Cultivate and Watch Over

Cultivate & Watch Over:

One really powerful passage of Scripture I’ve really come to appreciate more and more comes from Acts 17:11, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

I’d like to encourage you to do just that whenever you hear, read, or learn something about the Bible. All men are flawed and it is lazy, careless, reckless, and irresponsible to simply take anything as truth without examining it fully.

I’ve often found that people tend to accept a teaching without ever really testing it against the whole of Scripture, but such was not the case of the “Berean Jews.” These folks heard what Paul had taught and they received it with “great eagerness,” but they didn’t stop there! They also “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

I’m participating in a Bible study series by LifeWay called “33 Authentic Manhood.” The “33” part is based on how old Jesus was when He died at the Cross for humanity. The basic idea of the study is that the biblical model of manhood is most evident in the life and person of Jesus Christ and that living like Christ is when males become “authentic” men.

Overall the study is excellent, but in Volume One section 2 in the section titled “Create and Cultivate” there are some pretty significant theological errors.

In the video segment Tierce Green states, “In Genesis God’s busy creating and cultivating and since we’re created in His image, well there you go! He designed us to create and cultivate.”

Because God is “busy creating and cultivating” does not equate to what it means for men to be made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27). God is not demonstrating “manhood,” but rather God is demonstrating omnipotence as God Almighty.

Like the Berean Jews, if one takes the time to read and research the verb “bara,” which is the word for “create” in Genesis, you can readily find stuff like this:

“It is true that in Scripture only God is the subject of the verb create (bara); men make (asah) things, but only God creates (bara).But God also makes (asah) things.” -answersingenesis.org

“The word bara’ is used exclusively for the activity of God in which he fashions something new and pristine… Its emphasis lies in the fact that what is produced is new and fresh and good and perfect. It does not produce something imperfect or incomplete... . We tend to use the word “create” to refer to a work of art, a masterpiece, something new and wonderful. For all the ordinary things, or inferior things, “make” serves very well.”  -christianleadershipcenter.org

Since Genesis 1:26-27 is referring to God’s activity in creating humanity (male and female) in Their (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) image and likeness - the take away from that section of Scripture is NOT what God made men/male’s to be, but rather what God made humanity to be and do.

My book, Up Down All Around, is specifically about the meaning of Genesis 1:26-27, and specifically what it means for humanity to be made in the image and likeness of God. Suffice it to say here that IMAGE = commUNITY (not individualism or autonomy), and LIKENESS = altruism (not selfishness or egocentrism).

There is a WONDERFUL passage of Scripture that specifically addresses God’s intended function for men/males. In Genesis 2:15 we read, “The LORD God took the man and dedicated him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate her and watch over her.”

When men/males understand that God’s design for us is to walk so closely with our Creator that we are then able to cultivate, minister, serve, watch over, guard, and protect the one woman whom God blesses us with, then it radically impacts our ministry and God-ordained purpose in life.

As we look at all the ways that cultures and societies define “manhood” we can readily see how satan has perverted God’s original plan, function, and design. Manhood is frequently defined as being physically tough, being emotionally disengaged, being spiritual dismissive, being mentally superior, and being the top/exclusive breadwinner.

While men are typically physically stronger than women, men are not physically tougher. Science has proven that women have stronger immune systems and a much higher pain threshold.

Men typically deal with emotions in very unhealthy ways. We tend to squash stuff because if we were to actually talk about stuff with someone -or- heaven forbid we actually cry… then the “men police” might show up at our door and confiscate our man-card. So we just withdraw and allow the stress of things to eat us up inside. The % of men under the age of 45 with high blood pressure is significantly higher than women.

Because faith is an intangible it is often criticized as being a “crutch” for the weak. Ravi Zacharias’ website RZIM.org notes, “Believers are often caricatured as being weak and naive — the kind of people who need their faith as a crutch just to get them through life.” Real men don’t want to come across as weak or pathetic and relying on some magical/mystical transcendent God we can’t see. Therefore, men frequently become spiritually dismissive and leave the “religious stuff” to the “weaker” sex, i.e. women.

Guys like to think that we’re tougher, smarter, and superior in virtually every way, but even when it comes to intelligence - women rock. According to a current study a woman currently has the highest I.Q. in the world, women consistently outperform men on I.Q. tests, and women account for about 60% of the bachelor degrees in the United States.

I have a Master’s degree and my wife has no college degree at all, yet because ministry positions don’t frequently pay much - my wife’s annual income is about 4x more than mine.

My point is that if men succumb to what culture and society tells us we’re supposed to be, then there’s little (if any) chance we can focus on and fulfill God’s ordained plan and purpose for our lives - to cultivate her and watch over her.

Genesis 2:15 is God’s design and purpose for men. He did not create us to rule over women, but to cultivate them by serving them without counting the cost and to watch over / guard / protect them so that when the enemy (satan) tries to lead them down a path of temptation and destruction - our job as men is to do what Jesus did: step in and crush the head of the serpent (see Gen 3:15).

So, men, you can conform to the pattern of the world and be defined by the size of your 4x4 truck or how fast your sports car goes, the number of guns and knives you own, the length and thickness of your beard, how many animals you’ve killed, or countless other worthless benchmarks that have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with God’s plan and purpose for men: to cultivate her and watch over her…  -OR- you can walk with God, study His word, pray for your wife (current or future), serve her in all things, lead her and your family in all things, and in doing so fulfill God’s mandate for your life as an authentic man by cultivating her and watching over her.

Blessings,

-Kevin