Editor’s Note: Mike shares a response from a recent Kingdom Man discussion at the Memorial Unit. This kind of honest, open discussion is taking place each week among the 315 men in white prison uniforms across the five units we serve…
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In 1 Corinthians 16:13 the Apostle Paul says, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” As usual, pretty good advice. Yet as we discussed manhood this week at the Memorial Unit, the mighty men in white prison uniforms surprised me a bit.
Chapter5 of Kingdom Man describes 6 different kind of men that we may act like to avoid being a Kingdom man. In no particular order they are-Passive man, Domineering man, Sexual man, Corporate man, Irresponsible man and Hedonistic man. As we opened our discussion, I looked forward to hearing about all the “man masks” these men had worn and how each one played out in their lives. We have African American, Hispanic and Caucasian men as well as an old white guy (me) all of different ages and backgrounds. It was going to be great, and we would likely run out of time before we finished this first question.
Five minutes later, we were done. Seriously. The first description every man used to describe his life was “Passive man.” Then they would throw in a couple of others just to keep the conversation going but there it was. Passive man.
Looking back, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Afterall, we’re no better than Adam. How can you be any more passive than to allow some type of slimy creature to walk up to your wife, engage her in a conversation questioning the Lord who just created you? And then passively allow her to sin against a Holy God and then shrug your shoulders and take a bite too?
Oh he wasn’t passive in sharing the blame. No he actively blamed his wife and God conveniently ignoring his role as the leader. But why was this so easy for Adam to sit back and do nothing? And before you dog pile him, why is it so easy for you to follow the same script?
Being the type of man Dr. Evans describes isn’t hard. It just isn’t easy. It all starts, though, with alignment. To be a Kingdom Man you must be properly aligned under God. We are men under authority and if we do not respect that authority, why would the people under our care, respect ours. It’s always so sad to see a husband complaining that his wife or kids don’t respect or follow him even while he is not respecting or following God. Just like Adam was charged with overseeing and caring for the Garden, men are given the same responsibilities over their families, in their workplaces and their spheres of influence.
In order to effectively carry out these duties, men must be aligned with the one who gave them to us. Yet as my brothers in white illustrated (and I had the same answer unfortunately) it’s a lot easier to just be aligned under the worship of ourselves, bowing down to the idols of comfort, success and pleasure. That’s why Paul tells us to “stand firm.” The key there is to stand. To stand in alignment under God.