The Destructive Impact of Unrighteous Men

At some point in your life, you’ve probably seen news footage of angry women marching or protesting about women’s rights. Occasionally these are peaceful protests, but there are always participants who seem to be aggressively anti-men. They’re angry and want the world to know about it.

What happened in this country to create so many furious, hurt women?

Why have America’s male-female relationships taken such an incredibly bad turn in recent years?

Why do we keep hearing stories and seeing statistics about soaring divorce rates, both inside and outside the Church?

A good deal of the problem, of course, began in the Garden of Eden when sin entered the human race. There are many other spiritual and social factors, too.

But I believe there is one single greatest cause of the deteriorating relationships between men and women in America, and it is unrighteous men. When you see an angry, man-hating woman, you are almost always witnessing the result of the men who have most influenced her life.

Whether men like it or not, they must realize they’ve been entrusted by God with the leadership of families, churches, and society as a whole.

When men are righteous stewards of this authority and use their influence to provide for and protect those in their care, their spouses and children will reflect appreciation and contentment through their behavior.

Over the last few decades, we’ve moved away from the God-fearing, sacrificial mindset of the men who built this country. A strong work ethic, commitment to family values, and devotion to community is giving way to selfishness and corruption.

When men are lazy and ungodly, the women (and children) around them will begin to reflect the sins of these men. A rebellious and destructive culture mirrors the men in that society, from churches to homes to larger institutions.

Am I telling you this because I want to belittle men or start a round of male-bashing? Not at all! After all, I am a man, and we hear enough of that already.

But I think it’s important to consider the reasons why marriages are failing all around us. An honest assessment of the situation requires me to admit that men are a huge, huge part of the problem.

In Ephesians 5:25, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” The only solution to the lack of righteous male leadership in our homes today is for men to love women according to Christ’s model of sacrifice.

We don’t love Jesus because he commanded us to, or because he threatens us if we don’t. It is because he died for us. He sacrificed himself for us. We love him because we are grateful.

The same holds true between women and men. A sacrificial man is easy to love, and will make our society stronger. Over the next few post, we’ll dig deeper into this concept.