Masculinity? 2 - Lords

Lords – Man was created to exercise dominion in the earth. The charge which God gave in this regard is frequently called the cultural mandate.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth…Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it. (Gen 1:26-28).

Some may assume that this cultural mandate is negated by the fall of man into sin, but God repeats the mandate again after the flood (Gen 9:1). Sin certainly affected our ability to fulfill this command from God, but it did not remove the obligation placed on us by the command. But if it is to be fulfilled now, in a sinful world, then it must be as a result of the goodness and grace of God. And this is what we see. The mandate is given to us yet again in another form in the Great Commission. We are told there to disciple the nations and bring them to true submission to the Lord Jesus Christ (Mt, 28: 18-20).

In boys, we might call this the “tree fort” impulse. Boys want to conquer and subdue, and if the terrain before them is the back yard, then that is why they want to conquer and subdue.

My brother, 2 cousins, and myself are about 6 years apart in age. When we were together there is no telling what we might try and build. We built a series of fishing docks out into Wildwood Lake in Wolverine. With posts in water and interconnecting 2x4’s going everywhere. Caught many a bluegill and perch off those docks. If you go there now, the posts are still in the water. We built at least 3 forts that I remember. Who knows how many we tried to build and failed. We built our own teepee and slept in it. Spent many nights camping out in our forts as well. I built a hunting blind when I was 15 and my cousin and I built one together a couple years later. This is a natural tendency for boys and soon enough Seth will be going after my tools and scrap 2x4’s and trying to hammer something together. Wanting to spend time with me in the garage and the yard.

The point of discipline with boys is to channel and direct their energy into an obedient response to the cultural mandate. It is not to squash that energy, destroying it or making it sullen. I should have Seth in training to become a man who exercises dominion, Seth should be learning to be lord in the earth, I should make sure he learns to be adventurous and visionary.

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