Summary: <p>“Boys are created by God, we need not fear having them.”<span id="more-703"></span></p> <p>Our culture doesn’t have any sense of what it means to be a man; a full-orbed emotional life, in and of itself, does not get you to Christian manhood. Christians cannot abandon boys; Christians cannot leave boys to languish. We also cannot tell boys “be vulnerable, it’s okay to cry.” There is a call to young men to be strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ (1 Cor 16:13).</p> <p>Boys know little today except that they are not supposed to get in the way of girls. We never want to see the Scriptures as pitting the sexes against one another. In fact, the bible is what brings the sexes together. On the issue of manhood, the Church preaches a true and better manhood than any form of the culture. We do not excuse boys for everything they do; we don’t say that everything they want to do is good. Boys, just like girls, are made in the image of God and boys, just like girls, are fallen because of the Fall. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, men and women are not diminished but we are brought to the fullest intentions of God through the cross work and the resurrection of the Son of God. This means that young men are to be called to a high standard. Young men are called to be leaders in the home and church, Christ-like husbands (Eph 5), elders and deacons in the church (1 Tim 3), providers (Titus 2; 1 Tim 5), protectors (Eph 5).</p> <p>There is so much we could say about manhood. Parents need not fear having a son. They will find themselves with certain challenges while raising boys. Boys are created by God, we need not fear having them. The Word of God gives us a means by which, by God’s grace, take our boys and grow them into men, not simply adults, but who serve the Lord and who, by his power, act like men.</p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/well/family/the-fear-of-having-a-son.html?_r=0">The Fear of Having a Son</a> by Andrew Reiner</p>
