Article
Punching Life in the Mouth? Why Christian Manhood Isn’t About Machismo
Christian manhood cannot be grounded in a cultural masculinity script (aggression, dominance, avoidance of the “feminine”), because such scripts are durable cultural constructions rather than biblical categories. What the church owes Christian men is discipleship — learning to live under the authority of Christ — not a “masculinity” that functions as a de facto rival authority.
Cultural Masculinity Script
Biblical Discipleship
Source of Authority
Cultural consensus
Christ’s authority (Matt 28:18)
Telos
Conformity to a cultural script of manhood
Conformity to Christ (Rom 8:29)
Posture Toward the “Feminine”
Avoid it
Welcome what is true and good wherever it appears
Posture Toward Weakness
Hide it; project strength
Weakness as the site of God’s strength (2 Cor 12:9)
Primary Orientation
Success, achievement, dominance
Self-giving service on behalf of others (Phil 2:1–11)
Response to Conflict
Adventure; violence when necessary
Patient, cruciform faithfulness
Applies To
Males (with inverse pressure on females)
All disciples — embodied differently by sex
About the Author — James Spencer, PhD, is a theologian, author, and host of the Thinking Christian podcast, where he writes and speaks on Christian formation, political theology, and technology. He holds a PhD in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and an MA in Biblical Exegesis from Wheaton College. He serves as president of the D. L. Moody Center in Northfield, Massachusetts, as an Associate Research Fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology, and as adjunct faculty in Wheaton College’s MA in Leadership program. His forthcoming book is Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Learn more at thinkingchristian.org.