Why Men Matter, Part 1

A land becomes cursed when men cannot be located, even when males are everywhere.

Dr. Tony Evans says the future of our society depends on understanding the difference between those terms. The desperate need of today is to call males back to being men, as God defines a man, not as the culture defines him. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is the alternative with Dr. Tony Evans. Author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Urban Alternative. The very idea of masculinity these days is thought of as, at best, outdated, and at worst, downright evil. But today, Dr. Evans begins a new series of messages that redefine the term from a biblical perspective, and explains why it's a vital ingredient in God's recipe for humanity.

Let's join him. One of the dominant questions of today can be recited simply by asking, Adam, where you at? The missing man has become the crisis of the day. Not the missing male, the missing man.

It is the question of the single woman who can't find a worthwhile man to marry. It's the question of the single parent who's been abandoned by the father of her children. And she wants to know, Adam, where you at? It's that child who has to grow up with a physically or emotionally absent father. And he's asking the question, however he phrases it, Adam, where you at? It's the question of churches and pastors who have to keep calling on ladies to do jobs that men ought to do because the men are missing in action. And the question is, Adam, where you at? As I stood in a prison a couple of months ago, speaking to a group of prisoners in the male jail, and I asked them, all of you who grew up without a father in your life raised your hand, and 90% of the hands went up. So as I looked at them, I wondered, Adam, where you at?

I was talking to, this week, a teacher in one of our public schools, and he told me, I'm resigning this year, I can't take it anymore. He was talking about the rebellion, the insubordination, the lack of respect coming from the students in his classroom. And the question is, Adam, where you at? Because they didn't have a father. So the question on the floor is, Adam, where you at?

We're living in a day when men have become domesticated or abusive. And the question on the floor is, Adam, where you at? We're living in a day of terrorism, where violence due to the absence of the conscience and the dumbing down of decency has raised again the question, Adam, where you at? But worst of all, worse than all of that, is that God is asking the question, Adam, where are you? Now, if God can't find Adam, then you shouldn't be shocked, we can't find him either.

Adam, where are you? Now, God is omniscient. He knows all. God is omnipresent. He exists everywhere simultaneously. So God's question about where Adam was, was not fundamentally a question of location. He knows where Adam is located.

He's the one in the garden with him. So the question that I am raising, that God raises with the first Adam, and the Hebrew word for Adam means earth, for he was created from the earth. The woman was not created from the earth. She was created from Adam. Now, that's a deeper point that we'll get to later, but Adam is earth and God says, where are you?

Now, let me tell you what was at the heart of the question. At the heart of the question, where are you, was not fundamentally a question of location, it was a question of position. See, Adam had abandoned his role. He had abandoned his calling. He had abandoned his position.

So the question of where are you is a question of positioning. Ezekiel chapter 22 verse 30, God says, I was looking for a man to stand in the gap so I would not have to curse the land, but I could find none. There were plenty of males, but he said, I can't find a man. So apparently you can be a male and not be a man. And he says, because I couldn't find a man, I had to curse the land.

So a land becomes cursed when men cannot be located, even when males are everywhere. Adam had abandoned his position, and so the desperate need of today is to call males back to being men as God defines a man, not as the culture defines it. And so I want to speak with you about answering the question about the position of a man.

Adam, where are you? Now, ladies, there are going to be two reactions to what I say today. Some of you will be frustrated because you will be thinking, oh, here we go with this man thing. Others of you will be ecstatic because the man in your life or the one you hope comes along will man up to God's definition. Here is the first thing that you need to understand about a man, and that is that it is a position of priority.

I know some won't like that, but this is not a popularity meeting. It is a position of priority because God says in 1 Timothy 2 verse 12, God created Adam first, and then he created Eve. The word first. First has to do with order.

First has to do with progress in time. Adam and Eve were not created at the same time. Adam first, then Eve. God spends a whole chapter, Genesis 2, discussing Adam before Eve is ever created for Adam.

Why? Because it would be the man who would be responsible. The man was created first because God would hold him responsible. Even though it was Adam and Eve in the garden hiding from God, God didn't say, Adam and Eve, where are y'all?

He said, Adam, where are you? Because you are responsible. If you're going to be God's man, then you're going to have to accept responsibility for everything he brings behind you, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, because you first.

You know how we tell our oldest child, particularly if it's a boy, you're the oldest. Holding you responsible. When God looks at a man, he says, I hold you responsible. They don't fire teams, they fire coaches. The coach doesn't drop the ball, fumble the ball, miss the block.

The coach doesn't do any of that, but he is the one who gets fired because he is responsible for having the team ready to play. So if you are a man, if you are a male, God says, I'm holding you responsible, even if it's not your fault. See, it may not even be your fault, but I'm holding you responsible for fixing it. The heart of being God's man means adopting responsibility.

Why? Because everything that comes after that is banking on you. God says in Malachi chapter 4, verses 4 through 6, he says, there will be a messenger who will come who will restore the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers so that I will not have to curse the land. So if our culture is declining, while we can discuss all the peripheral, political, sociological, racial, we can discuss all of those reasons why the culture is declining, but what God says is, first, on the front end, where's the man? As you've heard me say, if you're a messed up man and you have a family, you're going to help make a messed up family. But if you're a messed up man contributing to a messed up family and your messed up family goes to church, then your messed up family is going to make its contribution to a messed up church. If you're a messed up man contributing to a messed up family resulting in a messed up church and your church is supposed to be the light to the neighborhood, then your messed up church is going to make its contribution to a messed up neighborhood. If you're a messed up man contributing to a messed up family resulting in a messed up church causing a messed up neighborhood and your neighborhood is part of the city, when that your messed up neighborhood is going to make its contribution to a messed up city, if you're a messed up man contributing to a messed up family resulting in a messed up church causing a messed up neighborhood that resides in a messed up city and your city is part of the county, when that your messed up city is going to make its contribution to a messed up county, if you're a messed up man contributing to a messed up family resulting in a messed up church causing a messed up neighborhood that resides in a messed up city that's part of a messed up county and your county is part of the state, when that your messed up county is going to make its contribution to a messed up state, if you're a messed up man contributing to a messed up family, resulting in a messed up church, causing a messed up neighborhood that resides in a messed up city, that's part of a messed up county contributing to a messed up state, and your state's part of the country. Well, now your messed up state's going to make its contribution to a messed up nation. If you're a messed up man contributing to a messed up family, resulting in a messed up church, causing a messed up neighborhood, that resides in a messed up city, that's part of a messed up county, that's contributing to a messed up state, that contributes to a messed up country, and your country's part of the world.

Well, now your messed up country is going to make its contribution to a messed up world. So if you want a better world composed of better countries inhabited by better states because they're made up of better counties composed of better cities inhabited by better neighborhoods illuminated by better churches that are made up of better families, we got to start by becoming better men because it all rests on the position of the man. Dr. Evans will have more about why men matter when he returns in just a moment.

Stay with us. When the world says to man up, they're talking about things you can see money, status, social media followers. What does God say to be a man and rise up in society, you can't leave God out of it. It's the difference between good and great. See, greatness isn't achieved.

It's demonstrated every single day. Society is a million middle moments done well. In his sequel to the best selling Kingdom Man, Tony Evans' Kingdom Men Rising challenges men to overcome the obstacles in their way in order to leave a legacy of influence. Get the book Kingdom Men Rising to discover how you can do just that.

Find out more at TonyEvans.org. Also makes a great gift. And in celebration of the release of this much anticipated and powerful new book, we've created a special limited-time package of resources. It starts with Dr. Evans' brand-new Kingdom Men Rising book that can help you overcome temptation, find restoration from sin, and inspire you to create a legacy of faith and godly influence around you. Along with the book, we're also including all 12 full-length messages from the current Kingdom Men Rising series, available to you both on CD and digital download. This entire resource package is our gift to you, and thanks for your donation that helps us keep Tony's teaching here on this station. And if you want to explore this topic even further, Dr. Evans has created a custom Bible study that goes hand-in-hand with the entire Kingdom Men Rising material. To request your copy of this powerful package, simply go online to TonyEvans.org, get the details, make your donation, and begin your instant download of the audio messages while we get the book and other materials sent out to you. Again, that's TonyEvans.org. Or you can call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222, where one of our friendly team members will be happy to help you with your request. I'll repeat that contact information for you after part two of today's message.

Here's Tony. Because the man was first, he is to function as the foundation. When you are building a house, the first thing you do is pour a foundation. Because anything else you bring into that house is banking on it holding. If the foundation collapses, everything on it collapses with it.

If the foundation is shaky, then the things that are banking on it to keep the windows and the doors and the roof in place get out of whack because the foundations aren't fancy, foundations aren't pretty, but they better be solid. When he says, I created Adam first, he's saying, you are the foundation and this whole ball of wax is banking on you. So in this day of male abandonment, male abuse, male disregard, male irresponsibility, we have cultural chaos. He says that man has a priority responsibility. Now, the foundation isn't the whole thing. That's where the woman comes in and we're going to get to that. But the foundation is always the first thing if you're building a building. And so God says that the man is not to be a weak part of the society, the house, the church, he's to be the foundation of it.

And while I know we live in a day when for many women this is not a popular thought, the goal is not to say, well, what are they saying in the culture? The goal is saying, what is God saying in his word? It says in that verse, verse 8, he was hiding from the presence of God.

Watch this, in the garden. Not only was he hiding from God in his house, because the garden was Adam's house, the place he lived, Adam went to the house to get the leaves to hide from God. So he used what God gave him to hide from God. He literally used God's blessing to run from God. Today we have men who want all the blessings of God and they use the blessings to hide from God. He says he was hiding from the presence of God in the garden.

So you can hide from God in church. So if you're going to be God's man, what I call God's kingdom man, then you and I, we, are going to have to accept the role, we're going to have to accept the role. To be a man, you've got to own the responsibility, you've got to own that. Now I realize that many men today do not have the privilege of having somebody in their life who have helped them to do that. You weren't raised with a father, you weren't given guidance by some other responsible male, and that wasn't your fault.

But it is your responsibility not to repeat it yourself, or else the cycle goes unbroken. They were hiding from the presence of the Lord and Adam was responsible. The heart of God's man is that he is operating underneath the authority and in the presence of God, not running from it. So then how does this man operate?

Adam, where are you? How does this kind of man roll? In chapter 2, verse 15, it says, then the Lord God took the man, because there's no woman yet, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden, that's his house, the Garden of Eden, to cultivate it and to keep it. He gives the man a job. He gives the man a house, places in the garden, that's his house, and he gives him a job.

Single women make it known early, if there is no finance, there won't be no romance. He gave him a place to live, he gave him a job to work before he gave him a woman to lead. An irresponsible man is not worthy to be a husband. Because if he ain't even taking care of him, why do you think he's going to take care of you?

But I want you to notice something man. He gave him a house, he gave him a place to live, he gave him a job, but notice, he told him to cultivate it. Ah, oh that's a different word, cultivate it.

See, he didn't just give him a job, he told him to be productive. See to cultivate something is to produce something more than what you start with. So if you're in farming, you take seeds, you farm the seeds, because you now want growth and plants. In other words, you want to be productive. In other words, you want more than what you start with. In other words, if a real man is going to have some vision, he doesn't just want to stay where he is, he wants to produce more than what he starts with.

So the question is not are you going to work, the question is are you productive in the work you do? Dr Tony Evans with an important message for men today, and he'll come back in a moment with a final thought on the unique purpose God has given us. First though, a quick reminder about that special offer I mentioned earlier. If you help us continue this broadcast by making a donation to the ministry, we'll say thanks by sending you all 12 messages in Tony's current series, Kingdom Men Rising, along with his powerful new book by the same name.

This is a limited time offer, so don't put it off. Drop by our website, tonyevans.org, where you can get all the details and make the arrangements. Or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222, where resource team members are available 24-7.

Again that's 1-800-800-3222. Those give us hope and inspiration and can always be counted on to do the right thing. Well tomorrow Dr. Evans says God has created a plan for ordinary men that when followed will give us real life characters to look up to and to be inspired by. Right now though, he's back to remind us that like Adam in the garden, God has called men to do more than simply hang out. You got a purpose.

Your purpose isn't just to be here, your purpose is to cultivate, to embellish, to enhance, to expand, to dream. Far too many men have lost their ability to dream, have lost their ability to see what is not yet, to look further than they can see. Now that's not the same for every man because every man doesn't do the same thing. But every man should be dissatisfied with things staying where they are. Because the calling on a man underneath God is to expand whatever God has placed in his hand and to multiply it to expand it. The alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.