Wake Up, Look Up

Hello everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch and in today's episode, we're asking the question, can liberalism win men over? This is prompted by an article I read recently in the Atlantic by Russell Berman called the Return of the Democratic Manly Man. the article was looking at recent attempts by the Democratic Party in the United States to recruit more blue collar men, men with military background, law enforcement background, union background, to run for office as a part of their attempt to reconnect with working class men. In the recent presidential election, Kamala Harris was won only 43% of male voters, only 39% of white male voters. continuing kind of a long time erosion of support for Democratic candidates among men. one Ohio congressional candidate, Brian Poindexter, who kind of fits this bill of the Democratic manly man, argues that it's a cultural problem. He says, and I quote, it's all vibes. there's nothing wrong with being masculine. At least that's the message the Democrats want to deliver. Of course, the problem is that that doesn't square with the worldview of liberals. in the United States, they've spent years dismantling masculinity, things like transgenderism, things like the MeToo mob movement on the Internet, things like, working so hard to elevate other people outside of men, they actually have a reverse kind of discrimination, at least in terms of culture, making men feel bad for being men, almost making men feel like they have to apologize for being themselves. Tough to square an anti-masculine worldview, with a few candidates that lift weights, I'm not sure it's going to resonate, but when I read this article, it really made me think less about the Democrats and less about liberals and more about the continuing need for the church in America to cast a vision, a biblical vision for masculinity. You know, the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16, writing to some men, he says, be watchful, stand firm in the faith. Act like men, be strong. What a challenge. Act like men. And of course, Paul is not tapping into cultural masculinity or the manosphere or the bro world online. No, he has a biblical vision of masculinity, the pinnacle of which of course is Jesus Christ, a man who laid down his life for others, a man who wept outside the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus doesn't fit neatly into a cultural box of masculinity. But he was unapologetically masculine. He was a carpenter. He was a man who spoke truth to power. He was a man who led other men. You know, for too long, the church has gone along with the cultural trends, making men feel like they ought to apologize, so elevating women, which, by the way, it matters to love women. But so elevating women, that church became a feminine place. I mean, if you doubt me, look at some of the lyrics that we sing in churches. Look at just the culture, and look around at how women outnumber men two to one. You know, the Democratic Party is waking up and going, man, we have a masculinity problem. I think maybe the church in America needs to wake up and realize it has a masculinity problem. Paul is writing to the men he. He left in charge of the church in Corinth, and he's telling them, be strong. Be watchful. Stand firm. Act like men. I want to hear that message more and more in American churches. I want men to realize, they don't have to go to CrossFit to find masculinity. They don't have to go to the dark corners of social media to find masculinity. They don't have to go to Joe Rogan or a place like that. they can go to church and get a compelling vision of being a kingdom man. A man who loves his wife, a man who raises his children, a man who speaks truth to the culture, who's not swayed by cultural trends, and a man who laughs at the thin attempts of political parties to capture his attention. Hey, brothers, if you're listening to this episode, this message is for you. Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like a man. Become who God wants you to be. Look to Jesus for masculinity, not to the Democratic Party. Hey, thanks for checking out Wake Up, Look Up. For more content, be sure to visit the Christ Community Chapel app or website, ccchapel.com.

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