Worldview: What does it mean to be a man?

by | Nov 14, 2019 | Culture, Leadership, Philosophy, Wisdom, Worldview

What does it mean to be a man in this cultural moment?

This all boils down to answering the question, “what does it mean to be human?”
This is a worldview question and depending on one’s worldview, will render different answers.

Worldview answers these questions:

  • Metaphysical – what is real?
  • Epistemology – what is true?
  • Origin – where did I come from?
  • Meaning – does life have meaning?
  • Morality – what is right or wrong (good / evil)?
  • Destiny – what happens when I die?
  • Identity – who am I and does my life have purpose?

Every worldview must answer those questions in ways that correspond to reality and have coherence.

A secularist-atheist, Muslim, pantheist, Christian, etc will all answer these questions differently. Worldview drives behavior and how we see ourselves in our place in the world. What I believe about being a man in this cultural moment is shaped by my worldview. In the west, The contours of our body ethic are rooted in a worldview and philosophies emerging from Rome and Greece – that were both reshaped and reformed by Christian worldview.

As the Christian ethic is jettisoned for a more naturalistic / materialistic worldview, we don’t actually move toward something new, we move back to something old – Rome.

Therefore, this shift will change how we define our place and purpose in the world, man and woman.

I believe the definition of a man is rooted in biology, theology and character.

What does it mean to be a man?

He does not give in to passivity
He takes responsibility
He leads sacrificially
He defends the weak
He is a voice for the voiceless and a father to the fatherless.
He is faithful
He loves mercy and does justice
He loves well and leads well.
(Notice none of these attributes have anything to do with a man’s physical strength, violence or abilities).

“So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:27-28)

Note: The content above was taken from a reply I wrote to a friend’s post on Facebook. This is an extension of my recent work in the Colson Fellows residency has helped me crystalize and communicate the contours of what shapes our worldview particularly in America today and our definition of man.

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Read previous post: Martin Luther King Jr.’s challenge to the church today
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