As a Baptist preacher, I not only have been trained to interpret and preach the Bible literally, but I also preach that way by conviction. When you teach the Bible to be literally true there are bound to be things that will run counter to the culture we live in. In the recent years of my ministry, I cannot think of anything else that has been a tougher issue to teach from scripture than the role of men in the church, society as a whole and in the family. To espouse that a man is the “head” of a home is not a popular notion in the mainstream of our culture. There has been a huge cultural shift since the end of WWII for the demotion of men as the “head” of the family unit and to neutralize the sexes so there is no difference between men and women. Society emasculates men, makes them the butt of jokes, or calls them toxic as though they are a poison in the rest of culture. Mature men struggle with finding a safe identity not to mention the struggle boys and teenagers are facing with a myriad of voices telling them a hundred things they should be and should not be.

As a Preacher of the Gospel, I have had a great concern about that trend for the effect it is having on men, but also on women and in society as a whole. Preachers are not the only ones to have this concern. Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business in NYC, has recently written a # 1 NYT bestselling book titled “Notes on Being a Man”. The introduction to the book sets the tone of the book:
“Boys and men are in crisis. Rarely has a cohort fallen further and faster than young men living in Western democracies. Boys are less likely to graduate from high school or college than girls. One in seven men reports having no friends, and men account for three of every four deaths of despair in America. Even worse, the lack of attention to these problems has created a vacuum filled by voices espousing misogyny, the demonization of others, and a toxic vision of masculinity. But this is not just a male issue: Women and children cannot flourish if men aren’t doing well. And as we know from spates of violence, there is nothing more dangerous than a lonely, broke young man.”

Scott Galloway is not a believer, but his book rings true with a biblical worldview about men and the need for the right kind of man in our society. Last year I was asked by a woman in our church if I would give some biblical teaching on the role of men and help answer some of the questions we face when we make a literal application of scripture to the role of men in the home, the church and in society. Starting this Sunday, I am doing a three-part sermon series titled “The MALE Identity”. The three messages are:

1. Men: Created to Serve and Care
2. Understanding Headship – it is not what you think.
3. The Dominion of Men

You likely have caught on by now that I am not a typical Southern Baptist Preacher so I can guarantee you I will not approach this like most SBC preachers do. Because I think the role of men in our homes, churches and society is crucial for the health of those entities, what I want to do is challenge our thinking about this topic and by the Spirit of God with the Word of God pray that we will have a biblical view of the male identity. I am excited and nervous at the same time to preach these messages. I am excited because scripture has the answers to address this crisis in our society. I am nervous because I’m guessing that while I never try to do this on purpose, these messages are likely to be offensive to some of you either because you’ll think I’m too hard or I’m too soft on the subject. What I hope to be is biblical and edifying to you my sheep who are so susceptible to the devices of this evil world we live in.