Masculinity Archives - Spartan Christianity

Christians in Government

As Christians, we believe that God is sovereign over all things, including the governments of the world. In Romans 13, Paul writes that earthly rulers are appointed by God and are to be obeyed, except when their commands conflict with God’s commands. This means that government, at all levels, is an institution ordained by God and should be respected and engaged with as such.

That does not mean the governmental institution is beyond criticism. Just like we can critique marriages that do not follow the pattern God set [one man + one woman for life], we can also criticize the government when it does not follow the commandments of God.

Christians are called to be salt and light in the world. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:13-16 that we are to be a blessing to the world and to let our light shine before others, so that they may see our good deeds and glorify God.

This includes being involved in the political process and using our voices to demand righteousness. We have to do this because the standard for justice and righteousness comes from God and the Bible. Without the knowledge of that standard, how will the government, ordained by God, Approved by God, be able to act in accordance with the will and justice of God?

No one else is going to push Christian values besides Christians. Therefore, Christians have the just responsibility to involve themselves in politics and push those values.

One of the reasons that the government exists is to protect citizens, punish wrongdoing, and reward good behavior. As Christians, we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves and to do good. By participating in the political process and fighting to shape the policies and laws that govern our communities, we can help ensure that our government can fulfill its God-ordained role of promoting the values of God and righteousness.

That is truly the main point, working to change government and policies so that the result is God-approved law.

It is also not moral to just do nothing, to ignore the political arena and hope everything works out for the best. We are required to be active in making a positive impact in the world. This includes being engaged in the political process and working to bring about positive change in our communities and beyond.

Even though God always works things for the good [Rom 8:28] and has all things under His control, that does not excuse us from taking action.

God having everything under control has never excused His people from taking action.

God was in control when Israel crossed the Jordan into the promised land, but you don’t see the children of Israel saying “Well, God is in control so we don’t have to do anything. We can just chill and He will take care of us”. No, they had to obey the word of the Lord even though He had all things under control. And this included taking action and going to war, against the pagan inhabitants of Canaan.

1. Promote biblical values and principles through your voting.

Many of the issues that come before governments at all levels have moral and ethical implications. Morals and ethics can only be understood from a religious perspective as God is the source of the moral compass within us all. By getting active in the political process, Christians can advocate for policies that embody biblical principles, such as the sanctity of life, the importance of family, and the value of hard work and personal responsibility which each coincide with the avoidance of socialistic policy.

2. Defend your religious freedom with your vote

As Christians, we have the right to freely practice our faith and share it with others. That is not the case across the world and will not permanently be the case if Christians continue to choose to bury their heads in the sand instead of vote. Being involved in the political process guarantees that we can work to protect this freedom and ensure that it is not infringed upon by government policies or legislation.

3. Someone must hold politicians accountable

And they must be held accountable according to a higher moral standard that comes down from the mind of God in His scriptures. Christians can use their voices and their votes to hold politicians accountable for their actions and to ensure that they are working in the best interests of their constituents.

Christians are called to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16).
Being involved in the political process is one way to be salt and light in the world.
Therefore, Christians should be involved in politics, government, and elections.

The government exists to protect citizens, punish wrongdoing, and reward good behavior (Romans 13).
Christians are called to love their neighbors as themselves and to do good to all people (Galatians 6:10).
Therefore, Christians should be involved in politics, government, and elections to help shape policies and laws that promote righteousness, promote the punishment of wrongdoing, and provide protection for citizens.

Furthermore, it is not moral to do nothing and hope everything works out for the best. Therefore, Christians should be involved in politics, government, and elections to actively work toward bringing about change in the world.

“Boys Are Stupid”

The purpose here is to outline why many people [primarily women] have difficulty understanding why men and boys do dangerous things for seemingly little reward. The primary accusation that we, as men receive from time to time, is the following: “Boys are stupid”.

No context. No attempt to delve deeper. Just a surface-level judgment passed by many people who do not understand why it is that boys and men do the things they do. This is understandable in a way. Because men tend to know about men’s things and women tend to know about women’s things. We seldom take time to understand the other sex.

You hear “Boys are Stupid” parroted even by some men.

Generally, these men have forgotten what it is like to be a boy. Or they have forgotten what it is like to have to earn their place in a group of other males. The main type of men repeating this accusation are ones resting on the laurels of previous accomplishments. I’m much less forgiving of men who repeat back the idea that boys are stupid as opposed to women because men should know better. When the accusation comes from women it’s understandable since the majority of women do not know why it is important for boys to be “stupid”.

What is the evidence for this statement? Many will cite that men/boys [who we will just combine and refer to as “males” for this discussion] engage in behaviors that are dangerous for no reason.

The faulty idea that dangerous acts are done for no reason at all is key to figuring out why boys appear to be doing stupid things.

When boys play they are trying to see who can jump off the highest rock without getting injured. Maybe they try to see who can throw the biggest object at their friend while their friend tries not to move. Perhaps they try to climb the highest tree and hold on with one arm.

Males do dangerous things. It makes us feel alive and masculine in a world that stifles masculine energies.

And in the minds of many women, this “meaningless danger” is absurd. And from a woman’s viewpoint, that is an understandable conclusion to draw. What women don’t understand, because they do not have to understand, is the role these seemingly dangerous behaviors play in demonstrating courage in the men’s group.

Courage: A Timeless Masculine Virtue.

One of the four principles attributes of men, as outlined by Jack Donovan, is courage. The four attributes are components that make men masculine across time and culture. Go back as far as you want in history, and go into any culture you want, and the common themes of masculinity will be these four virtues. Courage, along with strength, mastery, and honor, are the attributes that across time and culture are consistently associated with masculinity.

For a man to have greater strength means he is more masculine and more valuable to the group of men.

A weak man is less valuable to the group. He is less valuable both to men and women. A man does not get bonus points for being weak, but he gains points for being strong. It does not matter if a woman does or does not have strength. She is not less of a woman for being physically weak. And she is not more of a woman if she is physically strong. Her physical strength has no bearing on her value to a women’s group and intersexual social groups while a man’s strength is very important to his value in the men’s group.

If he has mastery of a skill, he is more valuable. He can provide something to the group of men that improves the group.

Whether it is the ability to build, make weapons, fight [which can be combined with strength], or any other observable skill – to have more or better skills makes a man a more valuable man. He is more of a man than a male with less skill mastery. Whether or not a woman has the skill, she is valuable to a group. She does not necessarily have to pursue mastery in anything she does. She is certainly welcome to pursue mastery, and many women become masters of many crafts. But she will not be considered a deadbeat if she masters no skills throughout her life. She will be competent at many skills, but she will not have mastery and this is perfectly acceptable. However, that is not the case for men.

Each of the four attributes are facets of masculinity that every man must develop.

He has no choice but to develop himself unless he wishes to be less valued in the men’s group. Women do not have to develop any of these attributes if they wish to be valuable. They are not more womanly if they have strength, courage, mastery, or honor. But men are certainly more masculine if they have these attributes. Women are not less womanly if they do not develop strength, courage, mastery, or honor. But a man is certainly more masculine if he develops these attributes. And it is the fact that women do not experience the pressure to develop these attributes that is a key reason why they do not understand why men have to develop them. And also why they do not understand the cost of developing these traits, as well as the price of not developing them.

If a man is courageous, he is more valuable to the group – and this is the key virtue to pay attention to when discussing the dangerous acts that males engage in.

For the purposes of this discussion, courage is the willingness to risk harm to oneself for the betterment or safety of the group.

And in the context of men and masculinity, this is the willingness of a man to confront something dangerous in order to promote the betterment or safety of the group.

How do you know who is going to be brave? Well, you don’t. But you do know that you don’t want to wait until you are in a survival situation to find out.

This is where and why males engage in seemingly stupid activities. This is because they are trying to demonstrate courage to the group. And they are trying to do so in a controlled environment before they are in a survival situation.

Before men are dropped into a survival situation by world circumstances they evaluate one another in a survival simulation. Dangerous play is the first survival simulation boys experience.

Like the other masculine attributes already mentioned, women do not have to demonstrate courage. They are certainly capable of being courageous, and they do courageous things all the time, but they do not have to be courageous in order to be womanly and valuable. Their worth is not diminished if they are not brave, because that’s the man’s role after all. But a man must be courageous in order to be masculine and valuable.

If the ship is going down, women are expected to take the life rafts and take the children with them to safety. If a man takes a life raft, he is a coward.

A woman is not expected to be courageous in this survival situation, but a man is. If a woman stays on the ship or leaves, in either case, her worth is not diminished. But a man only has one option unless he wants to be known as weak and demonstrate a lack of courage.

But before a man proves he is willing to lay down his life for the betterment of the group in a survival situation, he must first demonstrate this willingness in small dangers.

He must take on small challenges that do not risk his life, but may certainly end with him in an arm cast.

By doing these things he proves his worth to the men’s group. Women do not have to engage in this behavior to prove their worth to the women’s group or to other men.

This is mainly because women are born with the ability to give birth and raise children. By virtue of this, women are born with their value, while men’s value must be built from the ground up.

A woman’s worth is certainly not limited to her childbearing ability – she can absolutely increase her own value using a plethora of techniques.

But the fact remains that she begins life with a baseline value due to her incredible ability to bring children into the world.

I know someone will end up saying, “Wow, you are just reducing a woman to her reproductive structures and are treating her like an incubator”. And that is certainly not the case. That is why I take the time to note, again, that women can further increase their value – it is just that they start out with a baseline level of value while men do not. And even if they never increased their value through skill acquisition and personal development, they would still be perceived as valuable because of their ability to have children.

If a man does not build his own value he will not have any – nothing is given to him by virtue of his reproductive capabilities because his sperm is cheap while her eggs are expensive. No man was ever a valuable man just because he was a man.

Boys have an innate understanding of this need to prove themselves to the group. Before the feminized school system educates their masculinity out of them, boys have a built-in understanding of the need to take on small risks and engage in slightly dangerous behaviors in order to prove value to the group. They will not be fully trusted or accepted if they do not do this. To be “one of the gang” you have to do something a little dangerous. While they may be taunted by women who say that “boys are stupid”, these young men know what they have to do.

Women never engage in such a developmental gauntlet. They do not need to. And as a result, they often do not understand when men engage in these behaviors.

Well, ladies, those “stupid boys” are just trying to get a head start on building the value that you were already born with.

Strength Training – Philosophy

Strength training is not just about lifting weights and building muscle mass, though there is something to be said for the value of those outcomes. It’s about developing the strength of character that comes with discipline, persistence, and mental fortitude.

As a means of physical exercise, strength training has numerous benefits for our health, but it can also have an impact on our personal development and our spiritual growth.

One of the primary values of training is the development of discipline.

The act of lifting weights or engaging in other forms of strength training requires consistency and routine. It demands a level of discipline that can be applied to other areas of our lives, such as work or relationships.

When we develop the habit of showing up to the gym regularly, even on days when we don’t feel like it, we build the kind of mental fortitude that can carry us through other wars in life.

Persistence is another value that can be developed through strength training.

It takes time and effort to see progress in strength training, and it can be frustrating when we don’t see immediate results. But with persistence, we can build the strength and endurance needed to push through our limitations and reach new levels of fitness. This same persistence can also be applied to other areas of our lives, like pursuing our goals and aspirations.

Mental fortitude is perhaps the most valuable attribute we can develop through training.

The physical strain of lifting weights can push us to our limits, but it is in those moments of struggle that we can learn to push through and overcome our perceived limitations. The mental toughness that is developed through training can help us face and overcome challenges in other areas of our lives, including our relationships, work, and personal growth.

In a study published in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, researchers found that strength training was associated with improved self-esteem, greater sense of control, and reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety. The study concluded that strength training could be an effective means of improving mental health and well-being.

Another study, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, found that strength training was associated with improved cognitive function in older adults. The study concluded that regular strength training could help delay or prevent cognitive decline in aging individuals.

From a Christian perspective, strength training can also have spiritual benefits. The Bible teaches that our bodies are temples (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and as such, we are called to take care of our bodies. This type of training can be a means of honoring God by caring for the physical vessel that He has given us.

Furthermore, the development of strength of character through strength training can be seen as a form of spiritual growth. As we develop discipline, persistence, and mental fortitude, we become better equipped to face the challenges that life throws our way. We can become more resilient and more able to handle adversity with grace and humility.

As we honor God by caring for our physical bodies, we can also become better equipped to face the challenges that life presents us with.

Responsibility – Take Ownership of Everything in Your Life

It is not natural to take responsibility for our actions. Look at the first man and the first woman who ever existed in the world. When they inevitably failed and were not obedient to the rules that God had set, what did they do? They shifted blame away from themselves (Genesis 3).

What this means is that is natural to shift blame to someone else and it is unnatural to take responsibility for our actions. But as we so often note, the right thing is seldom the natural thing. Christianity itself involves many unnatural behaviors. From avoiding pre-marital/extra-marital sex to loving our enemies, many of the commands of God require us to put aside our humanity for the betterment of humankind. Literally, we reject our physical nature and transcend to the divine by behaving unnaturally – or perhaps it would be better said that we act supernaturally. Not ghostly, but literally “above nature”, and the word itself is defined.

That said, taking responsibility for our actions is not natural.

It is easy to understand this because it is painful to take responsibility. And the greatest motivation for all human beings is the dualistic power of the pain and pleasure principles. We are constantly looking to either gain pleasure or avoid pain. And I argue that the urge to avoid pain is much greater than the desire to gain pleasure. Mediocrity is pleasant enough, why should I work to gain something better? But if the pain will reach me if I do not act and the only way to avoid that pain is to act, then somehow I can find the energy and motivation to take action.

Therefore, the push to avoid responsibility might be so strong because responsibility can be painful. It would be much easier to shift that pain onto someone else and have them take it for us. But this is not the masculine way to behave.

Being a man involves taking responsibility especially during the moments when it is neither fun nor enjoyable to do so.

That is one of the critical pieces of manhood – you take on the pain of life for the betterment of others. Usually, this is for the benefit of your immediate family. But you also think about how each act of taking responsibility will better your own life.

The next time you find yourself wanting to shift blame or make an error someone else’s fault, take a look at yourself. Examine your own contribution to the situation and think about what you could have done differently. Or think about what you still have the power to affect. It is a bad habit to constantly be looking at others and blaming them. It robs us of the power to direct our own lives because we suggest that “If this guy had just done XYZ then this wouldn’t have happened!”. That is not masculine. By definition, if we blame or shift responsibility we are behaving in effeminate ways.

A simple way to be more masculine is to take personal responsibility for everything in this life. If you are not happy with something in your life, take a look in the mirror at the creator of that situation. Become aware of your habit of pointing fingers at others. It is not their responsibility why your life turned out the way it has.

Stop blaming everyone. No longer can you blame:

Your parents
The economy
Your environment
Your friends
Your lack of resources (money/time/connections/skill)

If it is in your life or a part of who you are, it is your responsibility. You have to take charge of your life if you ever want to be free. No longer are you content to sit around pointing fingers at everyone else. The moment you begin to take responsibility, you begin to be free. And you find satisfaction with your life, no matter what state it is in. Because even if it is the worst life ever created, it’s still yours, you made it, your name is attached to it, and that has to mean something to you. So take responsibility and find the freedom and masculinity therein.

Set High Standards For Yourself

When you set high standards, you will fail high above the successes of your peers.

High Standards Produce High Performance.

That is one of the central tenants of how to be a successful man.

In the modern world, we have done away with standards. In the feminine-dominated schools, even the grading systems are being done away with. Because supposedly it would not be very nice to fail someone even if they give no effort in their class. So we let everyone pass their classes because we do not want to hurt any feelings. Sensitivity is mass-producing weakness. Weakness is being churned out at a rate that would make even the Chinese jealous.

The problem is that eliminating standards does not help people feel good about themselves. Placing guard rails between kids and every miniature failure is not making them into strong men. It is making them into weak men who have no experience with anything in life. They have nothing that has refined them or made them into anything better. Men have no standards to compare themselves to. What is a man supposed to do without a standard?

Again, high standards produce high performance. It is simple as that.

I – Training Should be Harder than War

Retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willionk has recounted multiple times on his podcast that SEAL training is designed to be more difficult than war. After leaving active duty, Jocko was in charge of SEAL training on the west coast. His goal was to make training simulations to realistic, so life-like and stressful that men would find that facing enemies on foreign soil was easy.

The standard of training was so high that when men left SEAL training and waged actual war, they found it less stressful than training. How is that for standards?

Once, when asked about the ferocity at which Roman soldiers trained, a Roman general responded to the question with the following statement:

“They train with the intensity of war, so war has little effect on them”.

Other proverbs from the centuries are equally motivating:

“A pint of sweat is worth a gallon of blood”
General George S. Patton

“It’s the losers in life who go after the things they know they can achieve. Go after something you aren’t quite sure about”
Greg Plitt, Army Ranger. Retired

“The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle”
Navy SEAL Maxim

Once there was a pitcher known for conditioning his arm to throw extra pitches. When the average number of pitches thrown was 600, he conditioned himself to throw 900. So when games with extra innings came his way, he was prepared for them. The team did not even need to call in the backup pitcher. His standard of conditioning was higher than his opponents, so he outlasted them.

Whatever you aim for in life, you will likely get. But even if you do not get it, you will earn just slightly less than your goal. If you set the goal to make an A on a test if you fail your goal you make a B. If your goal is a B, you might make a C. It would be better to start with the high goal because even if you miss it, you will still be more successful than most people.

II – High Standards give you something to aim at, but they also give you a clear definition of failure.

This is one of the many reasons why so many religious people dislike the Old Testament. There was a clear standard for behavior and it was heavy and difficult. Every man knew what he had to do and was held responsible for it.

Modern, weak men latch on to the teachings of Christ because they have more gray areas in them. Note: they do not have much gray area, but there is enough for people to wedge themselves into and remove the high standard of living God requires. These men also chronically avoid the clear-cut, hard teachings of Christ.

The teaching of Christ on marriage in Matthew 19 is an example of this. After breaking down the regulations for marriage and forbidding divorce outside extramarital sex, his disciples were even shocked at the degree of discipline Christ required. They responded to His hard teachings by saying that it would be better for a man never to get married.

Christ then doubled down on the teaching.

Instead of saying that His command was just a figure of speech, He went on to describe the degree of seriousness of the subject of marriage. Christ said that some men cut off their own testicles so they can be a better fit for the Kingdom of God. Does that sound like a low standard to you? Or does it sound like some men take their God extremely seriously and act on it?

Do not get too caught up in low-standard thinking. Christ requires more of you than you think, contrary to what you hear in the effeminate, modern religious world.

III – High Standards ensure progress.

High standards prevent stagnation and complacency. When you have some high objective to aim for, you cannot afford to be complacent. You cannot afford to stand still and do nothing. The man with standards has no choice but to improve himself. And the man with high standards has no choice but to improve himself greatly.

What gets measured gets accomplished. Without a standard, we cannot measure ourselves and our progress. With frequent, accurate self-assessment, we will continue to spin in circles, never improving very much. Maybe here and there we gain an inch, but we never make the progress we know we are capable of.

A standard is an ideal that we measure ourselves against. We should regularly take an inventory of ourselves and our abilities to see if we are stagnating or progressing. And it is critical for us to make progress in this life. To stay the same is to die.

IV – High Standards produce intensity and seriousness.

We will rise to the level of our standards when it comes to performance. The least serious Christians are the ones with the lowest standards of performance. Low standards mean low intensity. Low intensity means no growth.

We are going to behave according to our standard of behavior and what we think the rules of God are. If we perceive God as lax in punishment, we will be lax in service.

Low intensity = Low growth

It is critical that we be exceptionally hard on ourselves and force ourselves to higher standards. the most difficult times of our life will produce the greatest results. Harsh winds make strong trees. Hard years make hardy crops. Everywhere you look in nature you see that when the environment becomes more stressful, the weak die, and the strong become even stronger.

There must be intensity and effort in order to improve. We have to add heat if we are going to succeed. A million-dollar cake recipe is worthless if we do not have a stove to supply heat to that cake. We will put a bowl of batter in a cold cube and pull a bowl of batter right back out in an hour. Without the intensity factor, the best plan in the world is worthless. Without high standards, the greatest intentions in the world are meaningless.

V – High Standards Purge Low Performers.

People set low standards so everyone can be included in the group. This is common in youth and college groups at church. No standard is set, no accountability is in place, and no one improves. Because nobody needs to be left out of the group *sniff*.

When in reality the best thing you can do for people is hold them to a high standard of behavior. If they truly want to be a part of the group, they will improve. If they do not want to be a part of the group, they will quit.

It would be much better to have them quit early than for them to hang around for years just going through the motions.

Spartans would be mocked, even exiled for being fat. The standard of fitness was so high that you could lose your home for being out of shape. How is that for a high standard? But we are more “civilized” than that. We let people stay in the group no matter how spiritually out of shape they are and no matter how much they are dragging the rest of the group down.

When standards aren’t enforced, low performers remain in the Church as parasites. That is not meant to be rude, it is simply the truth. When religion becomes a fun little get-together or a social club, every parasite in the world can tolerate it. When they are no standards, no accountability, people will be parasites.

It is easy and convenient to go through the motions. A person in modern religion can go under the radar for his entire life. No one will ever ask him about his spiritual life. No one will ever hold him to a higher standard. The average Christian can be the same person at 70 that they were at 7. If you want to change this, you need to impose standards.

When no heat is applied to gold, it is not refined and the impurities remain inside of it. Without standards, impurities remain in the Church (1 Cor 5:9, 1 Peter 1:7).

VI – High standards provide a framework for evaluation and judgment.

Even though we do not like talking about judgment in the Church, it is incredibly important. We are to judge with righteous judgment. It is our job to judge ourselves. We also need to hold each other accountable since most people do not have the strength to stand on their own.

1 Cor 5:3 – Paul judges another man because he has a standard by which he may judge and by which he also judges himself.

Matt 7:1 – This verse does not teach the “don’t judge” doctrine that the world thinks. but rather to judge with righteous judgment. Righteous judgement is a result of equal standards by which judgment can take place (John 7:24). If we agree that we have a standard by which to judge actions (i.e. the Word of God) then we have the capacity to make righteous judgments,

– We need clear evaluations

The eminently qualified marine and Christian. The marines and other branches of the military have performance evaluations that every member must go through. In these evaluations, a person is ranked based on how they are performing in various areas of their careers. this lets them know where they are performing well and where they need to concentrate and improve.

We have no such evaluation in the Church, but it would be highly useful. Perform your own performance evaluation on yourself. How are you performing in the various aspects of your spiritual life? Where are you succeeding and where could you improve upon?

Be ruthless when you evaluate yourself, No one ever became successful by lying to themselves about where they were or about what their strength is. Be honest and hard on yourself, this is the only way to improve. Evaluate yourself ruthlessly and set high standards for your behavior.

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