It doesn’t matter where, but I came across this blurb on a web site recently:
“Our goal is building biblical men who will be Christ-centered leaders in their families, churches and communities.”
Here’s a sincere question. What exactly is a biblical man?
Is it a man who reads the Bible? If so, there are hundreds of millions of biblical men all over the world, including me. The designation “biblical” seems to lose its meaning if it applies to virtually every male who has picked up a Bible. Even atheists read the Bible. Surely an atheist is not a “biblical man.”
Is it a man who attempts to live up to the high moral bar set by the best parts of the Bible? There are many such men, and they do not all read the Bible regularly, or even believe its contents.
So perhaps it is a man who reads and believes the Bible. Believes what? For many, it’s not enough to believe or even to act; one must believe exactly the correct things. If the content of one’s belief makes him biblical, what precisely are the beliefs one must hold to be biblical?
Is it a man who behaves like the men in the Bible? Nearly all the men in the Bible exhibited behavior not easily defended. Is Judas a “biblical man?” In the end, how much better than Judas are you?
Is it a man who behaves like Christ? I submit such a man, aside from Christ himself, does not exist. If it is a man who attempts to behave like Christ, fair enough. We should all make this attempt.
And what about the women? Is a biblical woman different from a biblical man? In what ways? Just curious.
Rodney Dunning is a physics professor at Longwood University in Farmville, Va. He attends Farmville Baptist Church, which is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. This column appeared previously on his blog.
