One of the obvious characteristics of BBC is the number of men that attend the services and which are involved in the body life of the church. Truly BBC is into to manly ‘body building.’

Now of course I am not referring to physical body building (although, kilogram for kilogram I am sure that the per capita bicep measurement of BBC is above average!); rather I am speaking of the way that the Lord Jesus has blessed our church with many men (regardless of varied levels of physical fitness) who are spiritually fit.  And because they are spiritually healthy they are being used by the Lord to help train others unto godliness.

Recently I was shown a list of some 70 men which were being considered as ushers for the Sunday services. Do you realize that in most churches our size, it is highly unlikely that there are even 70 men on the membership roll? Though having so many men to choose from creates special challenges, what a great problem to have!

What has led to such a masculine church? I believe that fundamental to this blessing is the high sense of biblical accountability that is a part of the ethos of BBC. And this of course is the fruit of many years of taking biblical discipleship seriously.

As believers have been grounded in the Word (not only through the public teaching of Scripture, but also through our one on one discipleship ministry) men (and women) have come to appreciate that the Christian life requires taking personal responsibility for their spiritual development.  Such a commitment is vital to the development of a culture of biblical masculinity.

I believe that masculinity has little to do with the shape of one’s body, the amount of hours invested in exercise, the power one wields in the community or with one’s choice of hobbies; rather it has more to do with a man accepting and fulfilling the responsibilities which God has revealed in His Word. To the degree that a man lives up to his responsibilities, to that degree he is biblically masculine; even if he chooses to sew rather than to shoot! Let me give you a few examples.

First, the man who is biblically masculine properly prioritizes his life; and at the top of the list is a commitment to be conformed to Christ. In 1 Timothy Paul instructs a young man to be manly in his leadership of a local church.  And one of his exhortations is that he avoid those things that are a waste of time (4:7a) and rather that he give himself to the ‘exercise’ (training) unto godliness.  That is, Timothy was to invest his time in pursuing, with volitional perspiration, being like Christ, the godliest man in history.  Timothy was (among other things) to spend time learning the Word, praying to God, taking every thought captive to Christ, and denying himself those things that would hurt his walk with the Lord. I have no idea whether or not Timothy was an athlete or whether he had a Harley (ok, I do know!) but what I do know is that after hanging around a man as biblically masculine as Paul (who by the way was physically weak, he cried a lot and was the object of ridicule) he understood what it meant to be a man; that is, to pursue the God-man, Jesus Christ!

Second, biblical masculinity is manifested in how one responds to authority. Men who throw their toys out of the cot because they don’t agree with the decision of those in authority over them, are manifesting that they have little understanding of masculinity. True men submit to God’s appointed authorities. A male who is constantly changing jobs because he can’t ‘get along with the boss’ may have the ‘Y’ chromosome but he is not behaving like a man. Show me a man that can never settle down as a committed member of a local church and I will show you a man who needs serious help in understanding masculinity. And I care not how much Bible he professes to know or how powerful he is in the world. Real men, like Jesus, understand authority.

Third, biblically masculine men, in the words of Paul, ‘put away childish things’ (1 Cor 13:11); that is, they grow up and therefore they take life more seriously. In the context of these words the apostle was perhaps intimating that the Corinthians, (in their clamouring for the gift of tongues) were in fact behaving as selfish children.  They were concerned with being the centre of attention rather than responsibly ministering to others (see also chapter 14). Thus Paul rebukes them as he subtly exhorts them to grow up.  Real men love.  And by definition, to love is to put others first. One cannot simultaneously be committed to being the centre of attention and ministering to others at the same time. Therefore real men put others first. They make decisions in light of the needs of others, not according to their own desires.

Related to this is the matter of closing and locking the lid on the toy-box. Real men know that there comes a time when sobriety takes precedence over silliness. They want to be taken seriously and therefore they confront life with the biblical sobriety demanded. I don’t mean by this that they never laugh or that they don’t play games and that they never fly (crash!) their radio-controlled helicopters! What I mean is that they are aware that people (and many young ladies!) are looking for men who can lead them through the serious challenges of life. And the guy who is playing in the emotional and recreational sandbox at 25 is probably not going to be sought after as a leader. May BBC continue to accumulate men who know how to soberly have fun!

Finally, biblical masculinity takes very seriously the varied God-appointed responsibilities in both family and church life.  Such men will be husbands who will sacrificially love their wives (Eph 5:25-28), and such fathers will reverently raise their children to follow Christ (Eph 6:1-4) and such church members will serve the local church (Rom 12:1-8; 1 Cor 12:4-13).

I am grateful to God for the degree of masculinity that characterizes BBC, but like all growth, there is always room for improvement.  May the Lord continue to increase our spiritual testosterone for His glory and for the good of our church and our families.