Questions
Is Jesus the Paragon of Masculinity or the Paragon of Humanity?
Summary: Jesus is the paragon of humanity, not masculinity. His life, death, and resurrection reveal what a human being surrendered to God looks like—and categorizing his characteristics as specifically “masculine” creates the incoherent implication that women imitating Christ are imitating across a gender divide.
A significant number of voices within evangelical Christianity have argued that Jesus is the model for masculinity specifically. I believe such an assertion is difficult to sustain. If Jesus’s characteristics are masculine characteristics that men should cultivate (as is, at times, asserted), are we encouraging androgyny when we call women to conform to Christ’s image?
When Jesus’s human characteristics are categorized as masculine, it implies that women who want to imitate him are imitating across a gender divide. It suggests that they are in some sense being called to something that does not quite fit them. That is not what the New Testament teaches. Paul calls the whole church to imitate Christ (1 Cor 11:1). He does not add a footnote specifying which of Christ’s characteristics are for men and which are for women.
How would we go about distinguishing Christ’s masculinity from his faithfulness? Was Jesus mission-focused as a man, or as the Son of God? Was he bold because he was male, or because he knew who he was and whose he was? Was his willingness to submit to crucifixion an expression of masculinity, or of obedience to the Father? When the question is put directly, the answer is obvious: these characteristics belong to Jesus’s identity as the obedient Son, not to his biological sex.
Jesus was male. That is not trivial. It does not, however, mean that Jesus is more of an example for men than for women. He shows everyone what a life lived in obedience to the will of God looks like. Jesus shows us what full humanity surrendered to God looks like. Male disciples are not called to be masculine after the pattern of Jesus. They are called to be human, faithful, obedient, self-giving, after the pattern of Jesus. Jesus embodies that faithfulness as a male, but when he calls us to follow him, he is not asking us to be male as he was male, but to live under his authority as he lived under the authority of the Father.
Key Takeaways: Paragon of Humanity
- Scripture’s Call: Paul calls the whole church—men and women—to imitate Christ (1 Cor 11:1), without distinguishing which traits apply to which sex.
- The Logical Problem: If Christ’s virtues are gendered “masculine,” then women who imitate him are being called across a gender divide—a conclusion the NT never draws.
- The Right Distinction: Christ’s mission-focus, boldness, and obedience belong to his identity as the obedient Son, not to his biological sex.
- The “So What”: Male disciples are not called to be masculine after the pattern of Jesus; they are called to be human, faithful, obedient, and self-giving after the pattern of Jesus.
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 completed the Institute for Educational Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He serves as President of the D.L. Moody Center in Northfield, Massachusetts, as adjunct faculty in Wheaton College’s MA in Leadership program, and as an Associate Research Fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Christianity.com, and Sojourners; he has been quoted in The Telegraph; and he is a regular guest on Stand in the Gap Today with the American Pastors Network. His forthcoming book is Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press, Fall 2026). Learn more at jamesgspencer.com.