I recently read a book called Samson and the Pirate Monks. Author Nate Larkin, a former pastor, shares his life story in pursuit of authentic brotherhood. I think most men can identify with Nate and his struggle to be honest and transparent with others, men in particular.
I've really been thinking about the value of transparency in my life. Dave, Rob and I meet on a weekly basis to talk about our successes and failures, accomplishments and shortcomings, strengths and struggles. After reading this book, we're all excited and renewed in our pursuit of authentic brotherhood. I'm so thankful that we've seen the value of transparency at such a young age. I think a lot of men miss this lesson somewhere along the line and it proves destructive later in life.
I think one of our biggest challenges as men is holding up the appearance that we have it all together (not to exclude you ladies but I only know how to speak from a man's perspective).
And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: "The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead."
Revelation 3:1So many Christians have the reputation of being alive but under all the masks and make-up, they're truly dead inside. There could be countless reasons for this but I think one of the most consistent is the lack of transparency. I'm not necessarily talking about accountability but a brother or sister who you can be brutally honest with about what's going on with your life. The greatest thing that could ever happen to any of us is to be truly known by someone else. I pray for your life and mine that we would not be fake but real, open, honest and transparent.
As we've been thinking about that in Fiji and how we can convey this truth to the men in our movement, we've decided that we need to spend more time together. This semester, we're instituting "Man Day". Man Day will be a frequent event where the men of our movement get together to do manly things and talk about manhood. We're not trying to fit a stereotype but rather trying to create a place where young men can come have honest conversations about what we're going through and who God created us to be. We're really excited and hoping that this will become a real brotherhood where authentic conversations happen between authentic people.
To kick off Man Day, we took as many students as we could to go see Captain America. We sent out a mass text to the guys in our movement and told them to bring their friends. Twenty-five showed up!
After the movie, we walked down to McDonalds for a little ice cream. There, we started the conversation. We're hoping and praying that these men would learn this lesson of community early on. We pray that passivity and isolation would not plague them for the rest of their lives. This is who we were created to be: brothers, friends.
If you're a man, and you get a chance, check out Samson and the Pirate Monks and start the conversation with someone in your life. We're all fallen and none of us measure up, so let's stop pretending and thank God for the freedom he's given us through the cross!
