God’s Plan: a View of Being a Man Through The Biblical Worldview

Historically, men have been known to bottle their feelings up and hide their problems in fears of their own flaws destroying their masculinity. Those lacking in areas of virility or showing obvious weaknesses are at risk of damaging the ideal image of what they have been taught for generations; to toughen up and be a man.

Inherently, being of the male gender has always meant that you must exhibit dominant traits, lead the household and being emotionally detached from everything and anything.

For generations on end and putting up a constant mask of indifferent behaviour; men are still human. Since the beginning of time, men have always been the leaders in terms of social hierarchy, providing for the household. In recent times, women have begun to gain more opportunities for their own agenda, and a lot more men are finding the courage to come out as homosexuals or bisexuals in an attempt to free themselves of the hindering aspects of the heterosexual stereotype. And although today’s way of life may seem more equal at a superficial glance, the question still stands as to why men continue to treat themselves so harshly in order to shelter their emotions and sensitive tendencies in such a revolutionary time of cultural acceptance?

Australia has been facing an outbreak of increasing reported domestic violence cases. Now plaguing the minds of many is the innate form of violence born out of the pressure placed on men to be emotionless and authoritarian, somehow justifying their deplorable acts of violence on their love ones (Luke Macaronas, 2016). This conflict has been the foundation of hundreds of deaths in Australia each year, with a growing average of at least two deaths every week at the hands of their male partners. People have yet to confront this undeniably tragic issue surrounding the way men conduct themselves and manage their emotional relationships. This just goes to show that we all still fail to approach our inner emotions; and the resulting consequences are all too obvious.

This issue is purely derivative of the expectation placed on men to act and behave in a certain way. All men must learn to love and nurture the emotional side of themselves, in order to learn how to deal with the modern issues presented to them today. Instead of bottling their feelings up until their emotions and lack of affection begin to affect the ones they actually care about, men must develop a more sensitive approach to themselves and their, usually hidden, sentimental responses. God’s biblical teachings of, to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44), explores the notion of treating others how you would like to be treated. Men need to treat themselves and their emotions better and develop a stronger sense of self-worth, in order to establish their own conception of this biblical teaching. In loving and providing support for the young boys and men of society, we can prevent them from closing themselves off emotionally in the future; helping them recognise the benefits of expressing what men would consider ‘feminine’ emotions.

Through helping young boys establish and understand that physical violence is not a solution to an argument or disagreement, we can educate the growing masses of soon-to-be men and help drown the possibility of a new number of potential delinquents. However, unwarranted or uncontainable hostility is different from warranted anger or confusion; and in understanding these differences can assist in understanding a man’s head. Inherently, men are populated by stupendous amounts of testosterone. This hormone is not only responsible for bone density, sex drive and muscle strength: it also takes part in emotional appeal and perception in a male’s body (MedicalNewsToday, 2020). So, men must feel different emotions that will eventually lead to anger at some point: but we as a society must know that it is completely fine for men to be angry, we just need to help them turn that anger into something positive. In using anger as a supplement to turn a man’s perspective around, one can encourage a man (through negative emotions, like anger) to make a positive change that will inevitably lead to a happier person.

Another factor to take into account is improving a man’s development of emotional network through employing safety nets like educational programs. This would assist in creating a disciplined and moulded mindset in order for boys to feel emotions freely and experience the world without stereotypes as a restraint. In creating a program targeted for young boys and girls, it can show them how portraying and recognising their positive and negative emotions can and will effect those around them.

My own experiences with the negligence that the young boys around me are affected by has definitely been a factor as to why boys portray themselves the way they do. Putting on a mask everyday is a hard task, and everyday I see this façade of theirs come one step closer to crumbling. My younger brother is now experiencing the stereotypes that come with his gender: confused and befuddled by how society expects him to act. In the past, this internal conflict has been settled through a person’s development of faith in Christ, and God’s unrelenting acceptance and forgivingness of the mistakes made on their journey to finding Christianity. However, children and adults alike are finding themselves straying from religion as a whole and therefore seeing the world through a more secular lens. Spiritually, this means that more people are struggling to find their own purpose and belief system, and henceforth do not know how to display their own emotions and feelings. In finding God, we can ultimately rely on his biblical teachings of self-worth and improvement: encouraging the move to make a better society for us all.

Matthew 5:39 tells us that if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. Metaphorically, this verse sees that if we see a man struggling with the portrayal of himself, if we were to open ourselves up to the men suffering social inequalities, we can see them improve further. Both the New and Old Testament provide broad examples of accepting ones-self and therefore improving the lives of others through this acceptance of our human flaws and the love that God shares with and for us. Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come: 2 Corinthians 5:17, is a verse that speaks of God’s acceptance of humanity through the sacrifice that Christ made for our sins. In accepting themselves through Christ and following biblical teachings, men can expect to experience riveting emotional involvement that will inevitably help lead them to fight in this war against the expectations society piles against them.

We can all assist by helping men position themselves in a way that will encourage them to accept and treat each other with respect, and through this, they will accept the women around them in a similar way. In this war of culture, historical expectations, stereotypes and religion: we can all step up and put a foot forward to help men overcome this gender-based hindrance on a path to a world of inclusion and prosperity.