The War Against Men

(Image courtesy of http://www.rd.com.)

The publication before the most recent Reader's Digest produced a cover page of a woman dressed boldly and prepared for survival in the outdoors.  In the background, a man peered out of the bushes at the woman, bewildered and eyes wide with fear.  In the most recent issue of Reader's Digest, a reader commented on this particular cover page.  He said he wanted Reader's Digest to be careful how they depicted men, and that he was disappointed that Reader's Digest had joined the "war on men."


If you watch any television at all - which the vast majority of the world, much less the United States, watches far too much TV - you will have noticed that women are more prominently featured in commercials as business owners making important business decisions, while the men are serving them (i.e. getting them coffee).  You will also notice that many TV shows portray men as jokes, something to be laughed at, while the women are the ones leading their families, usually with sleaziness.

So, I would take the comments on the Reader's Digest cover one step farther: there is a war on man.  Images and roles of both men and women are becoming distorted.  It is no wonder, then, why same-sex relationships have risen to a new celebrated height.  If men and women have no clear, God-given descriptions, then the result is a free-for-all of sin.

I am amazed at how even in "Christian" circles, the topics of gender equality and gender roles are met with such distortion and hostility.  Why has it become such a travesty that a woman be content and proud to help her husband, to raise her children, and to make a house into a home?  Why must women run off to college, get a full-time job, and get married (if ever) only after she is well-established in her career?  Why has it become so wrong for a man to lead his wife and children with authority and courage?  Why are men "playing the fool" in all of our television shows - and also in real life?

Before I go on, let me make it clear who is waging this war and who really hates females and who really hates males.

The enemy is not visible.  He is invisible and deceptive.  He does not come with swords or guns or bombs, but with ideas and distortions and lies.  The enemy against mankind is none other than the devil - because the devil is the enemy of God and we are made in God's image.  "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27).

It is important to understand that while God created males and females distinctly different from each other, He did not create one higher than the other.  Adam and Eve worked in perfect unity, each one using what had been uniquely given to him/her to establish themselves in the order of God's creation.  It is only after the devil deceived Eve and later when Eve deceived Adam that God said to Eve, "Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you" (Genesis 3:16).  There is a stark contrast in the relationship between Adam and Eve between the first and second chapters of Genesis and the third.  (But don't take my word for it; read it for yourself!)  Adam and Eve were no longer in complete unity after the fall.  They were justly punished for their sin, bringing their just condemnation upon themselves.  From now on, God said women will be subject to their husbands and will no longer live in complete unity.  All in all, God gave men and women their roles.  They are to be celebrated as uniquely different, yet not less than the other.

The truthful answer is that the devil hates males and females because God created males and females.  He is a liar and he has deceived many to believe that there is something wrong with being male or being female.  One of the devil's most deceived followers are the feminists.  A feminist is the greatest enemy to women, not the male chauvinist.  Why?  Because feminists are the ones who are saying something is wrong with women and that women need to change.  While male chauvinism is wrong in its aggressive, dictatorial approach toward women (i.e. Sharia Law, practiced by many but not all Muslims, which has strict rules keeping women in almost a sub-human category), they at least understand there is a God-given difference between males and females.

There are many things wrong with our country and our world currently.  To be honest, I am fearful and angry that our nation is so given over to our depravity.  We are getting what we justly deserve: judgment.  There is no hope for America - nor has there ever been - except that we repent and turn from our wicked ways.  Perhaps the great God of grace and order will deliver us from our sinfulness.  Yet, even the judgment of the Lord is gracious and good, for everything He does is righteous, holy, and magnificent.

In the meantime, let His Church raise up with the boldness and courage of Christ, unafraid of confronting the deceptions and lies prevailing in the minds of our nation's leaders and citizens.  Let us hunger and thirst for righteousness, unashamed of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who loved mankind even in her depravity to humble Himself unto death, that in His death we might die to sin and in His resurrection we might live.

Come awake, oh you sleeper!  Come awake and repent!  Look and see what great love and mercy the Lord has shown to us even while we were still sinners.  Let not the lies of the enemy penetrate your heart or your mind, but instead surrender your heart and your soul unto God.


Come awake, all you who are sleeping in sin.