The Challenges of Modern Men

Rob Genin, YBL Birmingham Director

I recently sat with a friend who asked me: What are the biggest challenges that men face? At YBL we live inside that question, but I have never answered it systematically. I thought about it, and I came up with three. There are certainly more, but hopefully these take in some significant ground.

Shame: Prior to the fall, scripture describes Adam and Eve, “They were both naked and they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25). Once Adam and Eve sin in the garden, the first thing they do is to try to cover up with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7) and then they hide from God (Genesis 3:10). While sin burdens all of humanity with just shame, men particularly feel this. They worry that they do not measure up, that they are not as good of workers, husbands, fathers, repairmen, athletes, providers, churchgoers as they should be. They are haunted by failure and the fear of that failure being publicly known. So many men carry the burdens of hidden sins like pornography, because the shame of making it known seems unbearable. This is precisely why the gospel is so needed. The first thing the gospel does is tell the truth about our situation – we are sinners. We are not enough. We are not self-sufficient. We need God and His mercy in Jesus. We need the community of men and one another. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Triviality: Back in 1985, Neil Postman famously wrote the book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”. The main contention of the book was that the principles of fun and entertainment had taken an unhealthy pre-eminence in American culture (which we export all over the world). The way this affects men is simple: God has called men to engage serious and important issues, to lead in the community, the church and the family. Often coupled with shame, men simply choose not to engage challenges, but to spend their discretionary time in hobbies. If the devil can convince men not to engage in the battles, he will win by default. We must be wary lest the obsessions of sports, games, vacations, collecting various items and other activities consume all the time which God has entrusted to us.

Comfort: As an American Christian with a relatively easy life, I feel a measure of shame (see #1) even writing about this one. It is the environment we all live in that makes it difficult to diagnose. Jesus clearly told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Denying ourselves clearly means forgoing comforts we would otherwise enjoy. Likewise, the apostle Paul said, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…”(2 Tim 3:12). I take that everyone means that it is an ordinary expectation for believers to endure the discomfort of persecution – whether those forms are mild (like exclusion) or extreme (like martyrdom). As we move out of our safe zones into areas where the devil and demonic forces hold sway, we can expect opposition. We often must sacrifice comfort to obey God.

YBL is prayerfully attempting to bring the Word of God and calling on the Holy Spirit to fight these deadly enemies in the lives of men. We need one another, which is why we are committed to mobilizing the church to engage in the marketplace, where so many men and women spend the bulk of their time. We need community – God often brings His grace through human vessels. Let’s help each other to face down the real giants.