Original Entry:
August 13, 2011
McMinnville, OR
Take a moment and
consider the answer to this question:
“What is a man?” How does a boy
know when he has crossed over into manhood?
How does a forty-year-old boy know that he is a man?
In ancient times beginning
the menstrual cycle was the beginning of womanhood. The ability to bear children meant she would
soon be married, have a family and a household to manage.
For Jewish men and
women the Bat Mitzvah (girls) and the Bar Mitzvah (boys) is the right of
passage into adulthood.
Last week my youngest
son Colton turned thirteen. Tonight will be his manhood party. Tonight we will come together for a BBQ, men
will read letters to him about what it means to be a man, and present him with a
small gift or token symbolizing their topic. As the climax of the night his
brothers and I will lift him in our arms and pray over him. I will say something
like, “When we pray I am going to lift you up as a boy; but when we are done I
am going to set you down as a man.”
Today will be a rite
of passage as my youngest son enters manhood.
But does a rite of passage suddenly turn a boy into a man?
Hardly.
In the following
weeks we are going to take a look at every definitive time the phrase “a man”
appears in scripture. Most biblical
passages are irrelevant to our study but there are several scriptures that will
help in our quest for manhood.
The hope during this
study is that boys and men of all ages will complete a personal rite of passage
into manhood.
Let’s go back to
Colton for a moment.
The letters the men
have written to Colton
have been purposely selected from our five point definition of manhood: “A
man protects integrity, fights apathy, pursues God passionately, leads
courageously, and finishes strong.”
My prayer is that in
the weeks to come we will all discover something definitive about what “a man” is
and does. Good hunting!
