Putting the “Man” Back into “Manhood”
Oct. 17, 2024
Host: Hon. Sam Rohrer
Guest(s): Rob Webb
Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 10/17/24. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.
Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.
Sam Rohrer: Hello and welcome to this Thursday edition of Stand in the Gap Today, and it’s our monthly focus on creation and apologetics. Today. Rob Webb, writer, speaker, and co-host of answer news with answers in Genesis is my guest. And our theme is a critical one, putting the man back into manhood, putting the man back into manhood. For decades now, we’ve seen the aggressive effort by many my opinion, not just my opinion. I think you’d all agree, but an aggressive effort to destroy or at least to redefine what we’re referring today as manhood. And whether that includes the profile of masculinity itself and what it means to be a man or the role of a man as a father. The attack has been clearly evident and aggressive, hasn’t it? And as the culture becomes more arrogant and rejecting of biblical morality. So it seems that subtle attempts by Hollywood media and others to at first make men look like buffoons to the culture more broadly now it is to feminize the man and to essentially impose a complete role reversal where women are recast as the true leaders in the home, in politics, and even in the church.
Sam Rohrer: And all of this has become very bold and aggressive. It seems the result is that our culture is changing in a broad sense. Our boys are becoming docile, not bold and courageous. Men and our women are becoming more aggressive, independent, and even masculine. Now, at least that’s what the culture Hollywood in organized religion loves to present as their model for this American culture in the 21st century. So today, Rob Webb and I are going to discuss this measurable phenomenon that is taking place in cultural shift and then go to scripture to consider why this is happening, what it means, the implications, consequences, and what can be done about it. My title again for today’s focus is this, putting the Man back into Manhood. And with that, I welcome today calling it from Northern Kentucky, I think Rob Webb, thanks for being back with me,
Rob Webb: Jim, all the way from Northern Kentucky. Thank you for having me on again.
Sam Rohrer: Yeah, you are welcome, Rob. This topic is a great one. I mean not a great one as an exciting one, but it’s an important one. But I just came back from a preaching and teaching trip to Kenya, Africa. I was able to teach nearly a thousand pastors there and participate with some others and the interface with leaders as well, knowledgeable of other African nations. And I listened to them. They described, excuse me, what the biggest problem they said was that there’s a move away from the authority of scripture generally and led by such heresies, they identified as prosperity gospel and so forth. And then the accompanying evils of bribery and corruption that was rampant. That was like the main discussion that I heard when I was there. But the other problem that they identified is the lack of men leading as fathers or principled civic leaders and defenders and protectors of women and children and basically defenders of that which is right.
Sam Rohrer: And as I engage these people, Rob, on the subject, I couldn’t help but think that their problem is no different than the problem here in America or frankly the prevalent condition in matriarchal South America or nearly any other country around the world. And you and the folks at answers in Genesis have also observed this. And you are working toward a conference on this general theme to be held next year, I think. And in the last segment, ladies, stay with us because Rob was going to talk a little bit about that. So the timing of this is great today. So let’s go here. When it comes to the matter, Rob of manhood rebuilding God’s design for manhood, thankfully the word of God gives us the understanding of what the issue is and how to deal with it. So let’s start here. To what degree do you and answers in Genesis consider the attack on manhood to be a major problem? And then why?
Rob Webb: Yeah. And thank you for having me again. Thank you for mentioning our men’s conference That’s happening next March, only five months from now at the Ark encounter. It’s a brand new conference, the center around this theme, like you said, the rebuilding biblical manhood using what we call the Genesis blueprints and it’s open to all men of all ages. And so I would encourage folks to jump onto our website, click on the events tab, you can register for this conference. I predict that it will sell out very fast. So folks will want to register as soon as possible. For this conference coming up again, register online. It’s happening March 21st, 22nd at the arc counter, amazing lamp of speakers. We’ll have Ken Ham, our founder, CEO Mark Niles, a new executive CEO, Dr. Joel Beeke, Kirk Cameron, Costi Hinn, Steven Kendrick, E.Z. Swayne. So much more. So you guys are not going to want to miss it.
Rob Webb: But going back now to the question regarding the tax on manhood, simply put, yes, there is an all-out war on biblical manhood happening today in our culture just left, right and center. And specifically it’s a war on the way God designed meant to be, which ultimately I think stems from a secular culture that is in just hostile rebellion against God and his authority. And one of the major consequences of that rebellion is really this modern feminized, really anti masculine culture that we’re living in today, which is captured not just the secular world and Hollywood like you were saying, but sadly it’s also captured much of the church at large. And just to sum it all up, I was recently in an interview with Dr. V Baum and here’s how he put it, which I think summarized it perfectly. He said, in this anti culture, we’re beyond feminism, we’re radical anti-masculinity.
Rob Webb: So there’s this misandry, this hatred of men in our culture. And so anytime that anything looks masculine, like standing your ground, holding your head up high, affirming what you know to be true, it’s seen as dangerous, it’s seen as toxic, it’s seen as hateful. So in general, the problem we’re facing today is not toxic. Masculinity is commonly chanted by today’s hyper feminist culture. Really the problem is a lack of masculinity in every sphere of every realm of society, whether it be the home, the church, or in the government, in the sphere of politics. So it’s really time for the men in our church to really stand up, get off the sidelines and start doing something about this crisis. And that’s the reason why we’re putting together this conference coming up next year.
Sam Rohrer: Okay. It’s great. We agree and I’m sure our listeners are aware of what we’re talking about as well, but just for the sake of putting some definitiveness to a term here, we’re saying manhood. I’ve used that. You’ve used it. Give a quick definition of it just to get us on the same page here.
Rob Webb: Yeah. So first let me tell you what, it’s not what is typically portrayed by our secular culture. Like you were saying earlier in the latest movies from Hollywood where men are shown as these weak kind of feminine characters who need to be constantly saved by the so-called strong independent woman or worse, you’re seeing so many of these fathers are frequently portrayed on the big screen as these unnecessary buffoons who are no different than the kids. And sadly even many Christians today, they’ve also bought into these lives from the culture. And so that’s the reason why we really need to shift the tide on this. So just biblically speaking, quick definition manhood, we find the answer in the very first page of the scripture in Genesis one and two. And that’s really what this conference next year is all about, where we find what men are made for and how God intends to use them in the world and only they can men properly understand what it means to be a leader and provide on protector.
Sam Rohrer: Alright ladies and gentlemen, we’ll build this out more. I think you get the idea though, putting the man back into manhood. Our discussion today, guest Rob Webb from man and Janice, we come back, we’re going to begin by identifying the enemies, the general enemies of manhood. Well, according to the biblical account of creation of man, which was male and female to the entirety of scripture, it’s complete throughout in its teachings relating to the duties of fathers and mothers in the home. There’s a high duty and an expectation placed on the man to be a leader, a defender, a soldier, a father, a husband, and more. One noticeable passage is in one Corinthians 16 verses 13 and 14, where it says this, the apostle Paul says, be watchful, stand firm in the faith. Act like men be strong. There are multiple passages if you look throughout the Old Testament, including admonitions, a couple of them from King to Solomon, his son when he was turning over the kingdom where he said expressly be courageous.
Sam Rohrer: One in particular he said, be a man and just do it. In other words, do your job. So Rob, in the first segment I mentioned a number of things and you backed them up against as being elements or part of the strategies for, I guess undermining biblical design for manhood such as efforts by Hollywood and the positioning of the culture in regard to putting men in a role that is either contrary to the image of a man’s man or other things. But you’ve identified a number of enemies of manhood, put it that way, and their strategies and some of the work that you’re putting together in preface to the conference you have coming up next year. So let’s do this from your perspective, what would be, if you could say it would be a primary enemy of biblical manhood and then correlate to that the most effective strategy that this enemy has used. I like to think in terms of that because we are fighting an enemy. Those us believe the truth that enemy’s real. Sometimes that’s a face, sometimes it doesn’t have a face. But what have you found the major enemy and the most effective strategy he’s using?
Rob Webb: Yeah, so let’s cover some of the obvious threats first and then I’ll cover some of the more subtle ones that are lurking in churches today that are coming from the enemy. And like you said, I mean this really is a spiritual battle that we’ve been seeing raging left, right and center ever since the beginning. So I think most conservative Christians are likely aware of some of the more serious threats from feminism and such as abortion. And the overall rejection of the God ordained hierarchy within every area of society is whole summarized with their common mantra, smash the patriarchy. But one of the most obvious and yet generally unspoken consequences of this modern feminist movement that has totally permeated not just the culture but sadly even much of the church today is the feminization and emasculation of men, or in the words of one feminist icon, she said this, we have begun to raise daughters more like sons, but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters, let that sink in.
Rob Webb: In other words, boys are being trained to be more like girls and to be more feminine because their masculinity is seen as toxic, it’s seen as shameful. And so this causes boys to now grow up having no clue how to live as God really designed them to be. So instead of training young men on how to hone their masculinity like a powerful cannon, they’re being told that it’s toxic and it must be eradicated. So you see this feminist agenda, it not only tries to discredit male leadership in just about every realm of society, but it also actively promotes the shaming of masculinity as being labeled as toxic in an effort to basically try to cause young men to abandon their God-given masculine behaviors and make them men. And so here’s the real issue though that I think a lot of people are missing is the church today has basically just kind of rolled over and just let them have it with many church leaders just being perfectly okay with this nonsense.
Rob Webb: So I would say the real enemy I see against biblical manhood today, it starts in the pulpit. It starts with these weak, cowardly men in the pulpit. We have wimpy pastors lurking in church today who are not standing boldly and unashamedly on God’s authoritative word, choosing to fear man rather than fear God. And to be clear, I don’t mean this as an ins insult or anything like that, but rather this should be really serve as a wake up call for pastors simply. But I mean pastors today, they lack the fear of God and so they end of compromising God’s word order to please sinful man. And as a result we have many pastors have really grown soft to these issues we’re facing today, including this one. And also, no, I’m not talking about the more liberal pastors, of course those guys have completely rebelled against God’s standards.
Rob Webb: I’m talking about the more conservative pastors today that we’re seeing in our churches. Why? Well, because pastors are so afraid today of stirring, of controversy, believing that taking a strong stand on certain cultural issues like feminism, which I believe our culture today treats as a golden calf. I mean we’re living in a culture that just worships women, idolizes women today really they see preaching against these issues as supposedly intolerant, divisive, and even unloving. So simply put, we have many pastors today who seem ashamed of the worth of God trying to whisper tenderly about what God calls an abomination and really choosing to prioritize being winsome and niceness at the expense of truth. In other words, the main goal for many church leaders is the main peace and unity at all costs, which of course is understandable. I mean,
Sam Rohrer: Yeah, and Rob that certainly on a range of issues we know, and we’ve talked about it here with our friend Dr. George Barna, is that the pulpit only less than 10% of pulpits across the country, those who identify even as evangelicals who will tackle a controversial issue, they just avoid it. So you started out by saying, when I said who are the enemies, you started out, I think you’re identifying this feminist movement as an enemy, it’s an ideology. Then he went back and said, maybe the pulpit is actually the greatest problem. Now in that case, have you found pulpits actually be preaching feminism or is it in that case more a sin of omission and just a refusal to teach what the Bible says?
Rob Webb: Yeah, it is basically going back to that one, we’re seeing this in a culture and essentially it’s creeped into the churches and these pastors in the pole, they’ve essentially let it happen. As a shepherd, you’re supposed to be the one protecting your flock and instead you’re allowing this enemy to come in. And so a lot of the times in our churches, we always like to point the fingers outside. We always like to point the fingers at the culture at everything around us, but rather judgment starts in the house of God. We need to look internally and we have to look at what’s happening in the pulpit today. And so we have so many pastors, they’re refusing to really preach on these issues and so they’re not equipping their congregation. And what happens a lot is their congregation, especially young men today, they end up paying the price for this of not preaching the whole council of God, trying to have this artificial peace in the church. And like you were saying earlier, I think barley even had a study on that that said most conservative pastors, they don’t preach on these issues because they’re worried about losing seats, they’re worried more about losing money, losing finances, and so they don’t want to have to lose their congregation, become really this more secret sensitive type of environment.
Sam Rohrer: Yep. Okay,
Sam Rohrer: Lemme throw this into this at this point. So you have pulpits who are commanded to preach, who are not. That’s a sin of mission, therefore the salt is not being the salt. You have an aggressive enemy. Feminization is one of them. This effort to make a man feminine, not masculine. Alright, now I’ve got to go to here. Alright, those are faces that we can see or positions we can see, but this is a spiritual battle at the end of the day. Rob, what is the goal here? In other words, who’s the spiritual enemy and what does the spiritual enemy hope to achieve? Men in a culture can be made to be more feminine and not complete their biblical role.
Rob Webb: It really comes down to the enemy and his strategy, the enemy seeks to destroy the family unit because he knows that the family is really just, it’s the bedrocks of society and it’s really the bedrock for the expansion of God’s kingdom. It all starts in the home. And so the enemy, he’s been using the same attack again for thousands of years since the beginning. And this is what we call at a IG, what we call the Genesis three attack, which is to get people to doubt the authority of God’s word and the temptation for people to become their own God, to decide right from wrong for themselves. It’s really the same tactic that the serpent used against Adam and Eve in the garden. And it’s really, it’s again going back to the fact that what we’re seeing in our cultural state, we’re seeing a battle of two different authorities, two different religions, gods were versus man’s worth.
Rob Webb: And the fruit of this deadly man-centered religion has yielded these sinful warp views on not just children human life overall, but the family unit itself. We’re seeing a war on the family unit. So God goes after the head, he goes after the head of that family, getting him to not step up to the plate, to not fulfill his God-given duties. And so it’s really not surprising that people who hate God also hate the family model that he instituted and has a lot of these secular and God worldviews you start to see, begin to dominate their culture. It’s the family unit’s always the first one to be attacked.
Sam Rohrer: Yeah, it does seem that way. And again, it goes all the way back to scripture. We only have just a little bit left before the break, but feminization that effort, that’s one that people identify with. Is there another movement or a concept that we see working out other than feminization that is a carrier for the attacking of manhood that you can
Rob Webb: Think of? Yeah, it’s that and also if we just think more foundationally, it’s really this culture that we’re living in where it’s, we’re basically living in the Roman one society here in the west where the God’s word is being openly mocked, plainly ignored, and ultimately rejected. When you reject God’s word than anything goes, we’re seeing this moralism happening in our culture and what Satan’s trying to do in our culture today, the enemy, he’s trying to equalize everything. He’s trying to remove those distinctions of male and femaleness and that’s what you see in every area. I mean these are all just symptoms of the root cause and the foundation is really this rejection of God’s words and this elevation of man simplified. So until we go at that foundation, that’s really the answer to all of the symptoms.
Sam Rohrer: It is indeed. Rob. Gentlemen, stay with us. Rob Webb from and Genesis my guest today our theme is simply this, putting the man back into manhood. Next segment, we’re going to go from the enemy, the strategy and look a little bit more at the implications, the consequences, when man’s role changes, what are the consequences that happen throughout scripture in all of life? There is an unavoidable principle, and I am sure what I describe here, you will readily agree that principle is that because man has been given a free will, which he was when God created Adam and Eve, free will meaning that man is able to choose, unlike a robot that does not choose this, does what they’re programmed to be or an animal as an example, the ability to choose is inherent within humankind. But from that decision by Eve then Adam who chose in their opposition, chose to oppose God’s established order where he was at the top and he was the creator and they chose it better a different way.
Sam Rohrer: Well consequences became the reality and not good ones either. Hence the phrase choices have consequences. The consequences of choosing against God in that garden was costly. Matter of fact, we’re all paying the price today. Sin came into the world, that perfect creation then, which none of us have seen a perfect creation. It was cursed and that’s what we see today. Death was introduced, a broken or severed relationship of fellowship with God happened. And so from that time until now, everyone, every person from birth are born dead. Dead in our trespasses, in sins alive in the flesh, but dead in our souls. This is what necessitates redemption and a redeemer, God’s plan of redemption, which he did through Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death on the cross, but violation of God’s order and his commands will always have costly consequences as compared to obedience to what God says will always bring blessing.
Sam Rohrer: And that’s all through scripture. One very clear verses in Deuteronomy chapter 13 verse 15 where God says that there are two paths. He’s created two paths, one leads to life and good, the other leads to death and destruction. And he says, choose life that you may live. I’d lay that out there just to give us a principled foundation of saying this matter of manhood. One might say, well, so what if men don’t act like men as designed, defined by God? So what if woman created at creation as a help meet to the man? So what if that is reversed or even closing to be reversed? So Rob, here’s a question. What would you say as the most perhaps, or if you want to rank a few of them that could be, but the consequential and significant consequences of crumbling or failing manhood as we’re describing it? What are some of the implications?
Rob Webb: Yeah, like you said, choices really do have consequences and they have deadly consequences here. And I mean let’s face it, we live in a culture today where many fathers, if they’re even still around, they’re not taking up their responsibility to raise godly children, to raise godly boys. They’re not bringing up their children, their sons really in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. And instead what we’re seeing is they’re allowing their sons and daughters to be just discipled by this secular anti masculine culture that is at war with their creator. And so we’re seeing an increasing number of men basically just being checked out at home. They’re forsaking their children and they’re failing to fulfill their God-given duty as leader, provider and protector in the home. And ultimately it’s this lack of leadership in the home that has really resulted in the collapse of families and society as a whole, as the old saying goes, as the family goes.
Rob Webb: So it goes the nation and so goes the whole world, family, nations, the whole world. And so if we want to see any kind of a revival in our world, it’s got to start with the family. And if we want to see revival in our family, it has to start with the head. It’s got to start with a man, starts with a father. The husband simply put, men have not really prioritize their God-given duties today, not laying down their life for their families as commanded by scripture. Why? Well because if men don’t understand what they’re made for and how God intended to use them in the world, then men, they will not understand what it means to be a husband and a father. And so as a result, we’re seeing fathers are absent, households are broken and boys are now growing up thinking that there’s something wrong with being masculine.
Rob Webb: They don’t have a role model anymore. And sadly this has produced a generation of men without an understanding of the fundamental God-given character traits that make them uniquely men. Maybe a generation ago, I think this was kind of a given kind of a granted coming around World War II and the baby boomer boomer generation way before my time. But in this generation, I mean that’s just not the case anymore. And currently the church today, we are in danger of losing another generation of men. It’s just like during the time of Nehemiah, we’re living in a society where the walls have collapsed, especially here in the West. And so what we need is we need Nehemiahs of our day who are willing to build with a hammer in one hand, fight with the sword in the other hand, who are willing to lead the men in rebuilding the wall or something. But it’s really just time for men in the church to get off the couch, get off the sidelines, get back into the game. Let’s just get to work.
Sam Rohrer: Alright, Rob, I got a question for you. You’re working towards a conference to which I say that’s fantastic, but in your preparation, in your research, I mean those of us on this program today, and I would say the great majority of our listeners don’t have to be convinced that there’s a problem in what we’re talking about. I’m sure heads are nodding, saying Yep, yep, yep, yep. I’ve seen that and I’ve dealt with that. But on a broad scale, to what extent do you think or have you sensed that our culture has experienced the negative consequences sufficiently to recognize that why we are here is because of the failure of men to be men? Or do we have a ways to go yet before ways people actually come to that recognition?
Rob Webb: We really do have a ways to go and a lot of the Christians I meet, they seem oblivious to this foundational issue that’s happening around us. Again, like I was saying before, we’re living in a time when the Bible God, where it’s just being openly mocked and just rejected. And this has really led to a Romans one society here in the West, but actually this change in the culture, it really reflects the core battle that’s happening today. It’s a battle between two opposing religion, two religions only one that’s grounded in God’s infallible word and the other that tries to elevate man’s fallible opinions to supersede God’s ultimate authority, which is called humanism. And that’s really what we’re seeing creeping into the church today. It’s something our CEO of founder, Ken Ham says all the time, the battle of God’s word versus man’s word, God’s word versus not God’s word.
Rob Webb: And so if we want to see any kind of victory, any kind of revival in any of these areas, it has to start there. It has to start with the foundational issues, it has to have as God’s people, we need to go back to God’s authoritative word. We need to base our thinking on that. And only then we have the fruits to be able to see transformations in the home and then in our churches and in society. I know you talk a lot about Romans 13 and I would love to hear your thoughts on that as well. And even in the sphere of civics as well,
Sam Rohrer: Well run a couple of things by you. Consequences is the subject here in this segment and you made one and said, if a society can only be as strong as the family unit and the family unit is only going to be as strong as the father, mother, children model that’s in the family, you didn’t say all of that, but that’s basically what you’re saying. You picked that one out. But I thought of a couple of other ones too because God’s definitiveness, it seems to me Rob of the role of the Father, the mother and children is his model. So he says like in Deuteronomy, okay, if you obey my commands, which obviously includes those, then I will bless you, your family and your nation. But if you don’t do that, then I’m going to give you curses. So one of the consequences I noted was that when men are not men as defined by God’s word and do what God says men are to do, then family blessing, cultural blessing and national blessing disappears and judgment happens obviously.
Sam Rohrer: And that’s part of the family units not there. But I thought of this too, Rob, you’ve got I think three children, I have sex. Most of them are grown, they have a lot of grandchildren now. But one of the first things that I noted growing up and I was taught and I think is involved in here is that a child’s first image of God is their father. An absent father is suggest an absent God. A harsh father suggests a harsh God, but that’s the way God made it. So I submit ladies and gentlemen that a consequence of a father, a man not being a man and doing what it’s supposed to do is that the children’s view of God is subverted. And then I think another one is ultimately we are participating in rebellion to God if that’s not the case, and Rob Romans 13, and I shared this ladies and gentlemen when I was in Africa a week ago, and it’s just from build on what Romans 13, one talks about that in that verse, if you look at it, not enough time to build it out, but every one of those words be subject to the higher powers.
Sam Rohrer: God ordained all of those words, if you look them up in the Greek, all have to do with being in submission to God’s ordered authority. But what are God’s ordered authorities in scripture? Well, it’s the individual and then it’s the home where there is a father who is the head mother who is not unequal but subjects herself to the leadership of the father. The children when I come along, subject themselves to the authority of their parents. And then you have civil government, then you have the church, it’s all the same, but it’s all modeled in the Godhead. And when we do and submit ourselves to God’s authority, he’s laid out, then we experience the blessings of God. But anything other than that rearranging in any way is rebellion, which is what the devil did. And God will always judge that. That’s what I would lay out Rob, as some of those consequences.
Sam Rohrer: They are extraordinary. We’ll be back in just a moment with some solutions here. Well, Rob, we’ve done just a very cursory evaluation of putting man back in manhood, established biblical authority, the precedent, what God has laid out and tried to cover the idea that when we don’t do that, there are consequences, which we’ve named a few, but there are a lot more. And the fact that it needs to be addressed because if we don’t, judgment comes on the land and the family and individuals when we rebel against God and say, I’ve got another purpose for man and fathers and do it differently, which is what Romans 13 talks about. So we touched on a number of those things, but lemme come back at this point because in some of what you’ve written that I have read over, there’s a phrase you use about rebuilding biblical manhood.
Sam Rohrer: And we’ve touched on a number of positions. I mean it’s in the interest of frankly of political leaders that manhood would become man again and manhood. And the church certainly has an interest. The family generally has an interest for people understand the importance of an intact family. So it’s from all over. But also I’m going to summarize, as you said, your sense is like mine is that we haven’t reached a point where we’ve experienced the consequences sufficiently even as a nation for most people to be awake. And at this point it’s kind of like a fun experiment trying something different, but it has very costly consequences associated to it. So that being case, those are some thoughts that I’m having at the end here. I’d like to ask for familiar your summary thoughts and go into this and that is if one is interested and has reached a point where they say we’ve got a problem and we need to rebuild biblical manhood, what are some precepts that you can lay down relative to how to do that? And then we’ll conclude by looking ahead a little bit to the conference that you guys have coming up next March.
Rob Webb: Yeah, like you said earlier, I mean we really just scratched the surface. We’re at the tip of the edge, but there’s so much more that can be said on that. And so I just encourage everyone, come check out our conference next year, you’ll be able to get a lot more details, a lot more information on everything we’ve just covered. And one thing I forgot to mention in the last segment is really those fundamental differences between men and women. That’s one thing that the enemy is really trying to go after. He’s trying to equalize that. And if you look at it, one of the major differences is just the spiritual impact of men on just about every sphere of society in the world at large. I mean, men essentially have this unique superpower and really given to us that we can massively impact the world around us.
Rob Webb: And so when men are not stepping up to the plate, I mean we’re just seeing disaster all around us, left, right, and center. If you just look at Isaiah chapter three for example, it talks about the spiritual failure of men as a judgment of God on the society when men are not stepping up. You see women in leadership. And when women are in leadership, that is a judgment of God on the society. And I’m troubled that, I mean this is really the possibility of our day. Again, like you were saying in the last segment, if we disobey God, we’re going to get curses. If we obey God, we’re going to get a blessing. It’s really that simple. And so if we want to really get back to rebuilding biblical manhood, we need to go back to the authority of scripture. We need to go back to what Genesis says about what is a man.
Rob Webb: And because if you don’t know what Genesis says about what is a man, and you won’t understand what it means to be a man. And so really that’s the foundational blueprints. If we want to recover what the true meaning of biblical masculinity is, it starts in the very first pages of scripture. I mean the answers really are in Genesis, that’s why we’re called answers in Genesis. I mean, you go back to Genesis for everything that we see in our world around us. And when you do, you basically see what Adam was really commissioned to do in the garden. He was commissioned to do two things. He was commissioned to work and he was commissioned to keep the garden. And then really, I don’t have time to go over all of that, but if you just look at just a word study, if you just study the meaning of those two Hebrew words, you’ll really understand what Adam was designed to do.
Rob Webb: He was designed to go out into the world, to labor and service, and number two, to really take responsibility for the protection, wellbeing of the sphere given to him by God. Those two things. If men were to just start with those two things, those fundamental foundational issues, we would see a massive impact on the world around us. I mean, men we’re really called to be the faithful leaders on the front lines. In this spiritual battle, we’re supposed to be the ultimate defenders of our homes, our churches, our communities, and our nations. And when we’re not stepping up to do that, that’s when the enemy starts creeping in. He starts to take over. He starts to really creep into every sphere of society. And it’s our job to really protect our garden, to protect our sphere of responsibility. And that’s going to look different for every man.
Rob Webb: Every man is going to have a different level of responsibility. Some are going to have very little, some are going to have a whole lot. But here’s really the main takeaway that we want people to walk away with is Adam was created with these masculine traits in order to fulfill his mission, which means according to Genesis, masculinity itself is actually a very good thing. Genesis 1 31 says Everything was very good. And it wasn’t until after the fall, Genesis three, that’s when those traits started to become marred and really abused by sin. And again, the church today is in danger of losing another generation of men who don’t know how to be men. It’s like the time of Nehemiah. The walls have collapsed. It’s time for us to rebuild. Really, it’s time for the church to get off the couch and get back to work. Let’s get back into the game.
Rob Webb: Brave men, we need to refuse to cower in fear. Boldly standing on the authoritative word of God is what we need. Only then can we see a true revival of biblical masculinity. And only from then can we see revival happen in households, churches, and society. And if anyone wants to learn more about that, highly encourage them. Jump onto our website, click on the events page. You can register for men Conference happening at the arc encounter next March at this conference. Again, you’ll learn a lot more details. And this opens to really men of all ages. And I’ve especially encouraged fathers to show up and make sure you guys register fast. I believe this conference will sell out pretty quickly. And so folks want to register as soon as you can. And if you guys also register, you’ll also get a free three day bouncer pass to our attractions that’s secluded with your registration to see our creation museum as well as the ark encounter.
Sam Rohrer: Okay, Rob, you did a lot. You packed a lot in there. We only have about a couple minutes left. But as I’ve thought much about this, one thing we didn’t talk about today, Rob, which is obviously a part of it, is that when we return to Genesis, when we return to the authority of God’s word, put another way, ladies and gentlemen, can I say that really what it means is that we’ve decided to agree with God? That’s what it comes down to agree with God. And how do we know what God says? It’s in his word. I think of Rob King Solomon when he approached the end of his reign. He was the wisest person. He didn’t end up well, frankly, but he was still the wisest king that ever lived. The scripture says that. But he said at the end of the Ecclesiastes, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, the whole matter of life.
Sam Rohrer: Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the entire or the complete duty of man for God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. And now one thing we didn’t talk about, Rob, I’m just going to lay in the table, ladies and gentlemen, is the fact of accountability. Whether we like it or not, we are going to give an account to God for what? Well, how we have performed according to the way he’s ordered authority. Just like somebody in the military, the private’s going to give an account to the sergeant and to lieutenant and ultimately all the way up the chain to general. Those in the military know what accountability is like. Well, that’s the way scripture’s laid out. So how are we going to give account? Well, we’re going to give an account based on well, how God has made us, the responsibilities he’s given us as men, as women, as children, as pastors, as those in office, and how’s that going to be measured?
Sam Rohrer: Well, according to what they are told to do by God and his word. So that’s really what it comes down to. And Rob, that was part of what I was thinking, the accountability in Romans 13 is that from God’s order and agreement with God, we get the understanding of our job and our duty and how God will hold us accountable. Ladies and gentlemen, just think about that as we think about being what God has made us to be, not desiring to be something other. If you made you man, be a man, made you a woman, be the best woman you possibly can be. If we do that, God will bless. Simple as that. Thanks for being with us today. Rob Webb from Mantras and Genesis. Thank you for being with me today as well. aig.org is their website, interest in genesis.org and ours is course is Stand in the gap radio.com.
Recent Comments