired to write the post below last night, before knowledge of Man Day, because I attended a prayer gathering to intercede for those captive in human trafficking in India and the multitude of lost souls in that country...and out of about 50 attendees, there were 5-7 men. Woman are welcomed and you represented so well! But men, we need to step up to the plate.

Men: A Challenge and a Dare

Men, I am challenging you personally. As one man to another, I am questioning your manhood. That’s right, feel that surge through your body as your manhood is questioned. Prove me wrong. I dare you.

Men: Stand up and take your place in God’s Kingdom as a man. It’s time we all manned-up and stopped making all of our cowardly excuses, but instead stepped forward with manly boldness, taking swift and powerful action for God’s Kingdom.

Men, there are helpless women and children all around this entire earth, all around this nation, all around your city…and even all around your neighborhood. They need our help. Men, they need your help.

When will we as men step up into our godly roles as leaders, providers, and protectors? Are you doing it now? I don’t believe either of us is taking the full responsibility God has envisioned for us…Men of God.

When it comes to leading, providing, and protecting, how far is your vision? Too many of us are so self-focused that we don’t care for anyone outside of our immediate families…if we even care for our own families. But for those who do lead, provide, and protect their families, why do you stop there? Why do you limit your usefulness in God’s hands? When will we realize that the world’s entire population has been entrusted to our hands as servants of the living God—our responsibilities are so much greater than we comprehend! If you have been blessed to have the means to provide for yourself and/or your family, then I would wager that you have been blessed to provide for others outside your family.

There are millions…millions!...of abused and dying widows and orphans, the oppressed and the fatherless who have no one to defend them. Who will defend them? I make a promise before you now—I will. Will you? Who will step up with me and fight the good fight for the vulnerable and hopeless? Who will dare to be a man to take on the entire world of evil through the power of Christ? Are we afraid of failure? Nonsense—we have Christ! (1) Are we afraid of looking foolish in the world’s eyes? Nonsense—this is the life of Christ! (2) The world is severely deficient of men who will spend themselves for others…we are so self-absorbed, and it even shows itself when we care for our own families but never reach beyond them. The world needs men to pack up and go where God needs them to go. The world needs men to ante up and give money to those in greatest need or those who are physically going to help those in need. The world needs men to gear up in prayer, fighting the tenuous, glorious and intense spiritual battle for billions of lost souls. Yes, billions. (Roughly 2 billion in India and China alone.)

I’m talking about engaging in real, fervent prayer for those captive in sex-slavery, those diseased with no hope, and those facing eternal damnation for lack of discipling from real men. I’m talking about the kind of prayer that rips your heart out of your chest because you are so burdened and passionate for the lost. I’m talking about the kind of prayer that drains you of all energy because you have utterly spent yourself on the behalf of the defenseless. I’m talking about the kind of prayer that uplifts, energizes, and fills you with joy because you have entered the presence of God and see the fruit of yours and His labor. I’m talking about fighting the real fight with all that we have, standing up as mighty men of valor!

Moses. Gideon. Jonah. These men resisted or ran from God when He called them. Gideon was called a "mighty man of valor" by God Himself and still was not confident that he had the strength to do what God called him to do! (3) Moses said, "Who am I, Lord" to bring a nation out of captivity.(4) But in every case, God made them into what He told them they were and they did amazing things for the Lord's people. Let's take a lesson here. Here is what God has said about you: you are his child (5), you are his friend (6), you are chosen by him (7), your purpose will be completed (8), you will face nothing you cannot withstand (9), and you are a mighty conqueror through Christ!(1) I pray that you remember these promises and truths and live them out.

There are two camps. The first camp is made of men who say, “Those guys are doing it. That’s enough, as long as someone is doing it. They’re doing it…so I don’t have to.” The second camp is made of men who can say, “I’m doing my small part, but if only everyone would just do their small part!” Are you in the camp that if the entire rest of the world looked like you and cared for their families but no one else, then not a single widow or orphan would be cared for? Or are you in the camp that if the entire rest of the world looked like you and did only their small part for the defenseless, then all would be exceedingly and abundantly cared for?

We don’t need to save every sex-slave ourselves, we don’t need to feed every homeless person through the church we attend, and we don’t need to save every soul through the missions organizations we have access to…in fact, we cannot achieve all of that as singular individuals. But what we do need to do is step up and allow God’s love to push us into being utterly spent on the behalf of the world. These are God’s creation—and they are suffering immediately and dying eternally for lack of real men who will stand up to our duty! Our country’s military goes out and fights for much more than their families. Yes, they certainly fight for their families and that is likely a predominant motivation…but in doing so, they fight for all our families…they fight for me…they fight for you. Who are you fighting for? Can you fight for more? Can you take the world under your wing in prayer? You cannot do it alone. You and I will first need Christ, and secondly we will need each other. But with Christ, and with each other, we can take responsibility to fight the good fight for every sex-slave, every disease-ridden orphan, and every lost soul on this earth. What would happen if we each just did our small part?

I thank those of you who are doing your part—please be encouraged to keep the faith and run the race well, for many run with you. But everyone should ask themselves these questions: "What if every person in the world cared for the defenseless and lost in the exact same way I care? What if every single person devoted the same amount of time to real, fervent prayer as I do? Would anything change or would the world continue to deteriorate?" Or what if we made the commitment to step up as real men, dare to take the seemingly insurmountable challenge in all boldness and courage through Christ, such that the entire world might be changed.

Take a moment and imagine if your daughter…or your wife…or your sister…or your mother…became a sex-slave tomorrow morning.

What would you do for them? Would you pray fervently and follow the Lord’s leading as He promised to rescue them? I pray that your eyes are opened to see with God’s eyes and come to the grim understanding that your daughters, your wife, your mother, and your sisters in India or other countries…these precious ones are already enslaved, diseased and dying, and facing eternal separation from God…simply because no one has come to their rescue.

Men, the time has come to stand up. Take your place as a mighty warrior. You have been called to the battlefield. Will you back down and run from the enemy, sacrificing billions of lives in your cowardice or laziness? Or will you dare to put on the full armor of God, to withstand all, and after withstanding all, to stand.(10) If so, you will not stand alone. I pray that you and I stand together with Christ in the gap for the precious lost. I pray that our prayers might be powerful and effective.(11) I pray that God will absolutely inhabit our prayers.(12) I pray for the power of Almighty God and the blood of Jesus Christ to cover billions more. I pray that we would be His vessels, His instruments, and His warriors that He would grace with the opportunity to be His hands and feet. Amen.

1 - Rom 8:37-39
2 - 1 Cor 1:18-25
3 - Judges 6:11-7:25
4 - Exodus 3:1-12 and the rest of the book
5 - John 1:12-13, Rom 8:13-18, 2 Cor 6:18, Gal 3:26-28, 1 John 3:1
6 - John 15:12-15
7 - John 15:16-17
8 - Phil 1:4-6
9 - 1 Cor 10:13
10 - Eph 6:10-18
11 - James 5:16
12 - Psalm 22:3-5 (KJV)