Why Am I the Only Guy I Know Talking About Jesus?
For every 99 women you find reading a Bible at Starbucks you’ll catch one dude. He is always a Pastor. And almost always annoying. You know, the guy who wants a moment of your time to see if you’re ready to make some extra cash. With his “marketing” company.
Where are all the men following Jesus?
In the last 100 years we went from following Christ to chasing women. If your’e fortunate to find a man in church between the ages of 20 and 35, you can pretty much bet he’s hunting or just along for the ride. There are plenty of guys 40 and up who are genuine and vocal about their walks. But what happened to my generation? It’s not that we’re so suppressed we've given up on communication. There are able-bodied men jabbing about cars, sports, work, girls— but none of them talk about Jesus.
Going to church and walking with Christ are two very different things. I know plenty of women on sabbatical from church who remain intimate with their Creator. If you asked me the number of men matching the same description I could count them on three fingers (you know who you are). For the sake of argument let’s say church was a barometer of faithful men. The problem you’ll find is that church-going guys are quickly exposed when asked to step up and lead. Yes, they may be eligible but are they strong and secure? Trustworthy? Ready to prefer a woman’s interests over their own?
Unless a man is regularly drawing from Jesus he will never be positioned to love.
He can act the part, take charge and be chivalrous for a season, but in order for manliness to stand the test of time it has to be substantive. It needs a foundation. For every athlete, movie star and male archetype out there, no one comes close to touching my Jesus. But unfortunately, somewhere along the way He got pegged as unmanly.
Love and manliness: the two no longer mesh. And the notion of being in love with another man, even if He created the universe, has become unpopular to the point of extinction. For all the guys my age who even have faith, how many dialogue about being romanced by Jesus? Or how helpless they are apart from Him? It’s like an allergy. Or faux pas.
I don’t talk about Him to earn brownie points. I talk about Jesus because He’s (expletive) awesome.
There are countless women comfortable receiving His love but some major hurdles are blocking my demographic. We cant possibly talk about being loved by another dude. Even if it’s God, I mean, that’s just not cool.
Sometimes I wonder if that ever crept up into His mind. When He preached, healed the brokenhearted and set the captives free. Or when he stood tall on trial, kept silent and was beaten within an inch of His life. Or when He marched up to Calvary. They stripped off His clothes, nailed Him to a tree, mocked and punished Him to death. I wonder what He thought just before He suffered. For my sake. Did He ask, “what will I look like?” Or, “what will my friends think?”
This is not about guilt. I just think it’s just funny that we've somehow pegged Jesus as unmanly.
You think James Bond is cool. Or Batman. But what about Jesus?
He was the first Dark Knight. The Dude poured out everything He had and took all of the blame. For me. Who am I not to gawk and celebrate this Love? I can’t. I don’t know how to be cool or fit in. I’d much rather stand in awe and be weird. I’d much rather be the only guy I know talking about Jesus.
