Functional Masculinity (1 of 7): Introduction

Well, I want to talk about something that's important to me, which is functional masculinity.  Every man should have it.  Every man should have an abundance of functional masculinity as it pertains to having a God-consciousness over his 5 areas (Colossians 3:1-4:6).  The reason why this article comes after the one about marriage is that because of God's Order (1 Corinthians 11:3), every failed marriage or dysfunctional relationship is ultimately an indictment against functional masculinity.  Granted, the woman does play her role in these matters, but since I'm a man, I'll let some powerful and productive woman address the women.  God made me a man, so I'm going to talk to the men. :)

Functional masculinity, for the sake of definition here, will be defined as a man's spiritual health and ability to obey God in what God has commanded him to do as a man. It is what's displayed when a man conveys God's Image (Jesus Christ) and Likeness (Standards [Exodus 20:3-18]), and Values (Galatians 5:22, the Fruit of the Spirit)) in every thing that he does. Essentially, the man conveys and portrays God's Truth. To better understand functional masculinity, one must understand functional Christianity...which is where Image and Likeness are passed down in love and a Christian keeps their pulse on their spiritual walk with God in their 5 areas (personal, family, career, church, community). How functional masculinity works within that is to make strong Kingdom-driven decisions that produce security. And security comes from the connection a man has to God, not necessarily to money. Because if I may say so myself, there are many rich folk so tied up in their money they're insecure. Functional masculinity also does all these things in love, so as not to be a oooga boogah chauvinist who wants to control EVERYthing. Functional masculinity knows it's not supposed to do everything, and leads the way but ALLOWS functional femininity to do its thing (another blog entry).

Why is this so important to me? In short, I know 17 single mothers ranging from ages 20-40+, and in most of the cases the dad has nothing to do with the kids. THIS, my friends, is DYSfunctional masculinity. It's actually the most prominent form of dysfunctional masculinity in my opinion, not only is it being dysfunctional, it leaves the most avenue for resultant dysfunctional femininity and also dysfunctional families overall. There are many, many examples of dysfunctional masculinity but let's just examine this one for now (I'll take care of the other examples down the line). Functional masculinity, in best-case scenario, hasn't created the situation in which a man could be fearful enough to run out on a responsibility. That being said, if functional masculinity has had a bit of disorder and had a kid out of wedlock, functional masculinity disallows itself from being prevented from transferring God's Image and Likeness to the next generation, regardless of the relationship with the mother (another story altogether). Jesus Christ was the preeminent example of functional masculinity, ever. And all functional men, while falling short, model themselves after THIS example and conscientiously seek God in their business.

A charge to any dads reading this: if you have a child/children, and you're in their lives, then call 'em up, or call 'em to you, or whatever, and just tell them you love them. Then, when they've gone to bed, thank the Father for loving you first. If you're not involved in your child's life, fearful of ineffectiveness and don't know where to start, or are a dad-to-be and are scared straight, ask God to put it on your heart to be an effective father to your child or children. Then ask Him to give you the strength and wisdom to be an example of functional masculinity. The common denominator is God though. That's the source of functional masculinity, as well as anything and everything else that works in His Kingdom. Thank you for your time.