If men got the Titus 2 Treatment…

[nebula]

If men got the Titus 2 Treatment…

 

Every evangelical woman knows what it’s like to get the Titus 2 Treatment.

 

This happens whenever a woman is presented with a universal statement about the “biblical” role of women in the world, which is typically extrapolated from a single biblical text without regard to literary or historical context and followed by a parenthetical string of additional unrelated and out-of-context Bible verses for support.

 

<snip>

 

So I thought it might be fun to give guys a sense of what it’s like to get the Titus 2 treatment with this little piece. (Don’t take it too seriously):

 

 

The Crisis of Biblical Masculinity in the Church

By Roberta Heard Ellis

 

It has come to my attention that we are facing a crisis of biblical masculinity in the Church today. An increasing number of men are neglecting the roles God clearly outlined for them in Scripture (Genesis 3:19, 1 Thessalonians 5:26, 1 Timothy 2:8) in favor of blatant cultural capitulation.  I’d like to focus on three biblical principles that many modern men, out of total disregard for Scripture, continue to ignore: sweating, kissing, and hand-raising.

 

1.  Sweating:

 

Take a look around our culture and you will see millions of men who earn a living by working in climate controlled office buildings. Such work may be mentally strenuous, but far too often, it can be accomplished without even breaking a sweat.

 

The curse of Genesis 3 clearly describes man’s primary activity as difficult physical labor. “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,” God declares in Genesis 3:19.

 

<snip>

 

Now, some men will say they find office work more stimulating and rewarding than manual labor, or that it provides more financial security in their particular situation, but these men are more interested in pursuing selfish ambitions and wealth than submitting themselves to the Word of God. Our culture’s rampant obesity epidemic among men can be clearly traced to this departure from God’s perfect design. And it threatens to undo our whole society, negatively affecting our children and generations to come.

 

2.  Kissing

 

It may surprise many men to learn that one of the most common instructions found in New Testament Scripture is for Christians to “greet one another with holy kiss” (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 11 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26, 1 Peter 5:14). In 1 Thessalonians 5:26, Paul specifically instructs men to do this.

 

Yet despite the fact that this is one of the most repeated directives of Scripture, one is hard-pressed to find men kissing one another on the cheeck in churches today.  This is because those who do not take the Bible seriously claim these clear teachings of Scripture have a “cultural” component.

 

<snip>

 

3.  Hand-Raising 

 

I Timothy 2 stipulates the responsibilities of men and women in worship.

 

Thankfully, 1 Timothy 2:12—“I do not permit a woman to assume authority over a man”—continues to be rigidly applied in many churches today without regard to its original context or intended audience. However, the instructions 1 Timothy 2:8—“I want men EVERYWHERE to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing” (emphasis mine) is taken as a sort of suggestion that need not be directly enforced in the modern church.

 

Often I have been to churches where women are properly silenced, but men do not even bother to lift their hands during prayer! Furthermore, some of these men are known to engage in public disputes around theology—often on their blogs—which this passage clearly condemns.

 

Read here for the full writing

[Guest]

From the article:

 

 

So men who wish to honor God with their lives and humbly submit to His will should make physical labor their primary occupation, and resist the urge to give in to our culture’s glorification of “white collar” work, which is a departure from biblical principles of masculinity.

 

 

Really? In a 21st century industrial society that is completely unlike anything in Biblical times? Granted, fallen human nature has not changed. Submitting to God's will for your life does not mean automatically becoming a plumber or mechanic. Its about being available to be what and where He wants you to be. Writer's really far off on that one, and I happen to be a mechanic!

 

Men should be the leaders and priests of their homes and too often they are not. They shun leadership positions in life and the church, and that's just wrong, but the solution doesn't begin with digging ditches -- though if that's where God wants me, then pass the pickaxe.

[nebula]

From the article:

 

So men who wish to honor God with their lives and humbly submit to His will should make physical labor their primary occupation, and resist the urge to give in to our culture’s glorification of “white collar” work, which is a departure from biblical principles of masculinity.

 

 

Really? In a 21st century industrial society that is completely unlike anything in Biblical times?

 

The author admits she is using satyr to make a point.

 

"So I thought it might be fun to give guys a sense of what it’s like to get the Titus 2 treatment with this little piece. (Don’t take it too seriously):"

[Guest]

From the article:

 

So men who wish to honor God with their lives and humbly submit to His will should make physical labor their primary occupation, and resist the urge to give in to our culture’s glorification of “white collar” work, which is a departure from biblical principles of masculinity.

 

 

Really? In a 21st century industrial society that is completely unlike anything in Biblical times?

 

The author admits she is using satyr to make a point.

 

"So I thought it might be fun to give guys a sense of what it’s like to get the Titus 2 treatment with this little piece. (Don’t take it too seriously):"

 

 

:24:

 

~

 

Raise Your Hands

 

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Colossians 3:19

 

If You're

 

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Ephesians 5:25

 

Sure

 

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36-26

[chloe_fantastic]

Very thought-provoking, the article's asking the question, why are some groups seemingly held to the letter of the law by some, and some only to the spirit of it? I've heard of women being condemned for wearing pants and having short hair, but I've never heard a man condemned for having a white collar job or not greeting with a kiss.

[Guest Butero]

Very thought-provoking, the article's asking the question, why are some groups seemingly held to the letter of the law by some, and some only to the spirit of it? I've heard of women being condemned for wearing pants and having short hair, but I've never heard a man condemned for having a white collar job or not greeting with a kiss.

I have seen men attacked for wearing a dress and having long hair.  If a man tried to kiss another guy today, he would get punched because the other person would think he was gay.  The scripture about earning a living by the sweat of the brow was part of the curse.  I haven't had the luxury of working in a white collar job.  I would say the "holy kiss" teaching would be the hardest to start up, as hand shakes have taken their place.  How about taking a little wine for your stomach's sake?  I guess we have advanced past that with the creation of Alka Seltzer. 

[Sevenseas]

oh no...I still prefer wine....actually, I take those tums things if my little tummy does a tumble

 

Christians are just hilarious arent' they?

[Guest Butero]

oh no...I still prefer wine....actually, I take those tums things if my little tummy does a tumble

 

Christians are just hilarious arent' they?

Years ago, I used Di-Gel, but they changed the formula and it doesn't work very good now.  I switched to Alka Seltzer.  There is nothing like it for a sick headache or old fashioned heart burn.  It is nice to see you Sevenseas, and I am glad you brought this up, because I was thinking about the very issue of wine today.  Notice what Paul said to Timothy.

 

Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thine often infirmities.  1 Timothy 1:24

 

I had skimmed over that verse in the past, and just looked at it as a primitive treatment for an upset stomach, but notice that he also tells him he is to use it for his "often infirmities."  We know that many believe wine, in moderation of course, is good for you.  I wonder if we overlook something here, and perhaps "a little wine" is actually something we should partake of for the sake of good health?  Just something to think about. 

 

BTW, part of the curse in Genesis said women would have pain in child bearing.  Surely nobody thinks it is wrong for women to use medicine to ease their pain? 

[Sevenseas]

When I was a kid...during the last century, I used to drink my dad's Alka Seltzer because I was and still am a Fizz-a-holic.  Gotta have me those burning bubbles

 

Of course when he needed it, he would find less then when last used.  Yes, I was a prime suspect.  Mind you, I never had an upset stomach during those years. 

 

I'm one of those people who believe that Jesus did, actually, turn the water into wine and not grape juice with 0% alcohol as some teach.

[Guest Butero]

When I was a kid...during the last century, I used to drink my dad's Alka Seltzer because I was and still am a Fizz-a-holic.  Gotta have me those burning bubbles

 

Of course when he needed it, he would find less then when last used.  Yes, I was a prime suspect.  Mind you, I never had an upset stomach during those years. 

 

I'm one of those people who believe that Jesus did, actually, turn the water into wine and not grape juice with 0% alcohol as some teach.

I actually like the taste of Alka Seltzer too, and got to where I started drinking Seltzer water when I didn't need the stomach remedy. 

 

Those would be fighting words for a lot of people, saying you believe Jesus turned the water into real wine with alcohol, but I completely agree with you.  At the wedding feast, they mentioned how at most weddings, they will serve the good wine first, and when people had been drinking a while, the lesser quality wine.  That only makes sense if it was fermented.  I am glad we can find common ground on something, even if it is something as trivial as liking Alka Seltzer and believing Jesus turned water into real wine. 

 

What are your thoughts on the potential health benefits of a small amount of wine?  I can't remember all the details of the article, so you might want to look into it yourself if you even find the subject interesting, but there had been a study of wine and a reduction in heart disease.  In the study I read, if you were to drink wine in small amounts, where your blood alcohol level was between .02 and .04, supposedly it reduced heart disease, but if you drank wine more heavily, it had no positive effects.  I think there was also positive effects for those who drank wine where the alcohol had been removed.  I couldn't tell you how they do that, but there is some way to take the alcohol out of fermented wine.  Given the scripture, do you think there could be benefits to drinking small amounts of wine every once in a while with meals or just having a glass now and then?