What Kind of Man are You? – Part II

“If men become men, the world will change.” ¬– Dr. Larry Crabb

In his book Men of Courage, Dr. Larry Crabb writes that there are two kind of men: inauthentic and authentic.

Last week, I mentioned some of the characteristics of each. For an inauthentic man, these included being controlling, destructive, and selfish. An authentic man is quite different. He an active man who is more concerned with developing a strength others can enjoy rather than achieving power and control for himself. He is a gentle man and lives with purpose.

This week, we are going to begin looking at the characteristics of an inauthentic man that represent the battles going on deep inside his soul. The first is that a inauthentic man feels powerless. For those who feel this way, they like things to be predictable. Unfortunately, life is not predictable. So, men who feel powerless are haunted by the possibility of something happening that they cannot handle. This becomes prevalent in their personal relationships, which is one area that cannot be effectively controlled. Getting close to their wives, feeling respected by their children, having healthy friendships: these are the kinds of areas that have the power to make men feel weak.

To hide their weakness, powerless men find something they can control, something they can handle well, and avoid what they fear. This may be as simple as keeping a car clean or as wrong as seducing another woman. Powerless men spend their lives controlling some outcome and deceiving themselves into thinking it matters.

Now, an authentic man knows he is strong, not powerless. He is not an aggressive man, he is an active man, involved in offering quality relationships to others, more committed to developing a strength that others can enjoy than to achieving for himself a sense of power and control.

So, which kind of man are you: inauthentic or authentic? You see, you can’t move from inauthenticity to authenticity by yourself. It requires surrender to God and having someone to walk along side of you. Who is that person in your life?

~ Tim Hall https://twitter.com/1timothy12 (I encourage feedback, questions & comments - email me at 1timothy46@gmail.com)