The Manly Man

Most of you who read this do not know me. You may be able to glean some information about me if you visit my Facebook page. You may figure out that I am married, I have three kids and that I live in South Carolina. But do you know how people who know me would describe me? Am I smart or intelligent? Am I wise beyond my years? Am I a good husband and father? Am I a good neighbor? Most of you will never find the answers to these questions and after read this you probably will not think much about it ever again. But have you ever really thought about what people think about you? How do they describe you?

This morning I was reading in I Chronicles 11 and came across some interesting verses. I can hear some of you already, I did not know there was anything interesting in I Chronicles! I thought all it contained was so and so was so and so's son and so and so was so and so's son and so and so had several sons. Lots of names that I cannot pronounce and yes, the first ten or so chapters are just like that. But this morning I read chapter 11 and came across the following passage:

I Chronicles 11: 22 - 24 - 22 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab's best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 23 And he struck down an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall. Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver's rod in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. 24 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty men.

Look at how this guy is described. This was a manly man. I real tough guy who saw some really grizzly stuff I am sure. He climbed into a pit and killed a lion, and he killed a giant with the giant's own spear! This is a far cry from how I would be described from some of my old acquaintances. Back in high school I did not play football, I was not on the wrestling team, I played golf. Yeah I know, thats not a very manly sport! In college I did not work in a warehouse or drive a forklift, work in landscaping or construction, I worked in a men's clothing store. Yeah I know, thats not a very manly job. But God uses different people and different life experiences to do his will. We are not all former drug addicts, bank robbers, gang members, some of us were regular guys, still sinners, but regular guys in the process. Not all of us are gifted to be Sunday morning preachers or Sunday school teachers, someone has to fix the plumbing in the bathrooms and someone has to make sure the grass gets cut. The Apostle Paul knew this and addresses it in I Corinthians:

I Corinthians 12: 21-26 21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

In other words it takes all types to make the Body of Christ function like it was intended. Regardless of your perceived manliness, your education or your age, God wants to use you for his purpose. There is story after story of God using all types of people to do what he wants accomplished. Step out of your comfort zone, step in to the game and step up to the plate. God is doing some amazing things around the world and we have been invited to take part.