A Message for Men--are you a shirker?

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach out of Psalm 128, which primarily addresses men and their calling.  It's our great conviction at CrossPointe that as the men go, so goes the church.  Felt like this was a good opportunity to speak to that in more detail.  I will admit this is a much easier topic to read about and imagine teaching on, than to actually get up and do it.  I think I felt more than ever that I wanted God to convict those that needed conviction but to encourage those that needed encouragement.  There can be a tendency for some to unnecessarily beat themselves up when these topics are addressed and the last thing I wanted to do was heap false guilt upon people.  Yet I am also convinced that all of us men need to frequently be reminded of our calling to work a job, pastor our family, and serve the church.  

The driving metaphor, which will explain the title and picture in this post, was the SHIRKER BULL.  The shirker bull concept was developed by a biologist named Geist who has a theory about those male deer and elk with the largest set of antlers.  Geist believes that they are often the ones who are "shirking" their biological duty to engage in the rut (two males butting heads to exert dominance and sire the next generation).  Rather than putting their energy into fulfilling their male duties, they instead expend their energy on growing large antlers.  So what at first appears to be a strong, impressive male, is in fact a weak, passive male who is disengaged from his true calling.

This is often the case with men...myself included.  We want to shirk our responsibilities to work a job, spiritually lead our families, and serve in the church.  We tend towards the shirker bull, trying to look impressive on the outside and growing our metaphorical antlers...which can be money, possessions, life of the party, or any number of stupid, immature hobbies we should have given up after we were through with puberty.  

However, the point is not that we should simply suck it up, white-knuckle it, and make the necessary changes.  You can try, but you will fail.  Maybe not at first, but eventually.  You and I can only make it as we look to Jesus, who showed us what true masculinity looks like.  But he didn't just give us an example, He has now made a way for us through the Gospel to be made more and more into His image instead of the image of our original father, Adam...the original shirker.

You can listen and/or download the sermon by clicking here.