Gender Wars: What does it mean to be male?

Searching for Eden
Understanding and navigating our culture’s cries for life

Gender Wars: What does it mean to be male and female?

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’…So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.’”
Genesis 1:26-28

Manhood: A call to rule by offering tender strength
• Haunting question ? Do I have what it takes? (Wild at Heart by John Eldredge)
• Ultimate fear is failure

How are men made to offer tender strength?
• Wilderness exploration
– “the Lord God formed the man out of the dust (like the wild animals) from the ground…” Genesis 2:7
– “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it…” Genesis 1:28
– Wilderness = “Something characterized by bewildering vastness, perilousness, or unchecked profusion”

Reflection
– What most captivates your heart & imagination?
– Where are you most finding adventure, discovering the depths of faith, & meeting our untamed God?

How are men made to offer tender strength?
• Working and watching over creation
– “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.” Genesis 2:15

Reflection
– Men, do others…especially women…feel safer & more celebrated when they are in your presence?
– Women, what men has God used to protect & celebrate you?

How are men made to offer tender strength?
• Words of life & vision

– “So the Lord God formed out of the ground each wild animal and each bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.” Genesis 2:19

Reflection
– What men have wounded you through the presence or absence of their words?
– What men have spoken words of life & vision to you?
– Men, to whom do you need to speak a word of life and vision?

Next Week
Gender Wars: What does it mean to be female?