Thursday 30 December 2010

Masculine Mandate Chapter 2

Phillips premise for this chapetr is that man in made to work and protect; we are to devote ourselves to working and building on the one hand and keeping/protecting on the other as we fulfil our mandate. Helpfully his emphasis is on our life dedicated to accomplishing things, but it is on wanting to yield more than just money or possessions or comfort for ourselves or our families.

Phillips further develops this by looking at the call for us to be cultivators as not just being cultivators of the soil but also of relationships, men are called to cultivate and tend to the hearts of those given into our charge. This fits with his emphasis on men's protective mandate as a call to mirror God and take care of, or keep, those under our care. God has given men the primary calling of emotional and spiritual nurture, and yet many of us fail to do it well - is one of his cutting observations.

The most challenging part of the chapter is that looking at what it means to be a truly great man. His contention is that truly great men are servants who give themselves to a worthy cause and leaders who stand for what is right. That deeply challenges our own shallow views of greatness adopted and moulded by the media.

The thing that particularly stands out so far in the book is the emphasis on man's relational responsibilities - cave time hasn't yet had a mention, it also deeply challenges the premise of Wild at Heart. Yet it is exactly this emphasis that many of us have abdicated in our homes, churches and society, we are so busy doing that we have little time to cultivate, or tenderly care for those whose well being we are charged with.

2 comments:

walkietalkie said...

Looking forward to reading this book and trying to take this mandate on for myself. The book you recommended on prayer has been a real challenge/encouragement to myself and I thank you for that. Please continue to recommend books to my mum that will challenge my thinking of God. God bless. Love and prayers, Glen

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- David