Profile of a straight man

Job, chapter 1, verses from 1 to 5: ".... There was a man named Job in the land of Us and he was a perfect and upright man, fearing God and away from evil and 7 sons and 3 daughters were born to him, he was The man was fertile, his estate was 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys, and many servants, and that man was greater than all the Orientals, and his children went and made banquets in their houses, each one on his day, and they sent to call his three sisters to eat and drink with them, and it happened that the days of the banquet having passed in turn, Job sent and sanctified them and got up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of all of them, because Job said: perhaps My children will have sinned and they will have blasphemed against God in their hearts. Thus he did every day". May the Lord bless his holy word.

Sometimes when we think of Job we only think of his suffering and his extended agony, but we do not think of this man who was able to overcome and overcome all his terrible crises, and his tragedy because he was a man with an upright heart and that was what brought him, ironically his test. But Job was in addition to being an upright man, he was an exemplary father. This morning I asked the Lord for a basic text for my meditation and it came to my mind what Job was doing and that at some point in the sermon I am going to have time to touch a little on what this text says.

But, I want to address the men, because today is a day that lends itself to this, and also Meche ordered me to do it. I want to share with our brothers and with myself, preach to myself these sermons that I always do, about the man that God wants, the man that God wants. While I was there looking at our brothers singing and seeing that healthy, beautiful manhood, worshiping God with pleasure and passion, an image that I saw from my office window also came to mind, I think it was on Thursday or Friday or Wednesday, it was this week. They're doing a job there as you know, on the street, and by a group of men who were working on the street, in their hard hats and their work clothes and there were two men laughing and talking and one se they hugged and then pushed each other like men do when they detect that there has been a moment of tenderness between them to make sure their masculinity is intact, right? And I saw them from my window and said: what a mysterious creature is a man! And while I was here waiting for it to finish, and men will forgive me, because I started to write something instead of paying attention to what they were doing and stop writing because of it, but I wrote a semi-poem that I want to read for you .

Says: What a beautiful sight a man when he walks well! Mysterious creature, animated with strange energy, a little smaller than an angel, a mixture of earth and spirit, walks the earth like a riddle. Mystery that God himself is in the process of solving. What a beautiful creature a man! Walking praise, treasure in tension, light under a bushel, tribute to the supreme artist. One day he will express everything for which he was made, meanwhile his whole being screams: Redeem me, heal me, reconcile me. Along with all creation, he waits impatiently, agonizingly, upright, for the day of his liberation.

Brothers, it never ceases to amaze me when I look at a man as well as when I look at a woman, the mystery that he embodies, the beauty that a man is. That mysteriously endowed creature with life like no other creature that walks the earth, with all its tensions, its struggles, its contradictions, its internal agony. I believe that God made man simply to have fun, like girls have a doll, God has the virtue of creating a living toy that is man, and he has spent thousands and thousands of years trying to tame him and make him fall in love and attract him to himself. because God had to consider in man a task worthy of his divinity. That is why he created a creature as mysterious, as elusive, as slippery as man is, and he set himself the cosmic task of seizing that creature and ensnaring it and attracting it to himself according to laws that he himself established and limits that he himself established. And He made man almost equal to Him in a sense, in creative capacity, in the ability to invent and slip and step aside and be self-sufficient so that that task would be even more entertaining for Him.

And I believe that this world is just the world. game of god God set himself a task there and he is trying to solve it, and with that he passes the time. I call that, a riddle that God himself is trying to solve. That beauty of man, however when I look at myself and look at men, I also see so much distance from the model that God created. But each time we get a little closer to the original design, the more beautiful we are, the more mysterious, the more attractive we are. That's why I say what a beautiful spectacle a man when he walks well! It is something worth seeing, a well-worked person, a well-worked man or woman is something beautiful, perfect, it is beautiful to look at. However, when I look at the functioning of man, and I obviously include myself as I say, I see so many defects, so many errors, still so much, it is a light under the bushel, still the greatness of God is hidden in us, it is a treasure in tension. There is beauty, there are gifts, there are virtues, but there is also the other side, the fall in us that pulls us down.

So, there is that contradiction there. When I see the functioning of man, in the church I see a lot of that, I see that many times..... I thank the Lord because here we have a healthy group of men. Right now I look around and see many men and this has been a long-term project that we have considered, that León de Judá is not a church of women, but that it is a church of men and healthy men, men and healthy women, to be in balance with each other. This week I had the opportunity to observe a group of people who were training in a place, it was a training for church leaders and how beautiful! And I am not impoverishing what that church was doing, but it made me a little sad to note that almost all of those who were there were only women. There was only one man who I think was even a pastor, but the rest were women. And that happens, we laughed the day of the presentation at the state house, that at first only a large number of women came, thank God that later those men came who had been working on the streets, directing people, and that, and there were a balance but definitely the vast majority were women. Glory to God for them, amen. I am not impoverishing the importance of women, understand me correctly, but I like balance, I like..... I believe that God made us to balance, and God wants a balanced church. God wants a complementary church. That's nothing new.

One look at the pages of Scripture and one sees that women were there when Christ was being crucified, they were there when Christ was resurrected, and throughout history women have played a role out of proportion to the level of influence they have been accorded. has recognized in the church. And many times we men are conspicuous by our absence in spiritual events and church processes and generally the men's ministry in all churches is the weakest part of a congregation. Thank God because here we are in the wings of improving that every day, and I encourage my brothers, I bless you in the name of the Lord, I declare the spirit of Jesus Christ over each one of you, and we call those who are sleeping right now, may they wake up from their beds, and put on their clothes, and come worship the Lord with us, and may they serve God in spirit and in truth.

So, that female dominance of the church in reality, however we see that in the Bible there is a contrary model. The Bible teaches us something very different from what is the human reality of deformed and lame men. In the Bible I see rather than one of the things that God has made man head and priest and leader. Forgive me sisters for not sharing that with me, but I love the Bible too much to say otherwise out of fear or whatever. The Bible establishes the man as leader of his home, as head of his home and of his church. I don't think that by qualification, because many of us, it is simply because God made it so. And if we did what we have to do, we would see the virtue of that divine determination. But I see that God wants man to lead, to be the leader, to be a spiritual priest in his home, in his marriage, in society, in the church. That is biblical.

I also see that man occupies a special place in the heart of God, I am going to qualify those ideas, do not throw stones at me yet, my sisters. But, there is something special that man has in the heart of God, just as there are other special things that women have. But I look through the pages of Scripture, if only statistically, I see the prominence of man, I see there something special that God has with men. And I also see that God himself is approached throughout Scripture from a decidedly masculine perspective, although I believe that God is not a man, obviously in the sexual sense of the word, and God has aspects that we generally identify with women, but I detect in the character of God and in his personality a decidedly energy that I, as a man, can identify with. It is a masculine energy and that is why God is Father in Scripture. Today I know that theology has had the audacity to call it mother, but I think that is going too far, personally. I think that's too bold for me, maybe when I go to seminary, for about ten years, maybe I'll soften a little bit about it. I understand what is meant, but I believe that this does not fit within the frame of reference that I have of the God that I see reflected in Scripture. There is a mystery, there is a mysterious communication and affinity between God, the Father, and the masculine energy. However, there is a very big difference in what we see in reality.

Now, I make two clarifications every time I say that, I make two clarifications out of consideration for my sisters, and for that reason to be qualified: Number one: man is not ontologically superior to woman. In other words, in their being, men and women are absolutely equal in the eyes of God. say amen There is no such thing as a man being better than a woman. The woman is co-heir to the Kingdom of God, so says the word. Let me understand that very clearly. At no time can a man feel superior to a woman, and that is why we have to respect the woman because she is also the image of God, and a woman is so beautiful, so mysterious, as deep as a man. You have to give it the same value: the woman in the eyes of God is equal, she is a co-heir.

And I also say something else, women are as important as men in the economy of creation, I would say in the ecology of creation. God made man with one energy, and made woman with another type of energy, the two are complementary. A world of men is inconceivable and that is why God had to create a woman, because the woman has something that complements. The virtues and strengths of men also constitute their weaknesses and the virtues and strengths of women constitute their weaknesses. Together in the total economy of creation they ensure that the world proceeds in balance. And I also believe that the man and the woman were made to make two poems, which continually moving on the earth are declaring the absolute complexity of the God who created them. When the woman opens her mouth in her feminine tone, she is declaring something that is in God. When the man opens his mouth in his masculine tone, he is declaring another part of God. When a man and a woman seek to come together and get inside each other, they are trying to exemplify that unity of the masculine and feminine that is in God.

And that's why both are absolutely necessary and we can't do without each other. Man and woman are complementary, completely complementary. You look at the soft and undulating lines of a woman and the angularity of a man and you still see the complementarity in that and you see it in the sensibilities and the wiredness of men and women, all these things speak of the fact that God made them for to be united and to work together on earth. That is why there can be no sense of superiority. We both depend on each other to be perfect and to be well combined.

For this reason, among many other things, I rebel against the idea of homosexuality or lesbianism as something natural or homosexual marriage as something capable of being contemplated, except for a society as far removed from what is human as this one. 21st century society, here in the US or in Western Europe. Only a disoriented society like this can contemplate the possibility that such a thing is normal. And I always say, I love, love, love, love gays and lesbians and I really hope that the Lord will give us a way to minister to them beyond just confronting them. And if you are struggling with that struggle, those tensions, and you are in our church and you recognize that you need God's touch in those areas, welcome pilgrim to brother on the path of faith. Because we are all, we are in that process, to master our impulses and our deformations. We love you and I urge you never to feel attacked when I speak in this way. We are talking about those who practice this without feeling remorse, without feeling regret, without recognizing that it is something that needs healing. I rebel against that, and I will resist that until the last day of my life because I believe it is harmful to society and to the man whom I love and want his good.

So, I believe that God created man and woman to complement each other. There is no superiority of one or the other.

Now, the models of man in the world, and as I said and even in the church are not very good. In the Middle East we see men oppressing women, abusing women by hiding them behind veils, burning them, burying them alive, stoning them, preventing them from educating themselves and ascending to their full humanity. I find that, I don't think there is a word that I know that is strong enough for me to express my revulsion, my disgust at that type of oppression of our sisters, but we see it in many parts of the world. In the rest of the Third World we also see a lot of abuse of women, men beat women, abuse their strength, keep women ignorant and isolated in order to better abuse them, and that is totally contrary to the heart of God.

In the churches, unfortunately to be fair, all is not well in the relationships between men and women. There is a lot of selfishness among us men who practice in the church. There are many discontented women, many of our sisters are discontented. And I have to agree with him if I am fair, in many areas, and there is a lot of injustice, many men who.... there is no adequate balance in the distribution of duties and tasks at home and that a more distribution must be sought appropriate and we have to be humble to recognize this and try to make changes in the way we treat our wives, that we distribute the burdens and responsibilities. There is a lot of verbal, emotional and even physical abuse of our wives and our daughters and that is totally illegal in the context of the church. And we totally reject it. There is no excuse for a man to put his hand on a woman, especially a daughter of God. This church completely repudiates that and anyone who practices it knows that it is outlawed and that God's judgment is involved. It is not possible to practice that and call yourself a Christian. There is neglect, our women feel neglected, sometimes sexually, sometimes emotionally, sometimes in terms of attention and care, and that's not good. There is carelessness in many ways. That is, there is a lot to do, a lot of work, brothers in that area.

But then again I didn't come here to whip my brothers. They can breathe because the worst is over. Take a deep breath, the worst is over. You have to be fair, brothers, just as I say one thing, I say the other. The word of God is the word of God and the first one to take its downpour is me when I am preaching up here, but it is the word of God and it must be preached as it is. And when we rape her, that's the problem, between men and women, that we only take what we like. Or sometimes we react and then we distort the word because of the anger we have and we change it to get revenge and that is not good either. You have to go to the truth in all its complexity and apply it and drink it, whether it tastes sweet or bitter. Sometimes the truth will taste bitter, sometimes it will taste sweeter than honey, but you have to apply it in all its complexity, and not feel attacked or anything, but rather say thank you Lord, what a bitter medicine but it is improving my life.

Now, what is the biblical model of a man, of a good man, what is the biblical model? The difficulty I had was getting this animal in and taming it because there are so many things I could say about that question. What is the biblical model of a good man? Let me just quickly jot down a little thing or two here.

Number one: a good man receives his instructions from the word of God, receives his instructions, his models, his standards from the word of God. That is your reference point. In Psalm 1 he says: "Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of evil nor has he been in the ways of sinners, nor has he sat in the chair of mockers, but in the law of the Lord is his delight and in his law he meditates by day." and at night”. In the law of Jehovah is his delight.

When I think of a healthy man, I think of a man who loves the word, reads it, knows it, bases himself on it, looks for the models he needs to live in it, this is where the advice that you and I must use to learn what is a healthy masculinity, man. That is why I beg you, know the Bible. If you are a new believer and you are just entering the ways of the Lord, I hope that you have a good Bible, and that you cultivate the habit of reading it, studying it, because it is not possible to have a healthy masculinity without going to the models that it establishes. Scripture, of what is a balanced paternity, a balanced masculinity. For me, when I study the person of Jesus Christ, I see there what is a model of a balanced, tender, and fierce, passionate and patient man, he speaks clearly but also knows when to shut up, he leads and serves, suffers and attacks, all those things are within a single personality. I say, that is what I would like to embody in my life. The Lord Jesus is a fabulous model of masculinity and that is why we do well to imitate Him.

For example, I see it when the disciples are there in their distorted masculinity, wanting the Lord to place them one at his right and one at your left when you are in heaven, the Lord tells you: look, in the world those who govern rule over the people they govern, dominate them, oppress them, exploit them, but it will not be like that among you, but the greatest will be as the lesser, and the stronger will serve the weaker. There I see balanced masculinity, a man who confronts, directs, speaks clearly, but also says: you have to be a leader but you also have to be a servant. And so it is that we have to be at home, too. To be leaders, but to be leaders that serve our wives and our children and that we go out of our way for them. Before you put that spoon in your mouth make sure the nestlings and the eldest nestling have food too. Before buying the fancy car make sure there is a working washing machine.

Brothers, there has to be that balance in our lives. I see that as a servant leader, a person who uses his God-given ability and gifts to serve others under his direction and leadership. A servant leader, and Jesus models that. And how can we find that if not in the pages of Scripture? When I see Job, for example, I see this man here who, when his children had their celebrations and their things, when everything was over, he prayed for them. Father, if they offended you in something in their celebration something they did, forgive them, heal them. He was attentive to the fate and spiritual state of his children. And he says that he did this every day, imagine. This man was a model in his behavior and he was a model in the prayer chamber. He was a priest who stood before the Father to intercede for his children.

Parents, do we pray for our children? Let's pray for our children. How do we learn these things if not by reading the pages of Scripture? Isolating those models, isolating those tips. Father, love the word of God, read it continuously and do not look for your models from your friends in the factory or on the street, look for it in these models of Scripture. There are positive models and negative models. The positive models imitate them, the negative ones learn from them to avoid them. But the Bible contains this. Be a man of your word. The Arabs, the Qur'an, you know, the big scandal that happened recently here in the US about the Qur'an, the abuse of the Qur'an. The Arabs, for them the Qur'an is the most incredible thing. It is a book literally sacred in the pages, in its materiality it is sacred. It is a town of the book. The Qur'an. Unfortunately our Christian men have a revelation infinitely superior to the Koran, and yet we neglect it and it is not possible. If we were men of the word there would be a great blessing in our lives. That is to say, it receives its instructions and modeling from the word of God.

Number two: a model man leads by example and by decree. Lead by example and not by decree. what do I want to say with that? Being the head does not mean giving orders or commanding or having a general's insignia on your shoulder, and that is why you have to attend to and obey me because I am the one in charge here in the house. I am the head. That is not, we do not command because we have a position, but rather it is supposed to be because we have spiritual, moral, quality and capital authority that we have earned with our behavior, it is not by decree. You have to do this, you have to do that, I command, and things are done when I say, how I say, and so on. No, but there has to be a modeling. I think that for me that man is the head means that he leads, it means that he is in front, modeling, exemplifying something, right? Then I realize that I have to go much faster. Many men demand a respect that they have not earned, for not walking correctly and that is why we are always fighting: respect me, venerate me, attend to me, love me, listen to me, but it is something that is earned, not something that is forced. Our wives have to want to be with us, we can't force them, there has to be something that attracts them. Our children alike. We are the head, we are the leader, but to lead and exemplify. A model man, he leads by his example and not by his decrees.

Number three: he's a team player, not a lone ranger. A biblical man is a team player, not a lone ranger. Many men are lonely, closed and isolated in themselves, even in their own home. And they are imprisoned in their own home, they arrive and they don't feel like they are part of the team. Dad is a substance that has not been digested by the rest of the system. I see that sometimes in men, why? Because sometimes a guilty conscience and sometimes the system rejects them because there has not been an integration of all the pieces. And part of that we owe to our parents and our previous role models in our countries and the culture that we have where men are aloof and a bit threatening and dangerous. You have to keep him happy and calm because at any moment something gets loose and breaks something and damages the party. So you have to walk slowly, on tiptoe so that dad doesn't get upset. So, of course, a separation of man is created and then instead of being a team. I say, brothers, we Christian men are a new generation in Christ. We cannot allow ourselves to be dominated by previous models, by people who often did not know the Lord. You are now in the word, in the revelation of God, you are a new creature, with new models, you are a generation that God is creating new. We must recognize the talents of our children, our wives, and play as a team, distribute responsibilities, delegate things, prepare the leadership of our wives, allow them to educate themselves, do things so that they can develop their leadership, depend on them too , to be part of the economy, to take off our general's hat and take off our shoes and play and throw ourselves on the floor with our children and our wives. There has to be that element of play and sharing in the home so that there can be healing. You have to be team players. I wish I had more time to develop this, but you guys have the idea.

We have to value our children, their opinions, treat them as worthy entities and not as underestimating their importance. Our children are important, that's why the Bible says: "Fathers, do not bring your children to anger." We cannot harass and neglect our children to the point that they turn on us. We have to take them into account as well. That's what I understand by being a team player.

Two more things: a model man knows how to be fragile and transparent, he knows how to be fragile and transparent. Everything that has to do with the area of weakness is what I want to embrace in that idea. I think of Jesus Christ who when he was ready to go to the cross felt fear and a sense of loneliness and sadness and anguish for what awaited him, and he said to his disciples: brothers, friends, I am anguished to the point of death, and I need you to you. And that's why he took them to pray for him and he hurt himself when they fell asleep there, because he needed the support of his companions and they failed him. He was not afraid, the Son of God, imagine, showing weakness, but brothers I have learned something, and that is that when we show weakness instead of people kicking us, he loves us more, and in our homes, in our family it is like that . When we abandon that false shell of inviolability and we are more fragile and share fear or when we make a mistake and ask for forgiveness, that softens and instead of bringing us disrespect and neglect, it makes us more accessible and they love us more. So the weakness combined with the moral strength of good manly behavior, of the leader, those two things make an incredibly beautiful and attractive mix. Weakness and strength is the cutest thing in the universe. And that is what we must embody. Never be afraid, man, to let your guard down and reveal fear or admit error or ask for advice because that is good and that allows others to be blessed with that aspect of your life in your home. So share your weakness. Be transparent. Sit, talk, laugh, be a child once in a while. There are many men who have killed the child in us and we don't know how to make a fool of ourselves at a given moment, and that affects everything else. You have to let go, you have to relax. We have to let people see our humanity. That is very important and that blesses our children and blesses our wives.

And finally, a model man is a priest in his home. And what we saw there of Job who continually interceded for his children. He brought them before the Lord. For me that is one of the most beautiful and essential functions of a father. There is a sacred responsibility to pray for your wife and for your children and for your household finances. When you are there with your cup of coffee in the morning, before the Father, bless your home, bless the columns of the basement of the house where you live. Bless your daughters and your sons, ask the Lord for their protection. Bless the economy of your house and the fruit of your work, the destiny of your children, their future, your wife, pour out grace from the Lord on her. And ask for wisdom for yourself too. Intercede for your home. Love your church. Serve your church, man. Do not be scarce and do not be stingy with your money, with your time, with your manly strength in your church. Give your church generously of your time and energy. Be a priest. Love the Lord. Bless your children with the memory of a father who loved the courts of God.

My dad was a very imperfect man in many ways but 27 years after his death, his image is still an anchor in my consciousness. How does a father bless a son or a daughter? The image of that father, even if he dies, follows that person to his grave as well. The memory of a loving, solid, fair, fragile, hard-working father is an anchor in the psyche of a man or a woman. It is an inheritance for life. You can leave your children millions of dollars but if you don't leave them a treasured image, you left them nothing. Leave your children perhaps little, but leave them a treasure of memories and you will have left them a wonderful destiny. A father can bless a daughter in ways you can't even imagine, in her sexuality, in her ability to be a good wife, to give herself to a man, to appreciate masculinity in others, to be a balanced and sober and confident woman. of herself, all that is given by a man, not just a mother to a daughter. The masculine scent of a man that she identifies with something positive blesses that woman. Father, do not underestimate what you have in your hands. The privilege of blessing your children until the last day of their lives.

May the Lord bless us. If you have failed, if we have failed in some area, it is not for us to leave here today, saying: wow, how I have failed. No, it is simply so that you know that we have to aim for that and that there is still a long way to go. If we have erred in something, God is powerful to rectify everything and to bless your life and fix what has been damaged. There is still plenty of time, get to work and ask the holy spirit to help you in that task, he is more than willing.

Let's stand up. Let's thank the Lord. you know what? Before we finish we have something very important. I am going to ask the hujieres brothers to take care of it, come by here, bring the sacrament, but I want to have a moment to receive what we have heard and bury it in our hearts right now.

Take a second to treasure God's advice and promise yourself that you won't underestimate what you've heard. You are going to meditate on it and you are going to put it into practice as much as possible. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for your advice, we receive it, we do not shy away from it. Thank you because you trust us with these treasures of your wisdom. I bless my brothers, I bless myself. Together hand in hand this community will go more and more every day, towards a masculinity, a blessed and biblical femininity and thank you because in this project you accompany us Lord. Bless our children, may our children be like trees planted next to running waters, our women like palm trees that grow upright and blessed, our cattle, our inheritances that never fail because we have a God who prospers his people. Thank you Lord, we bless you in Jesus name. Amen and amen.