When you’re in Su
nday School you’re taught about Jesus being fully God and fully man.
But have you ever been thought about Jesus being fully man?
Jesus was not just a human, but our model for masculine behavior as well.
With a world rejecting the importance of gender more and more everyday, I can’t think of a better time for a book embracing the manhood of Jesus and the masculine heart in general.
In The Heroic Path, author John Sowers does just this, charting his quest to find out what it means to be a man in a brutally honest and relatable fashion.
It’s not too manly of me to admit that I teared up often while reading the book. The stories of John’s struggles to be a man’s man and failing hard along the way are so relatable – so many things I have struggled with over the years.
In fact, I would bet there are more men like author John Sowers out there that can’t seem to maneuver a lawnmower than there are brawny lumberjack men nowadays.
Sowers has a lot of experience searching for masculinity. He details a life story of feeling outmanned by his peers at every turn from high school to adulthood.
Whether by the Gym Guy, the Huge Pickup Guy, or the Adolescent-Man Guy, every man can relate to being intimidated by the guys to whom manliness seem to come easily
When masculinity is defined by sexual conquests, athletic ability, facial hair, and grill mastering, it’s easy to feel under qualified. When you feel under qualified, you don’t think you can ever match up. When you don’t think you can ever match up, you begin to shirk in fear and retreat to the bosom of Mom.
But at a certain point we must break from from the “Motherboy” mentality. As Sowers puts it:
“I think being a man is making the stubborn, daily choice to carry our own weight, even when all hell breaks loose around us.”
Sowers charts the path of the masculine heart across 4 steps: Severance, Confrontation, Transformation and Return.
These aren’t just 4 convenient buzzwords Sowers pulled out of thin air to make a snazzy book outline. He charts these 4 steps through the life and mission of Jesus.
From Jesus’s Severance from His Earthly mother, to his Confrontation with the enemy, to a radiant Transformation, to His purposeful Return to His homeland, Sowers charts a model for men to follow that will stir the heart toward purpose.
At the heart of each step lies a greater purpose than simply finding our masculine identity. For the root of a masculinity is not about becoming an alpha male.
The foundation of masculinity, as Sowers puts it, is found at the core of every action Jesus took:
“Sacrificial love is the heart of manhood.”
The Heroic Path is not easy. It is complex and dangerous. It is wild and rugged. It is scary and exciting. It is unkempt and unshaved. It is full of the craziest risks and the most blessed rewards.
It is, after all, a sacrifice. The Heroic Man chooses to give up an easy, self-centered life to pursue something better for those around him because he is content in what he has already gained in Jesus.
The choice is open to every man. Will he stand aside and let the masculine heart be redefined by a world afraid of true manhood? Or will he set out on a journey to not only reclaim his heart but to rescue others as well:
“Nothing stirs and moves history more than sacrificial love. Nothing. There is no greater love.”
You can pick up a copy of The Heroic Path on Amazon or at your local bookstore. There’s still time to get it for Father’s Day!
I’m excited to announce that author John Sowers will be also my guest on an upcoming episode of the POP GOD POPcast to talk about The Heroic Path. It’s a book I’m hoping really sparks a conversation and a movement.
Finally, to help encourage the conversation I’m giving away a copy of The Heroic Path to one of my readers!
To enter the contest, you have to do 2 things:
1) Leave a comment on this post regarding the topic of manliness. Tell me about one of the great men in your life. Or the manliest thing you’ve ever done. Or why you think masculinity is a lost art.
AND
2) Subscribe by email to POP GOD. There’s a box on the right side near the top of the site where you can enter your email to Follow POP GOD via a mailing list. (If you leave a comment and you have already subscribed in the past, you don’t have to do anything extra. I’ll find your email on the list.) You’ll get every POP GOD post delivered to your inbox as soon as it hits – nothing more. It’s easy to unsubscribe as well.
You have to leave a comment AND join the POP GOD mailing list to enter. You have until July 1st at 3 PM EST to enter. I’ll contact the winner and ship the book out to you!
POP GOD 
Great topic. I’m excited to read the book!
The manliest thing I have ever done… Well, encouraged by some fellow brothers in the faith, I ran what they call “The Savage Race”. It was a 8 mile run (we did the team one without the competition) with obstacles throughout. The obstacles included things like jumping in an ice bath called Shriveled Richard, climbing a curved incline and pulling yourself up by a rope, crawling through mud/who knows what else, and getting shocked crawling under taser wire.
Training would have helped so I was pretty winded, cramped a bunch, but completed successfully all of the obstacles except 1! … (dropped a log… lame.)
It is an interesting view of how I as a Christian man have compared myself to men who don’t follow Christ and no wonder I feel inadequate at times. My identity isn’t in Christ in those times and I define myself by the wrong standards. Grateful for this conversation and the future lives that I pray are influenced by this discussion.
http://www.savagerace.com/savage-race-obstacle-race-course-map
Shriveled Richard – I love it! Always wanted to do one of those races or something similar like the Warrior Dash. Maybe I’ll go sign up for one soon!
I’m not a man. However, I lead a group of young adult guys in bible study weekly, who are all like younger brothers to me, and I really enjoyed reading John Sowers’s book, “Fatherless Generation, redeeming the Story.”
Some weeks ago, I played this movie for the guys to watch. It was produced by the Christian rapper, Lecrae and his 116 clique, I believe. Anyways, the message about manliness is this:
Reject passivity, accept responsibility and lead courageously and invests eternally.
My dad is a great example of what a man should look like! He works hard, showers my mom with affection, helps her around the kitchen and other chores, and he’s very caring and supportive of me and my siblings.
What a great message on manliness from Lecrae. I hope that sticks with your students – those would be incredible principles to base a manly life on. Thank you Diana for teaching a new generation of young men on how to lead!
So I’m guessing Chad was the winner of this contest since we were the only ones to respond?
Negative, I was not the winner.
Chad and Diana – thanks so much for your responses. To be honest I had completely let the book giveaway slip my mind because of the small response to the contest! If you are still interested I would be happy to send the both of you a copy of the book to make it up to you. Just reply back to let me know if you are still interested. My apologies, and thanks again.
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Yea, that would be great! Thank you!
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