9.04.2006

clothed with power from on high

Paul urges us in 1Tim6:12 to "fight the good fight of faith". At some point I will have to discuss at length the battle imagery used by Paul throughout his letters. A concordance tells me that the word "fight" occurs some 106 times in the Word; "battle" another 186. This struggle between Lord's people and wicked, us and liar, us and ourselves is critical to our understanding of faith. On this I have no doubts.

Stands to reason, then, that an organization like this exists (click on "The Books" if you want the full identity), or that books like this become bestsellers. They tap into the male testosterone, which apparently runs near the place where righteous anger is stored -- I think it's left of the gall bladder. Anyway, read this review to get another take on the male faith phenomenon.

These things target men of faith and attempt to stir them to action, so no quibbles here. Not having read any of those books, I can only rely on summaries, reviews, and conversations to create this notion I have of what they're saying. I guess I still have these doubts about whether using muscle-fueled imageries of men makes sense given what I know about how the Lord works.

I mean, He makes a point of choosing Abel over Cain, Jacob over Esau, and David over his brothers. Part of it is to remove our reliance on our own physical strength and passion. Does He want barbarians, or does He want His strength made full through our weakness? I might be arguing with strawmen far removed from these movements. I could actually read the things if I was interested in arguing with non-straws, but I don't care to. What I need to learn about my faithwalk I'll get from Him directly.

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