“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever,” declares the Westminster Catechism. My paraphrase: Man’s chief end is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.
How do we enjoy God as men? What does that even mean? Is it possible that male image-bearers are created to enjoy God in a way that reflects our unique masculine design? I believe that a hint of the answer is found in the Hebrew word for male used in Genesis 1:27—the Bible’s first glimpse of what it would look like to enjoy God uniquely as a man.
The Hebrew word for male, “zakar,” means to remember, to be mindful of, to have in mind. It emphasizes intentionality and action. How does that make any sense? Why does the word for male literally mean remember? What’s the connection? The answer is found in the way God Himself relates to His image-bearers. Whenever Scripture says that God remembers someone, He pursues them. God is relationally mindful of lost male image-bearers, and He always pursues them to offer life. He sows the seed of life, and He imparts life through relationship with Him.
As Christian men, we are called to remember Who our God is, Whose we are, Who we are, and Why we are here. Our God and Father is the perfect Pursuer. We belong to Him. We are our Father’s. We are His sons. Our identity is found in relationship to Him alone. He imparts life to us. We are here as His sons to represent, reflect, and reveal His pursuing heart to others. We are called to relationally sow the seed of life in others, to help impart life to them, as we manifest our Father’s pursuing presence.
Unfortunately, since the Fall, every man retreats from his relational calling out of fear. We fear navigating relationships that feel threatening and might expose us as weak or inadequate. We hesitate to pursue others to sow a seed of life because we fear we may encounter painful “thorns and thistles.” We fear failure. We fear being unreceived and disrespected, if we choose to remember and then pursue the heart of another.
Rather than risk relational pain, we men naturally abdicate and avoid. It’s safer, so we think. It may feel safer, but it is also sin. In fact, it is our core sin, our unique masculine rebellion. We are Abdicators and Avoiders rather than strong and loving Pursuers. What seems like life to us — taking the easy way out, the path of least resistance in relationships — is actually death to the masculine soul. We think we are saving our lives when we abdicate our relational calling in order to avoid what threatens us and makes us feel inadequate or insignificant. In fact, we are losing our lives. We are sinning in a way that robs us of the joy of enjoying God as His sons, who remember Him and live to manifest His presence in others’ lives. The abundant life that God promises men can only be experienced as we repent of our masculine rebellion (sinful patterns of relational abdication and avoidance) and submit ourselves once again to His design for us.
Our main problem is our sin, our unique masculine rebellion. The penalty is death. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Gospel can deliver us from eternal death and save us from the power of our patterns of masculine abdication and avoidance.
To change, we must first see the problem. As men, we must ask ourselves, “How am I abdicating and avoiding in my relationships, rather than remembering and pursuing others in masculine strength and love? What would repentance look like in my life?”
As redeemed sons, let us seek our Father for a deeper understanding of what it looks like to glorify God more meaningfully by truly enjoying Him.
William Lewis is founder and director of Bethesda By The Sea, a pastoral care and counseling ministry for pastors, missionaries and Christian leaders. His podcast, “In My Father’s House With William” is available on Spotify. William and his wife, Lynn, have been missionaries for 35 years.
“As Christian men, we are called to remember Who our God is, Whose we are, Who we are, and Why we are here. “