The society in which we live has neglected to teach men about their role in the home, in the church, and society. The worldly view of a man's role is that he should provide financially for his family, but we shouldn't expect him to be very engaged with home life. In spite of all our talk of feminism, we have left the job of making a home and raising the kids to the female of the household. The role of leadership, of teaching and correcting the kids has fallen to the feminine side of our society. This is both unwise and unbiblical. As a result our homes are very weak and the enemy finds it very easy to destroy our families through divorce, rebellion, addictions, molestation, and child abuse.
In a quote from Leon Podles, who wrote the book “The Church Impotent” he remarks:
“Women go to church; men go to football games. Laymen attend church activities because a wife, mother, or girlfriend has pressured them… If a man goes to church, he goes because a woman has wheedled him into what hi would normally consider unmanly behavior. But if he goes voluntarily, he suffers suspicions about his masculinity. A devastating criticism of Christianity is many men see it not only as irrelevant, but as effeminate. As one man put it, ‘life is a football game, with men fighting it out on the green, while the minister is up in the grandstands, explaining it to the ladies.’”
The tide of leadership has changed drastically in our society, homes, and churches and women have been forced into areas that God did not intend for them to be. And while this maybe true, I believe that many a men and women do not understand their God-given roles while here on earth. God bless our fathers, grand-fathers, uncles, friends, and other adults for their attempt to try and teach us as men, our roles in society. However, much of what they taught us was based on what they were taught when they were coming up along with life long experience. So we as men have been taught:
That crying is for punks.
That success of a man is based on his economic status.
That beating a woman into submission is mucho.
That our sexual activity and little black books determine our worth in life.
That the woman’s role is in the kitchen and the bedroom
That life is what we make it.
That man is the bread winner of the family.
If we hurt, we’re told to suck it up and stop crying
If we’re sick, we’re told stop whining like a big baby
If we have to much fun, we’re told you’re nothing more than a big kid
If we we’re any other color outside of black, brown, and blue, then we’re gay (Homosexual)
And the list goes on and on and on……. And it’s this teaching that we’re judged by. We’re judged by our bank account, car, house, credit, looks, success, leadership, and our sexual performance.
I can continue on talking about the confusion of a man’s sexuality heterosexual or homosexual (the down-low syndrome). I can beat us up about what we’re not doing and congratulate us on what we’re doing right. But that’s not what I want to do today in this message. We’ve been beating up enough over the years by the church and society.
I have a two-fold agenda with this message today:
To give us as men an understanding of our roles in society, in the home, and in the church. I believe the principles to be rendered here today will apply to all three areas of our lives.
To call us to repentance for missing for so long, restore us to the place of godly leadership and stability, encourage us to hang in there even when the going gets tough.
The story of Noah presents to us three (3) principles for saving our families:
I. The Reasons for Saving Our Families (Why should we save our family?)
The story starts with a tragedy, God is angry with humanity because of their immoral living. What’s such a tragedy to me in this story is that just 4 chapters earlier God says: “Let’s make man in our very image”.
Now, four (4) chapters later, God is angry with the very creation He just created. Unfortunately, I believe God’s anger with humanity started in chapter 3 when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Then Cain kills his brother Abel. Now, in chapter 6 the text opens with sexual immorality and God is angry and ready to wipe out all of humanity.
Reason 1: Save your family from worldliness – Ch. 3 and Ch. 6:1-2
- Compromising Situations: The serpent approached Eve
- Carnal People: The children of God, among whom the true religion was at first preserved, corrupt it by forming matrimonial connections with irreligious women.
Reason 2: Save your family from the wrath of God – Ch. 6:3, 6, 7
Reason 3: Save your family from you – Ch 6: 5
II. The Requirements for Saving Our Families (Seeks to answer the question: What does it take to save our Family?)
a. Be Different – Ch. 6:8-12
b. Be Ready to be used by God – Ch. 6:13-20
c. Be a Provider – Ch 6:21
d. Be Obedient to God – Ch. 6:22
III. The Reward of Saving Our Families (Seeks to answer the question: What should we expect from saving our family?)
A. God’s Protection – Ch 7:1-24
B. God’s Provisions – Ch 8:19
C. God’s Blessings – Ch 9:1
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