Daniel Darling: Rejecting a distorted version of manhood

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, July 2nd, 2024. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Paul Butler.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Up next, World Opinions Commentator Daniel Darling on how a trendy lifestyle for young men compares with the Bible’s model for masculinity.

DANIEL DARLING: A recent column in the Guardian explores the rise of self-described “Sigma males.” The columnist describes these men as lone wolves who make their own rules, get up early for punishing workouts, and “shun conventional career paths.”

Some of the content in these online spaces is helpful, such as tips on exercise, diet, and finance. But often these pursuits become rabbit trails that lead to a twisting of masculinity into something that often celebrates misogyny, racism, and what Carl Trueman labels, “crudity, verbal thuggery ... and the frictionless kindergartens of social media bubbles.”

The rise of “Sigma” males doesn’t come in a vacuum. For too long, many of our institutions have subtly undermined the moral formation of young men. Radical feminism that has depicted men as either bumbling moral midgets or toxic monsters. The rapid decline of marriage and church attendance has left generations of boys without any commendable models of masculinity. In the absence of wholesome models of masculinity, some Christian young men are retreating to these perpetually online embattlements, where they are imbibing a syncretistic mixture of Christianity and barbarism.

But the Christian story in Scripture has the answer for the redemption of young men. It reminds us that a fallen Adam will either shrink back in passivity or move forward in violence without the divine intervention of the Second Adam. In Christ, we not only see a model of masculinity that offers both a weeping friend and a crusading warrior, but a Savior who can turn corrupted male hearts into good men.

Paul tells his protégés, Timothy and Titus, that good leaders are, “temperate, not quick-tempered, sober, hospitable, respectable, not greedy, holy, above reproach, a good steward of his family (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1).” At the same time, he urges godly men to “stand firm in the faith (1 Corinthians 16)” and to “fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12).”

This kind of rich, Biblical vision for manhood is less thrilling than the social media warriors and YouTube provocateurs might portray. But real men aren’t flexing for Instagram because they are too busy reading to their children, driving the family minivan to church, coaching a youth sports team, or working with their hands to provide for the ones they love.

The most masculine man I know—my father—has never once posted a workout video and wouldn’t know Andrew Tate from Andrew Jackson. He offered something better: a real man who got up early every day and went to work, involved his family in the life of the church, and was faithful to my late mother. I’ve realized his life is a gift that many young boys never had. And thus they search for masculinity in the fever swamps. But they could find a better alternative in the church. Timothy found a spiritual father in the Apostle Paul, and young men today who lack godly biological fathers would benefit from Christian mentorship.

America has a manhood crisis that only Christianity can solve. So while we warn of the dangers of faux masculinity models, let’s not shy away from boldly presenting to our boys the goodness, and the responsibilities, of being men.

I’m Daniel Darling.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.