It was a big deal to be a man.
The name of the blog and the name of the email – damancd – are indicators of what an achievement I thought it was to achieve the status of being a man. That status was something I sought to attain as I considered the perks and privileges of being a man as I saw them. Being a man was about getting to do what you liked whenever you liked. Being a man meant getting to dress in a suit, look like a boss, and have people admire you just because you were a man. Being a man was getting your own stuff and enjoying it because it was yours. Being a man meant that you attained a standard and no one – no one – could ever knock you off. You were confident. You were bold. You got things done. You’re a man – Yeah!
As I discovered, those notions of what it was to be a man were at odds with what it is to be a man. Especially when I learnt more of the peak expression of what it is to be a man.
Here is Jesus. Rabbi, Healer, powerful in word and deed, yet here He is associating with those rejected by society. Here is accepting support from those castigated by society. Here He is washing the feet of those who followed Him. Here, He tells His disciples that to be on top, you had to serve from the bottom. Here He is the Saviour of the World, the Creator of the Universe, stripped, humiliated, beaten, scorned, despised, pierced, hung and left to die a criminal’s death. And this was what it is to be a man.
Just when I thought I could sneak away from that hardship, every word on the matter after His ascension spoke of what it was to be like Him in His sufferings, what it was to be a servant like Him, what it was to endure hardship to follow in His footsteps. Nothing was written, giving the impression of being the inflated egocentric boss-type figure that I’d perceived. Nothing about being in the suits and looking to draw all the admiring looks. None of that. No, to be like Jesus was to be focused on what it was to please the Father and do all that He called you to do, even as it would bring about challenges, misunderstanding, abandonment, betrayal, abuse, and disappointment.
It’s not all misery, though. No. For there was something glorious and honourable in being like Jesus. To be a man like Jesus was to be a son of God. To be a son of God was to be part of divine majesty. To be a part of divine majesty was to be a part of the mission of God to see the Kingdom of God established on earth to reflect heaven. To be a part of that Kingdom was to represent the King. To represent the King meant that it was not about being a man. It was more than even being a journeyman. It was now about what it was to be the Kingsman.
It is now about what the big deal is to be the Kingsman.
For His Name’s Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
Life With CD 