“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:”
1 Peter 2:9
Men who wear the name of Christ must conduct themselves with the highest levels of virtue. Throughout history, men have formed various orders or groups by which they hold themselves to tremendous standards in order to improve as men. One of these ancient orders was knighthood.
While it was necessary to have the proper family lineage to become a knight (or gain enough wealth to forge a coat of arms and a lineage of nobility), one could still hold himself to the high standards that the code of chivalry required of knights. Historical accounts differ as to the order of the rules on the code of chivalry.
However, the first rule of chivalry was always the same: Fear God and honor the church. This was the knight’s first and most important duty.
The other rules would lay out the treatment of women and the weak along with ways to live a life of character. Though I would argue that men should not be completely chivalrous with women. Before you throw this book out the window, let me explain what I mean by that. While it is absolutely important to treat women with kindness and to protect them, you must reject the chivalric behavior that placed a woman at the center of a man’s life.
A knight was required to pursue a lady and go through “virtuous rejection” from that lady until finally he convinced her to marry him. At that point he would have to do some grand deed to earn the right to marry that woman and finance her lifestyle for the rest of her days.
The modern knight, the Spartan Christian should not have a woman as the center of his focus.
That place is reserved for God alone. Men can love, honor and cherish their women without making them the focal point of their existence. Chivalry expected men to essentially worship women, and this is the part of chivalry we must reject.
Men in the church need their own code so they themselves can improve their lives.
Unfortunately, many men need something more than the Bible, because they do not read it. Men need concrete rules outlining how they are to behave. We as men must hold ourselves to standards that may seem impossible to meet. By holding ourselves to titanic standards, we ensure excellence from ourselves. No man ever becomes great by trying to be a good man. All great men become great by attempting to be perfect. We cannot meet that standard, but by aiming extremely high we are able to attain greatness. We ourselves must aim at standards higher than we can ever attain.
The church is a select order of men and women who wish to give up the pleasure of this world for the benefits that God’s eternity has to offer. The church is a select, royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) of warlords who rage and war against the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-17). Implicit in the code of chivalry is the need to fight and kill in the name of greater values. The opposition must always be crushed. And the adversary must always be thrown down for the sake of the faith.
You may never have to shed human blood, but you must wage intense war against principalities, powers and rulers of darkness of the age. You must wage war against your weakness. Men must hold themselves to a code at all times.
Mantra
Fear God and Honor the Church.
Application
Set rules for yourself. Write down the characteristics of the ideal man and then visualize how that man would behave and try to mimic it in your life. The only way to be great is to strive to be perfect.
Write your own code of chivalry. Pen your own laws and principles that would drive you to become the ideal man. Frame your code and hang it on your wall. Think and meditate on your code on a daily basis. Then evaluate yourself and see if you are living up to your standards or if you are falling behind.
You must have some goal or ideal that you are striving for at all times, this is the only way that you can make progress and attain excellence Keep records of how you conduct yourself and of how well you keep to your code. Have a notebook where you have written your codes and desired behaviors, then draw a small chart where you can track your behavior. This allows you to measure progress and make adjustments to your strategies, and what gets measured gets accomplished.
You should have a code with women: Never be alone with a woman who is not your wife.
Because the chance that you will try to have sex with her are high, even if you are a complete beta-male.
Do not raise your voice. Because any man who raises his voice in a way that is not calculated, controlled and purposed has not even fully mastered himself and is weak. Make sure you are not that weak man. By controlling your voice you show tremendous strength and power over yourself and your emotions.
Be honest.
Keep to your character.
Make difficult decisions.
We must always be trying to change and improve, this is the only way to live.
Think about your code.
Honor the church.
Think like a man of honor and then act like one.
Aim at perfection constantly.
Conduct yourselves like men.