Biblical Manhood in the Church
By Rodney Rhodes
The Greek term for the church is “ekklesia” which refers to an assembly of people ‘called out.’ In other words, the church is a body of people called out from the world and gathered together to worship the One True God according to his Word.
This means that men who are ‘called out’ from the world must be biblical men.
To embody biblical manhood as closely as possible, a man must be a part of a local church and strive to imitate Christ as a part of his body.
What does this look like? Here are six ways men can grow in Christlikeness within the church.
1. Men Must Be Members of a Church
If a man wants to be obedient to the Word, this man must be willing to openly join a church and be under submission to its authority. In other words, he must be a ‘member.’
One of the main pieces of evidence that someone is a true convert is that they commit to a local church (Heb 10:24-27). If a man is a true believer, he will find his way to be a part of a church. If he does not, the Spirit will convict him until he eventually submits.
But why is it imperative that a man be a part of a local church? An obvious answer would be that it is sin to not be in a church (Heb 10:24-27). While this is absolutely true, there are more specific ways as to why the author of Hebrews is adamant that believers are a part of the body.
One answer for the individual is to minimize sin. If a man is committed to a local church that practices church discipline, it is very difficult to continue in sin, otherwise he would eventually face church discipline.
Mathew 18 gives a clear outline of how church discipline should look. This is an excellent way for a man (or woman) to put to death sin, by submitting to the church.
2. Men Must Serve in the Church
Another biblical reason to join a church is the opportunity to serve Christ Himself.
In Acts 9, following Paul’s approval of stoning Stephen, we see Christ appear to Paul and ask him “Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). Paul had never personally seen or met Christ, so why would Christ accuse Paul of persecuting Him?
Moreover, in Mathew 25 Christ also uses this same mindset, saying there will be people who did not care for Him, though they never literally had an opportunity to care for Him in the flesh.
Ultimately, if you serve the church, you are literally serving Christ. Christian men should be looking for many opportunities to serve the church!
Serving does not have to be gaudy such as leading worship music or a Sunday school class. Vacuuming floors following a service brings Christ glory just as leading the congregation in corporate Scripture reading.
3. Men Must Lead in the Church
Gender roles within the church are also important for a biblical man to understand. Though men and women are equally made in God’s image, they do not have the same function within the local church.
Scripture is clear that there is to be male authority for the church (1 Tim 2). This is not a domineering authority nor misogynistic because it is supposed to look like a humble, Christlike authority!
This doesn’t begin in the New Testament, but in the Garden. Adam was called to protect Eve in the Garden. Who did the serpent pursue, the man or woman? It was Eve. Satan knew Adam was passive, so he pursued Eve (Gen 3:1-7).
If Adam had been doing his role, protecting his wife, we would not have had the fall (1 Tim 2:14). We see a similar temptation(s) in the New Testament with Christ, except Christ does what Adam could not do. Ephesians 5:25-27 calls men to love their wives as Christ loved the church.
We see by the example of Christ that the way that men should shepherd women should be done with love, dignity, patience, and respect.
4. Men Must Lead Their Families as Christ Leads His Church
Men are called to provide for their families both physically and spiritually. When Adam did not run the serpent off, he failed his wife spiritually (Gen 3:2-7).
We see this same flaw today with men in the church. Adam was spiritually passive, like many men today. It is inexcusable that men are being dragged to church by their wives. Men are called to stand firm and to lead their wives as Christ leads His Church (Eph 5).
Staurt Scott says it best when he says “Husbands are the head of their wives, but they are also in submission to their head, Jesus Christ.”
5. Men Must Address Sin in the Church
Another aspect involved in a man and his local church is the aspect of confronting another who is in sin. This is something that is rarely seen in American churches. I know in my church growing up there were a few different people who had committed grievous sins and everyone turned a blind eye.
The Bible, on the other hand, tells us not to turn a blind eye to each other’s sins, but to confront it with love. Proverbs 27:5-6 says “Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” This verse is a wise approach for a believer to have when being corrected on a matter.
The question at hand is when is it appropriate to correct someone in sin? Mathew 7 says that if you have a log in your eye, take out the log in your own eye and then take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Clearly, we must examine ourselves before we confront someone else who is struggling with sin. With that, we should correct someone who is clearly sinning, and the sin is defined by the Bible (2 Tim 3:16).
This also means we shouldn’t correct someone when preference is involved, such as drinking an alcoholic beverage or wearing a hat inside a church building. An example of an opportunity to correct a brother is if you see him repetitively being harsh with his wife.
While you will not find this in Scripture, my pastor has an excellent rule of thumb that for every reproof you should have given the person nine affirmations. This does not mean you compliment someone nine times so you can then have your chance to correct them. It simply means you should not be looking for ways to correct your brother but to build up your brother.
Along with this, there are times when we should cover another’s sin with love. If someone in the church sins against us by making a rude or passive comment, we can overlook it and cover it with love (1 Pet 4:8).
6. Men Must Promote Unity in the Church
Unity in the body is something that Jesus Himself prays for (John 17). Unity is also one of the biggest headaches Paul deals with regarding the early church.
Paul states “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose” (Phil 2:2). This details how important unity was in Paul’s mind.
One example where disunity occurs is in Galatia. In Galatians, Paul talks about how Peter was a hypocrite over trying to follow the Mosaic Law (Gal 2:11-14). Paul, however, handles this the proper way and confronts Peter in a firm but loving manner (Gal 2).
This unity issue, however, was not in step with the gospel (Gal 2:14). Point being, wavering from sound doctrine will quickly cause disunity in the body. Godly men must pursue unity in the church.
A man is not truly a biblical man without his church. This article only scratches the surface of the importance of the man and his church.
Before a man can be a good father and husband, he must know how to 1) read his Bible, 2) pray, and 3) be a loyal church member who practices the things discussed above.
If he does not devote himself to these three things, he will struggle to be the man the Lord is calling him to be.
I pray that I will be a Biblical man one day for my future wife and children.