Activating The Dormant Masculine Gender

Seventy-seven years ago, Clive Staples Lewis skillfully confronted what he considered to be an opposing cultural force, the education of men. In my view, we must develop bold, simple strategies and tactics to confront this influence in our day. In his classic, The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis stated the issue in very simple terms: “��the difference between the old and the new education in a word, the old was a kind of propagation---men transmitting manhood to men; the new is merely propaganda.” Take a moment and consider that transcendent concept, “propagation---men transmitting manhood to men.” Perhaps we should “give this a go”.

Some forty years later Dr. Ed Cole, the man who inextricably altered the course of my life, expressed many of the same concerns as our old pal, C.S. Lewis. In his classic, Maximized Manhood, Dr. Cole identified the emasculated male as the result of cultural influences on the masculine gender. He then demonstrated and reminded many of us of what we seemed to inherently know, Christlikeness and Manhood were synonymous. In short, “making disciples”, or simple obedience to Christ’s teaching was the key…men transmitting Christlikeness to men.

In The Abolition of Man, Lewis also confronted modern attempts to debunk moral values embraced by traditional Christianity. He strongly advocated that children must be trained in “ordinate affections”, to like and to dislike what they ought and to love the good and to hate the bad. Lewis believed such values were universal but did not develop automatically in children. Anyone who has ever been a parent would surely know all about “ordinate affections”, but perhaps by a different name.

C.S. Lewis unknowingly summed up our 2021 situation with this: “In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings to be fruitful.” In other words, we have created a culture of spiritual eunuchs.

Both Dr. Cole and C.S. Lewis refer to “missing testicles” (spiritual) as the problem with Christian manhood. I think that I remember Dr. Cole saying, in referring to emasculated men at a conference, “Jesus had a set!”. It was a truly unforgettable Christian Men’s Network event. With all of this in mind, one of our greatest challenges will be neutralizing the effect of EMS, effeminate man syndrome, as well as its side effects LSS, or linguine spine syndrome.

The renewed Promise Keepers vision places Christian men on the cusp of some truly remarkable exploits for Our King. The necessary spinal implants and testosterone injections (spiritual) will come largely as the result of local small group ministry of “making disciples” just like Jesus did it. The more “we follow the Jesus model”, the more we are likely to be transformed into His likeness. I believe our old pals C.S. Lewis and Dr. Cole were right, “propagation---men transmitting manhood to men” is a simple yet effective strategy. That sounds like a tactic that a Promise Keeper could put into practice wherever they lived. 1 Cor 16:13; Romans 12:1-2.

Barney Barnes, 08-14-21, Promise Keepers National Ambassador for the Military and Prisons