day no. 13,451: we need strong, good men to protect us from strong, wicked men

“Unbelief squashes; faith teaches. Faith takes a boy aside, and tells him that this part of what he did was good, while that other part of what he did got in the way. And this is how to do it better next time.” ― Douglas Wilson, Future Men

It is easy to see the chaos and sin in boys' energy and aggression.

But it takes faith to see the glory of God growing in the lives and hearts of little men as they break your lamps, ruin your carpet and dig up your yard.

it takes faith to teach boys how to be men.

It takes nothing more than worldliness and religion to neuter boys of their energy and aggression.

"In the past, a common taunt against Christianity was that the 'church' was an activity for little old ladies of both sexes."

The problem with boys isn't that they aren't more like girls.

The problem with boys is that they are sinners, just like little girls, but their sin is so much more destructive and disruptive to peace and quiet.

So it is easier to castrate them and avoid the clean up in aisle 5 rather than teach them how to harness and aim their energy and aggression toward righteousness which alone can rise up to defend the weak and powerless against the flexed muscles of the powerfully wicked.

We need strong, good men to protect us from strong, wicked men.

Too often the church has been guilty of sucking the strength from young men in order to guard against them growing up to be strong, wicked men in whose paths we tremble. The Christian approach has been to take away Popeye's spinach in order to avoid the fear of Popeye turning out to be a villain.

But Bluto is out there and he is strong and he is setting his sights on Olive Oil.  Her only hope is that someone good and strong will rise up to take on her wicked and strong captor. However, the Popeyes we prefer are too weak and too frail to fight off Bluto's raw power. The Popeyes we love blog ferociously against the actions of Bluto, but lack they courage and follow through to actually oppose him on his own turf. We like our Popeyes good and weak while waiting and wishing for the Blutos of the world to die.  We desire a world of weakness. A good, powerless world in which we feel safe and sound.

Additionally, robbing men of strength does nothing to address their wickedness.  It just makes their wickedness of the slimy, pathetic, lazy, shady, backbiting variety of which the world certainly does not benefit from multiplying.

God, grant me the faith and strength to raise my boys to rise up to fight giants, kill wolves and slay dragons by faith through the strength God has given them.

1 John 2:14

I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God abides in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one.