As a kid, I remembered playing a game called follow the leader. The object of the game is in the name, whoever was the leader did wherever he or she wanted, and everyone else had to imitate their every move. I remember making my followers do some crazy and dangerous things, but they had no choice because they had to follow me, the leader. This situation is the same problem with most men today, because instead of being strong courageous leaders they are immature passive followers.
IRRESPONSIBLE BOYS
While they are young, boys are given the freedom and luxury to be immature, reckless, and irresponsible for as long as they please. To make matters worse, their parents justify their immature behavior with erroneous statements such as, “boys will be boys.” And as these boys grow up, they hold onto these same childish irresponsible mentalities well into their adult years. This carefree upbringing is why manhood in our society is in a state of confusion, and popular culture paints this picture with two images of men in the media.
First you have the passive male who is extremely indecisive, weak, and shifts responsibility to women and other men (The typical sitcom dad). This type of male is usually portrayed as a clueless idiot that willingly embraces laziness. And on the other end you have the “Alpha male,” portrayed in various movies and television shows as the over bearing macho man who dictates orders and crowns himself king and lord over all. This type of guy sees his way as the only way that is right and abuses his power and aggression to become the dictator of his self-made empire.
While both these characters may be amusing, they are destroying our society and the families in our country. And both of these cases are sad representations of male leadership, and without a solid leadership the society will fall. So, instead of talking or poking fun at the problems with men, I feel as though we need to provide a clear definition of what a real male leader should look like.
THE NEED FOR REAL MALE LEADERS
Instead of passive pushovers and chauvinistic bullies, the world needs real male leaders that are wise and confident in their decision making and accepting to all of life’s responsibilities. These leaders should reject the passive tendencies of their youth and courageously embrace life’s ups and downs, as solid rocks for their families. And they shouldn’t abuse their strength and authority by using it to oppress others, rather, they should use them as tools to encourage and serve the ones that they love.
As you can tell from reading the description, a real male leader is a very difficult role to embrace. And because of this most men have given up on achieving real manhood, and are content with failing their women, children, and others in their lives.
WHAT A REAL LEADER LOOKS LIKE
So what’s the hope for all men who haven’t led courageously? The only hope that any of us have, and that is in the only perfect model of a courageous male leader, Jesus Christ. As a man Jesus came to serve and not to be served, he rejected passivity, lead courageously, accepted responsibility, and is solely invested eternally revealing the perfect example of male leadership. These implications of Jesus’ perfect manhood reveal that the main issue with the men comes from a lack of following Jesus’ lead.
THE MARK OF A TRUE LEADER
So, to sum up all my points, to be a real man and a real leader, a boy must lay down his weak efforts and repent of his childish ways by putting his faith in Jesus alone and follow Christ as the perfect example of a true male leader.
“Reject Passivity, Accept Responsibility, Invest Eternally, and Lead Courageously”
