#12 - The Masculine Mandate

My small group recently finished The Masculine Mandate by Richard Phillips. We read a chapter a week and discussed it.The premise of the book stems from Genesis 2:15 - men are created and called to do 2 things: work and keep. In whatever role we are in - husband, father, worker, friend, church servant, etc. - we are to work and keep. He calls this the masculine mandate. The first 5 chapters explain what this means. The rest of the book explains how to do that in every area of life.

I found that the biblical content was well understood and explained. The practical wisdom and focus on employment was very good especially. Aspects of being a husband and father contained great insight and exhortation. I liked this book.

However, I think the weakness of the book was his concept in defining the masculine mandate - to work and keep. The concept itself was somewhat limited, not very intuitive and needed explaining. Because the Bible uses multiple metaphors and concepts to explain the role of men, Phillips needed to be creative in explaining how leadership and lordship and shepherding fit into working and keeping. Keeping was ultimately defined as protecting. In the end, working and keeping had so many concepts, metaphors, roles and explanations that I think its clarity and thus its impact was lost.

Personally, I prefer describing the calling of men as being the head of his household (1 Cor 11) with the 3 roles of leading, providing and protecting. The men's ministry at my church, using this construct, has done a good job advocating a clear concise vision for biblical masculinity.

But The Masculine Mandate is a good book and I recommend it. Here are a few gems:

• When leaders are too lazy or self-absorbed to learn and apply truth that the Bible's lament comes to pass: 'They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd' (Matt 9:36. To be a successful shepherd-leader, a man must master the needed skills, primary among them the study of the truth of God's Word.
• God's curse on the man draws him unwholesomely away from the woman, even as God's curse on the woman draws her unwholesomely toward the man. This is why most marital counseling sessions are some variation on this theme: Wife - 'You don't pay attention to me.' Husband - 'You are too demanding and nag too much.'
• The husband must embrace self-sacrifice for the sake of his wife's well-being, this of course includes her physical safety. But the main threat against which a man must protect his wife is his own sin. A friend once expressed his awakening to this truth in these words: 'I used to think that if a man came into my house to attack my wife, I would certainly stand up to him. But then I came to realize that the man who enters my house and assaults my wife every day is me, through my anger, my harsh words, my complaints and my indifference.'
• There simply is no substitute for our children hearing the Word of God read from our lips, with its doctrines explained clearly so they can understand, and the message applied to their hearts.
• The time to impress on a child the central importance of Scripture is not in high school, but in preschool. Likewise, time spent building goodwill and trust during a child's elementary school years may be vitally important during the years of immature adulthood, when the minds of our kids can be clouded and bewildered by change.
• Any Christian man who wants to serve the Lord, in any role and at any level, must begin by devoting himself to God's Word. A man who is weak in the Word of God will be of little use for service, for we cannot truly serve God effectively in our own knowledge and strength. But God's Word stirs up in us the faith and spiritual strength needed to serve Him.