What is man?

What is man, that you (God), are mindful of him? This is a question David asked in Psalms chapter 4, and a question countless men have asked throughout history. On one hand, man has been striving to answer the “what is man” question for centuries. Our greatest scientific debate today is over the origins of human beings. Were we created or did we organize and “force” our existence, out of the primordial ooze, evolving into the thinking, problem solving human race that we are today. This man (Rick) finds himself joining the ranks of King David in seeking to understand more deeply, my role as “Man” in relation to my role as husband, father, brother, grandfather, and ultimately my impact on this world. Join me for a few minutes as we take a journey into manhood and perceptions.

My Story

I was born in the sixties, on the heels of what is considered the “greatest generation”. The men and women that brought us through WWII. In my life I have had many examples of what it is to be a “Man”. Each of those examples different from the other to some degree. In my grandfather and my dad, I saw on one hand, the kind, considerate, and caring version of man and on the other, the macho, strong, supportive example. Each of these men broken in one area of life or another, carrying the baggage that went along with that brokenness. There have been many other men throughout my life that have provided examples in their own right. In the following paragraphs, I want to provide a brief picture of those men, in an attempt to answer the question, we are currently facing.

One of my favorite quotes by Sir Isaac Newton goes something like this. “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”! This quote certainly applies to me as a man, and the heights to which God has brought me today.

http://www.khanacademy.org

Family examples

My dad and his dad; Wendell Banks, and Clyde Banks, both taught me that I can do anything I set my mind to. We lived next door to my grandpa, who died before I hit my teenage years, but not before teaching me a ton about woodworking, crafting and just building with your hands. He was a carpenter and craftsman and very good at what he did. He was sick with cancer for as long as I can remember and required others to care for him.

My dad on the other hand was strong, a welder and all-around jack of all trades. He was a workaholic and not very good at showing love to others. It was through work that you connected with dad, but our homelife was strained. I believe he did his best and believed that what he was doing was best for our family at the time. Later in life he shared with me his regrets of not spending more time with his wife and kids and ultimately his grandkids.

Neither man had a strong relationship with Christ, if any at all, which left a gap in my understanding of what I now consider true manhood, or who I now know as the Heavenly Father.

Outsiders

My dad’s best friend, we will call him Billy. Mr. Billy was a farmer who had figured out the secret for spending time with my dad and that was asking him to help him out with various projects on the farm, which would often involve me as dad brought me along.

It was through Mr. Billy that I learned the value of friendships and relationships with other men. Mr. Billy was part of a group of farmers that met every week at what we lovingly called the domino hall, where they would play dominoes and share in each other’s problems, successes and hurts through community and also drink a little. Like all men, Billy had his own flaws and brokenness. The drinking was an attempted remedy for the brokenness that both he and my dad turned to on occasion. It is not the “remedy” that I point to, but the brokenness in need of a remedy that is part of every human. We all look for remedies in our own way, alcohol is but one on the list.

A brother from another mother

My best friend and partner in ministry, Bishop Rob Nichols of Abilene Tx. Rob and I cut our teeth in ministry together and practically grew up together as young men. Rob is handicapped and, in a wheelchair, but if you did not have the gift of site to see it for yourself you would never know that.

Rob has and continues to teach me what perseverance, humility and a true passion for Jesus and ministry looks like. While he is a broken man with faults and flaws like all the rest of us, on top of the difficulties of his disability, he continuously strives to be more like Jesus every day. His life and ministry inspire me to continue on.

Adopted family

My father-in-law, Buddy Gumm was a multi-talented man who had been through WWII, with a bronze star to prove it. Before all of that, he had a really tough life. He lived through domestic violence, the great depression, stints in an orphanage in the Dallas area, and other hardships that I don’t have time to mention.

By all accounts, he should have been a hardened shell of man, incapable of loving and highly medicated if you follow the approach of psychologists and society today. He was anything but hardened. Yes, he was broken like the rest of us, but he was a loving husband, father, and grand-father, and he treated me as if I was his own.

From him I learned the concept of adoption, what it means to be welcomed into sonship, having done nothing to merit the love, other than marrying his daughter. To me the most astounding thing about him was how he loved and cared for others, knowing his past and what he had been through. Everything I had learned to that point told me that we are products of our surroundings and I had bought into that lie to some degree. That is, until I met Buddy!

Men of God

My numerous pastors all taught me something about God and the attributes of a godly man. William Mayo of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Sweetwater, Tx was a retired missionary with a tremendous heart for people. From him I saw God’s heart for people, ALL people, and how to love and serve others.

From Roger Hobbs and David Moorman of Centerpoint Baptist Church in Scottsboro, AL I learned what ministry looks like, and how to lean on Jesus. What patience looks like as you wait on God, and what passing the mantel to the next generation should look like.

From Donnie Hutchins at Lakeview Baptist Church in Hollywood, AL I learned what it truly means to hunger for God’s word. The importance of knowing the word, studying the word and allowing it to have its work in you and through you.

Bringing it home

There are numerous other men I could list, relatives, friends and bosses, however I believe that the examples of those closest to me in my walk as a man provides the ammunition, I need to bring the all-important point home. There is NO one man outside of Jesus that can provide the answer to the question “What is man that God would be mindful of us”, but together the multi-facets of Gods attributes come into focus.

We were never meant to be alone, but to be in relationship and in community. As men we are taught that we have to be the strong one, no crying, no emotion, and no sharing. It is time for us to break away from that bondage of fear and false teaching and seek out who God meant for us to be all along.

Questions?

I have shared a lot and said a lot, and I believe God has revealed to us through the Bible and through the examples above, that we need each other, and we need to share our experiences and learnings with the next generation and the next and the next. Teaching them through the examples of Jesus and our own learnings, what it means to be a man.

The question I leave with you sir, you who has endured to the end of this blog. What are the learnings from the men in your life that you want to pass on to the next generation? Who made a difference in your life, and how can you ensure it gets shared with those young men yet to come? Lastly and probably the most important question of all. How do you explain what a “MAN” is to your children or grandchildren? The answer may very well help shape who they become!