Find Their Strength in God
Foreword
The veteran apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy, who was trying to keep spiritually afloat in Ephesus, and addressed him as “Man of God.” It must have spoken volumes to young Timothy’s heart to know that his great mentor saw him in that light, despite his struggles. It is always marvelously encouraging to know that someone knows you and believes in you. So these words from the pen of David Roper will greatly enhearten those who seek to be men of God in these pressure-ridden days. For, as Dave says in his introduction, “I love men and I want to see them come into their own.”
Our church in Palo Alto still is being impacted by the men whom David Roper reached and discipled when he served on our pastoral staff. His work as College Pastor bore great fruit on the campus of Stanford University, and it is no surprise to me to see his present ministry as pastor of Cole Community Church in Boise reaching out to touch much of the state.
Few expositors have the ability, as David has, to open up a verse or even a phrase from Scripture and make it gladden the heart—or explode like a bomb in the brain! There is a freshness and honesty about David’s comments that always remind me of Oswald Chambers and his much-used My Utmost for His Highest. I predict that what Chambers did for my generation, Roper will do for the men of today’s world.
— Ray C. Stedman
the Meaning oF Man
Most of my friends consider themselves real men. They’re outdoorsmen and sportsmen. They hunt and fish. They hang their snowmobiles upside down under the snow cornices on West Mountain. They hie themselves across the deserts in 4x4s at what I consider terminal velocities. I have one friend who pulled a grizzly bear off his wife with his bare hands. I saw another ride a log down a canyon wall. He almost broke the sound barrier on the way down; he did break two ribs at the bottom. But to hear him tell it, it was the thrill of a lifetime.
Yet for all our macho, we men are uneasy about our manhood. None of us seems to know for sure what it means. We have to be told: Real men don’t eat quiche. They never bunt. They don’t have “meaningful dialogues.” And rarely do they think about the meaning of life. Real men love John Wayne, Monday Night Football, chain saws, and Coors.
These efforts to define our manhood are funny. They spoof the affectation and humbug with which we support our sagging male egos. Avoiding quiche is a good symbol of our uncertain sexuality. But what impresses me most is that it’s done, that we find it necessary to be told what it means to be a man. Our ignorance must be a measure of our confusion. Few of us understand that true manhood is not a matter of power displays and aggressiveness; it is a function of the activity of God. In the beginning it took God to make a man, and it still does.
We have a lot to learn about being men. I know I do. I doubt that many of our hunting and fishing buddies, for all their high jinks and good humor, can help us much. But there is One, the manliest man of all, who invites us to learn from Him. He wrote the book on
The Strength of a Man 9 13
the subject, the manual that goes with man. I offer some thoughts on that book and what it reveals about man. I share them because I love men and I want to see them come into their own. 9 14 9 David Roper