Here's a post for all of you who are raising boys. They're a blessing and a handful, and they need strong male role models in their lives. My son wakes his mommy up with a hug. He often wakes me up with a punch in the gut or a pillow to the face. Boys have different needs than girls, but until they're often raised in a vacuum of male influence. I'm blessed with a Godly Dad who taught me from both his successes and mistakes, who still gives me pocketknives and puts ice down my shirt. I hope I'm doing the same with my son. But Dads can only provide part of the picture...
Our boys need a whole team of men if they're to grow into a man. I can think of numerous men who've influenced me from early in my childhood. There were several great men at Metropolitan Baptist, Mr. Shuttleworth in Middle School, Mr. Sell, Mr. Pierce, and Tagg in High School, and others as well. None of them were perfect, but all of them were
fishers of men.
A recent post by Brett at the
Art of Manliness got me thinking about all of this. He writes,
The gender imbalance for Christian churches has continued to increase. In 1952, the ratio of female to male active church goers was 53/47; now it is 61/39, and the complaint that the culture of Christianity is overly feminized remains. But churches continue to try to attract men into the fold, with attempts that range from the sincere and thoughtful...to the patently ridiculous...
The numbers aren’t too rosy when it comes to education either. In the last 30 years the percentage of male teachers in elementary schools has fallen...The number is even lower for pre-k and kindergarten teachers; only 2% are male. While more male teachers can be found in secondary schools, there has been a decline there as well...
Brett's article is worth reading, and he talks about the challenges that industrialization and divorce have put on raising young men.
One thing I'm thankful for nowadays are the good men that my son will learn from. Our church is one where the kids and adults mix regularly. Harrison has frequent talks, handshakes, and high-fives from the men of our church. It's important to me as a dad.
Does your son have a resource of Godly men that he'll be able to draw from over the years? If you're a dad, what does your son see as your priority on a given Sunday?
