Man Up!

Last night I had a bunch of the fellas from SRCStudent Ministries over to my house for food and football. We hard a lot of fun chowing down and watching the game. At half-time I took 5 minutes and shared with these young men something I heard years ago from my pastor. He suggested that there are 3 types of guys.

1. Males. To be this kind of guy, all one has to do is be born with the Y chromosome. Pretty simple. 
2. Men. To really be considered a man, one must demonstrate a certain level of maturity marked by characteristics such as courage, hard work, responsibility, etc. It is good, noble, and appropriate for boys to become men in this regard. (1 Corinthians 13:11)
3. Men of God. But there is another level that we are all called to pursue, and that is to be the spiritual leaders God has called us to be. Men who don't just work hard and put food on the table, but men who seek to make Christ the center of every area of their lives, work with integrity, show honor to their elders, view and treat women with purity, gentleness, and respect, love their wives with a selfless, serving love modeled by Christ for the Church, train their children in the ways of God, and who are the spiritual leaders of their homes. (Matthew 22:37-40; Job 31:1; 1 Timothy 5:1-2; Ephesians 5:25-33 Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

The challenge to our young men last night was: During this transitionary stage of your life, embrace the not only the physical and emotional growth you are going through, but pursue spiritual maturity as well. The world is in desperate need of men. Not just males, not just men, but men of God!