As I read this letter over and over I kept thinking of men.  Jesus told the church he was proud of their love, their faith, the good stuff they do, and even how they patiently endure the tough stuff life was throwing at them.  Then He hit right between the eyes.  Jesus told them that in spite of all the good stuff, He was troubled by. . .literally, “held it against them”. . .their willingness to accept and follow a false prophetess.  Jesus called this woman “Jezebel.”  Don’t know if that was her real name or a reference to one of the most vile and immoral queens Israel had ever had.  Doesn’t really matter much, either way they got the point.  She was teaching and they were following her down the road of sexual immorality.

So how does this relate to guys, me included?  We trust God, love others, do great things – even in the name of God – and patiently endure the hardships of marriage, rebellious children, layoffs, pay cuts, addictions, and a whole mess of stuff.  Yet, we give in to Satan’s lies about lust, pornography, sexual immorality, adultery, and all kinds of sexual sins.  I’ll be the first to admit that it’s tough being a godly man in today’s world.  But how can we ever be the church – God’s church – when men won’t deal with these ongoing sins?

Listen guys, we have to get over our shame, our guilt, and our pride if we ever hope to face up to these problems in our lives.  They’re real and they are tearing down our lives, our marriages, our families, our communities and having an incredibly negative impact on Jesus’ bride – the church.

Let’s start talking about these struggles.  Let’s begin encouraging and helping one another.  Let’s begin praying for one another.  Your wives deserve it!  Your children deserve it!  Your God deserves it!

Let’s stop being the church at Thyatira.  Let’s stop believing Satan’s lies.  Let’s be the men God designed and desires us to be!

Mike

Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating,a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over his head. – Mark 14:3 (NLT)

I couldn’t help think that the woman gave Jesus the best she had. Not only did she give her best, she gave Him all of it, not just part of it.

Let me set the scene. Jesus and the disciples were on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The time had also come for Jesus to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. On their way they stop in Bethany to visit and hang with a man by the name of Simon the Leper – a man who, at some point in time, suffered from leprosy, but was now healed. It’s during this time that a woman comes and offers Jesus this expensive bottle of perfume.

How expensive was it? According to the disciples it cost at least a year’s wage. Imagine what you make in a year. Now go buy some perfume, stock, land, house, car, you name it – then give it to God; not some of it, not part of it, not almost all of it, but every last penny’s worth. Offer it to God.

Would you do it? Could you do it? She did. The woman enters Jesus’ presence and offers her most costly investment. It was something that was used a little at a time because of its value. But she didn’t care. This was Jesus. He was different. We don’t know why He was different to her, but for some reason He was. He had made some kind of impact in her life and she set the example for a room full of men. Men who knew Jesus was different. Men who had spent time with Jesus – day in and day out – for the better part of three years. Men who sat around and grumbled about a woman’s offering. Men who were made to look silly by the example of a woman.

In some ways this incident reminds me of the current state of many churches. Think about it for a minute. Who does or leads out in most of the ministries at your church? Who sets the examples in your prayer ministries, outreach ministries, fellowships/get togethers, building relationships, discipleship? I would venture to say it’s the women. Why? Because most of us men are standing around the back of the room sipping on stale coffee, arms crossed, worried more about Saturday’s college football game, the status of latest hunting season, or work, waiting for someone else to do the ministry. We’re more worried about making sure there’s coffee than whether there are lost people in the service. We’re more focused on the style of worship than who just moved in down the street. We’ve been beaten to the leadership roles, not by good leaders, but because we have forfeited our leadership roles to the women who will do them. We have been showed up much like the disciples were.

Men, it’s time we stood up and began leading. Some of you do. Some of you reading this will probably be somewhat upset at what I’ve said. It’s understandable. Thank you for setting the tone in your church. Then again, who’s leading in your church. I’m not talking about positional leadership – pastors, elders, deacons, coordinators, teachers. I’m talking about rounding up some men and leading out by example.

Reading further into Mark 14 we find Jesus sharing His last supper with these men. He takes the bread, gives thanks and breaks it. Giving it to His disciples He speaks, “Take it; this is my body.” Next He takes the cup, again giving thanks He offers it to the men gathered in the room with Him. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” He said to them. Jesus gave it His all as well. He gave His all for you and for me. He didn’t hold anything back. He didn’t quit in the middle. He offered God all of Himself – the most expensive thing He could give – for us.

Men, are you giving God your best? Are you giving Him all of it? Are you leading by modeling or by griping?

Mike

I just wrote an article for Catalyst Monthly. Should be in next month’s issue. I’m not sure exactly how to say this–don’t have my mind wrapped around it yet. And it probably won’t come across as very academic. But one of the most over-looked and under-appreciated dimensions of great leadership is guts.

Yesterday I preached about Jonathan climbing a cliff while Saul sat under a pomegranate tree on the outskirts of Gibeah. I love Jonathan’s modus operandi in I Samuel 14: Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. It took guts to climb that cliff. But a little bit of guts saved the nation of Israel.

It took guts for Benaiah to chase a lion. For the normal person, the gut reaction would be to run away. But Benaiah made a gutsy move–he chased the lion. And it changed the course of His life.

Great leaders are gutsy! It takes different shapes in different arenas. But gutsy leaders dare to be different. Gutsy leaders challenge the status quo. Gutsy leaders refuse to play it safe.

And no one was more gutsy than Jesus! He wasn’t afraid of offending Pharisees; touching lepers; washing feet; defending prostitutes; or befriending tax collectors. In the words of Dorothy Sayers:

To do them justice, the people who crucified Jesus did not do so because he was a bore. Quite the contrary; he was too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have declawed the lion of Judah and made him a housecat for pale priests and pious old ladies.

I just have this growing conviction that what the church lacks is guts. We need more leaders with the spirit of Jonathan; the spirit of Benaiah; and the spirit of Jesus. We need more leaders who climb cliffs, chase lions, and throw Temple tantrums!

It’s not enough to have the truth in our minds. It’s not enough to have the truth in our hearts. We’ve got to get the truth in our guts!

It takes guts to share your faith. It takes guts to tithe. It takes guts to pursue a God-ordained dream. It takes guts to lead a small group. It takes guts to confess your sin. It takes guts to follow Christ.

Praying for guts!

I love what Mark has to say about guts.  Hey guys, it takes guts to be a leader – in your home, in your church, in your workplace, and among your friends.  It takes guts to be different. . .like Jesus.

Do you have the guts to follow Jesus?  To lead your family?  To have an unquenchable passion for God?  To change your community?  To do the right thing when no one else will?   To be different for the Kingdom’s sake?

If not, then like Mark and me, pray for guts.  Pray that God would give you the courage to be the man He designed and desires you to be.

I want to thank Mark for challenging me and allow me to use his post to challenge you.