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The Particular Temptations of Young Men
Tim addresses purposelessness, idleness, pride, and lack of self-control. He finishes with this encouragement:
What God means to accomplish in young men are rarely great deeds that are visible to the public, but the invisible construction of a foundation of godly character that will serve them for the rest of their lives. It is God’s grace that few men have notable accomplishments in their teens or twenties, for most are too immature to handle success and praise. Even Jesus had no accomplishments—at least none that history has recorded—until he was in his thirties. His deeds went unrecorded until his fourth decade. Yet these years were not wasted, for in them he “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Only then was he prepared to appear in public, only then was he prepared to take up his ministry.
If You Want Men In Your Church, Stop Treating Them With Contempt
Matthew Cochran discusses male disengagement from culture in general, but focuses especially on male disengagement from the church. He traces the general and the particular to the worldly contempt that much of our culture has for men, and ends with a plea for men to persevere with the church regardless and for the church to repent.
Let’s be clear. As bad as all of this is, this is not a valid excuse for men to disengage from Jesus’ church. To those men who do avoid church for these reasons, I need to say this: God has attached his promises of life and salvation to the preaching of his word and to the sacraments, all of which you find at church. The sheer scale of these gifts outweighs any amount of contempt from contemporary Christian culture.
But to those of us in the church who have been contemptuous of men, let’s not be like Mrs. Clinton—oblivious to the way we treat the people who run away from us. Let Christians instead examine our behavior in light of the teachings of Jesus. And when we see how badly we have failed, let us repent instead of stubbornly persisting in our contempt.
Rod Dreher also writes here on The Feminization (and Decline) of Christianity. Dreher belongs to the Eastern Orthodox Church and often quotes Roman Catholic theologians. Regardless, his diagnosis that connects the decline of Christianity with its feminization is compelling. And you don’t have to agree with his ecclesiology or the practical details of how to work this out, to support his prescription of a religion that is more challenging and demanding of men in order to reverse the decline.
How to Teach Boys to Respect Women
As the father of five sons, I find myself cringing if the news comes on in front of them. With high-profile men seen to be using and abusing women in the highest realms of politics, government, sports, and entertainment, I sometimes wonder how to keep the concept of the predatory, misogynist man from being normalized for my sons. The truth is, though, this is not just a struggle for those of us who parent boys. Every Christian teaches the next generation of men, since all of us are responsible for building up the body of Christ. So what’s most important in rearing boys to respect women?
So writes Russell Moore before going on to give some general principles and practical answers. He concludes:
The devil hates women enough to want them victimized by predatory men. The devil hates men enough to want them warped into predators or abusers. Let’s model a different way—that of a Christ who sacrifices himself for his Bride, and who treats that Bride not as a servant but as a friend (Jn. 15:15), not as an object but as a joint-heir (Rom. 8:17).
What the ‘Quarter-Life Crisis’ Says About Young Adults in Your Church
We’ve heard of the mid-life crisis, but what is the Quarter-Life Crisis?
It’s a phenomenon that can strike any time in your 20s or early 30s—the dawning realization that you’ve reached the age by which you assumed you would have it all figured out, only to find that you don’t.
The networking website LinkedIn found that 75 percent of 25- to 33-year-olds report having a quarter-life crisis.
This article is written by a woman, but her article applies to lots of young men too.
Bark
I haven’t tried it, but this accountability app for phones proactively monitors text messages, YouTube, emails, and 24 different social networks for potential safety concerns. One for parents to look into. See the video here.