For Men
The church in Corinth was a mess. The believers had divided themselves into cliques. Spiritual gifts were being abused. Their ignorance of God’s word had left them unable to judge between true and false teachers. Some of the brothers and sisters were getting drunk on communion Sundays. Others were visiting prostitutes. One guy was shacking-up with his step-mother and the church didn’t care. Worse, in spite of Paul’s apostleship and ministry to them, many refused to submit to his authority.
Put yourself in Paul’s place. What would you say to a church like that? How would you instruct them? One answer to that question is found in the final charge Paul writes in the letter we know as 1 Corinthians. To the rebellious, dysfunctional church in Corinth Paul commands, “Act like men!” Which raises the question—what does Paul mean when he commands believers to “act like men”? It should be apparent that the answer to that question is especially important to men.
In 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Paul instructs, Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all you do be done in love” (ESV). In these two verses, Paul intertwines the command to “act like men” with four other commands. This means all five commands are related to each other. In other words, obeying Paul’s command to “act like men” requires us to also obey his commands to “be watchful”; to “stand firm in the faith”; to “be strong”; and to “let all we do be done in love.”
Let’s start with Paul’s command to do all that we do in love. The love Paul speaks of here is not a love defined by feelings. It is the kind of active, need-meeting love God offers us in Christ. This is the love God demonstrated when he sent Jesus to die and conquer death for us while we were still sinners. It’s a love that recognizes and meets needs even when great sacrifice is required. In short, acting like men requires us to love our wives, our children, our church family, and the lost with the same kind of unconditional, need-meeting, sacrificial love God has loved us with in Christ.
Next, the call to “act like men” is a call to be watchful (verse 13). Being a man means being a protector. Being a protector means being vigilant! This is especially true in regards to the spiritual well-being of our families and our church. Peter calls us to “be watchful” because our “adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). We must remember that Satan is always working to destroy our lives, our families, and our church family. As men, God calls us to guard against the world, the flesh, and the devil by being watchful. In other words, by staying awake! First and foremost, we must stand guard over our own spiritual lives. Men, if we will not guard our own spiritual lives, how can we guard the spiritual life of our families and our local church? We must be watchful, then, regarding our own pride, our own materialism, our own lusts, our own walk with God. Only then can we be the protectors God calls us to be.
Third, the call to “act like men” is a call to stand firm in the faith. To “stand firm in the faith” means being fully submitted to and governed by God’s truth! Standing firm in the faith means speaking the truth when truth isn’t popular. It means doing the right thing when the right thing isn’t convenient. It means refusing to compromise God’s word, the Bible. In God’s strength—and by God’s grace—standing firm in the faith means holding fast to Jesus in a world that hates him.
Finally, at the end of verse 13 we learn that the call to “act like men” is a call to be strong. So, what kind of strength is Paul calling us to as men? Is he calling us to become physically strong? Is he calling us to hit the gym and pump some iron? No. While that’s not bad, Paul has a different kind of strength in mine. Listen to how Luke 1:80 defines “strength” in reference to John the Baptist. The verse reads, “And the child grew and became strong in spirit…”
Do you hear it? The strength Luke attributes to John the Baptist is not physical strength. It is spiritual strength! This is the strength Paul (and God) calls us to in 1 Corinthians 16:13. So how do we become spiritually strong? By means of a process called sanctification. Our spiritual strength grows when we cooperate with the Holy Spirit—day by day, month by month, year by year—as he dwells and works in us to make us more like Christ. Our spiritual strength grows as we commit ourselves to prayer, to the study of God’s word, and to the fellowship of believers.
One more thing—obeying God’s command to “act like men” is a group project. Christian men, the Bible says—as long as we are in this world—we are at war. And because soldiers can’t fight wars alone, we need each other. May we commit ourselves to the deepening of our relationships with one another in Christ. Only then can we learn how to love like God loves, being watchful, standing firm in our faith, and being strong in God’s Spirit.