Father's Day - a Celebration of Manhood
- Leo | leopacheco.com
- Jun 19, 2022
- 4 min read
Growing up, I had very few male role models. I was surrounded by strong, powerful women who were not only mothers, hard workers, faithful spouses, and loyal caretakers, but also often served as better role models than their male counterparts. My mother was one of those women. And, I have often said that most of what I learned about becoming a man, I learned from my mother.
With absentee fathers, fatherless homes, and male dominance in families and leadership positions, men have not always served as the best examples for children to pattern their lives after. Frankly, I can honestly say, most of what I learned from the men in my life is how not to be.
Their examples often painted a picture of what I never wanted to become or how I wanted to act. From seeing women as sexual objects, children as servants, and others as less than equal in talent or skill, I often despised the thought of being a man, if this stereotype was the banner under which I must exist.
Call me old fashioned, but I wanted to be a man like the TV husbands and fathers - namely Charles Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie), Ward Cleaver (Leave it to Beaver), and most recently, Jack Pearson (This is Us).
But, with the lack of positive role models in the real world, it is no wonder so many young men and boys are now struggling with gender identity issues, homosexuality, and godlessness. They are ill-equipped, disconnected, uninformed, and careless. The examples by which they base their masculinity have been far from encouraging.
But there was one man who laid out the pathway to manhood. His name is Jesus. And having grown up in a small Baptist church, and later ordained under a mega non-denominational church, I have witnessed that even Christian men don't always live up to the standard Jesus set before us as a man of God. In fact, I haven't lived up to some of those standards, either! And for those reasons, I often feel disappointed as a father, husband, and child of God because I know my own faults and recognize my own insecurities as a man.
Reading the bible from an early age helped me discover that there was and is a man who exceeds the expectations of manhood, destroys the stereotypes, masters and models the behavior every man should live by, and most of all, delivers us from the faults and failures we men experience.
This post is not about bashing men, but rather encouraging men that share in the struggles I have had my entire life. Being a man is harder than people recognize or acknowledge. Not to denigrate women or lessen their plight for women's rights and gender equality, but there is a separation between men and women that goes beyond genitalia. God created male and female to be different, and yet the same; equal, and yet distinct. There are things men can do that a woman cannot and should not. There are things women can do that men cannot or should not. And I don't care how woke the world gets, the fact is there are distinct differences between men and women that were designed by God.
And the world needs to stop trying to appease everyone's insecurities by making gender neutral or multiplex. This creates nothing but confusion and furthers the plight of both genders.
Instead of hating the gender in which we were born, or patterning our lives after the dysfunctional, negative, and often toxic models we grew up with, we each have a choice to model different behavior, correcting the history of our families by effecting change now and in the future!
Jesus shows us the way. He is the shining example of masculinity and manhood. He is compassionate, strong, humble, gracious, forgiving, bold, creative, conversational, relational, stable, endearing, patient, kind, loving, honest, and trustworthy. He is the example of the man every woman wants for a husband, the example of the man every man wants to be, and the father every child needs and deserves.
And, although we will never be the perfect being He is and was, we can model his behavior, mannerisms, and example to be more like Him, and be proud of our respective genders!
Today, as we celebrate Father's Day, I want to encourage you, men and boys, especially. The world has painted a narrative believed by many that men are unimportant and non-essential. But that could not be farther from the truth! If ever there was a time for men to become the role models, leaders, and examples of Jesus so desperately needed in the world, right now is that time!
Men matter! Having strong fatherly role models, patriarchs, and godly men in leadership and in our communities still matters, just as much as having female role models and matriarchs does! Even if your life was not patterned after the best role models, YOU have the power to change and become the man you should be!
Father's Day should be a day of celebration of these men in our lives! Even men who are childless can serve as a father-figure to boys and girls in a way that should be celebrated!!
Men, you're up to bat. And, it's time to show the world what you're made of!
Show them the care, compassion, kindness, strength, faithfulness, loyalty, dignity, humility, and boldness of the lion God created you to be! His son, Jesus, is our model warrior and ultimate role model! While none of us will ever be comparable to His Majesty, we can strive to serve our fellow brothers and sisters with the great qualities He so patterned.
And when we do so, then and only then will the world truly change! Happy Father's Day! And be sure to celebrate the men in your life, today!
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