courage. Paul said, “Pray for me that I might have boldness.” What
men need to do is use the appropriate trait in the appropriate situation.
Could Jesus be gentle? You bet. The Lord is near to the broken-
hearted, and He saves those who are crushed in spirit. We all have been
crushed, and He has come right alongside and ministered gently to us.
That is the appropriate, masculine quality to employ in that situation.
But Jesus could be very tough, too, like the day He went into the tem-
ple and dumped over the tables. The bystanders didn’t say, “Oh, what
a nice, sweet guy.” They said, “Let’s get out of here!” The appropriate
male qualities in that situation were aggressiveness, courage, and
boldness.
Jesus loved us enough to get hurt for us. If Christ loved the
church and gave Himself up for her, will not a Christian husband love
his wife so much that he would get hurt for her, even die for her if
necessary? We must be careful about creating and promoting a mas-
culinity that is just nice and tender. Little boys are supposed to grow
up to be men and, following in the footsteps of Christ, men are going
to get hurt. But if we are programmed to fear getting hurt, our mas-
culinity is damaged and diminished.
Seek personal holiness.My old professor Howard Hendricks often
said, “If you worry about the depths of your ministry, God will take
care of the breadth of your ministry.” If we are willing to go deep with
God, such things as church growth will fall into place. I am talking
about the kind of people we will be. When God tests our integrity,
truthfulness, and openness to Him, I want to pass those tests. For I
know that ultimately He will bless me.
We are so messed up in the church because we have come to value
giftedness over holiness. When some guy falls into immorality, our
biggest question is, “How quick can we put him back in?”—because
we worship giftedness more than the One who gave the gifts.
I am encouraged by the fact that none of us have to be gifted to
tell the truth. What scares me more than anything is not telling the
truth, not rightly dividing the Word of truth—saying, “This word
means this,” when it doesn’t. We are going to stand before Him and
be held accountable.
Leading Through the Fog 215