It’s Tough To Be A Man In God’s Economy

Chapter One Men Wrestle With The World Every Day

What issues, related to God affect men the most?

In my humble opinion, the fundamental reason that it is tough to be a man in God’s economy rests in the very nature of man. From the very beginning, it seems that man has had a problem obeying God. In Genesis 2:16-17, God commanded Adam saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Since we know, in fact, that Adam did eat of the tree, which word in this command from God do you think Adam did not understand? In Genesis 3:12, Adam shows us a foreshadowing of man’s inability to take responsibility for his actions: Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” It appears in this statement that Adam is blaming both Eve and God!

This pattern of man fighting God is woven throughout the bible from Genesis, as we have just seen, even though Romans 9:20, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Is it that difficult to understand that based upon the history and quality of man’s relationship with God, his relationship with the world would be similar in nature. And, if this is the kind of relationship man has when God is in his life, what can we say of those who do not have God in their lives!

I believe that the issues that affect men the most are surrounded by three basic desires found in 1John 2:16, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. “

I remember when I graduated from high school, I told all my friends that I was going to be a rock star, a millionaire, own my dream car (1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS 427), have the perfect marriage and have enough money to buy anything I wanted at any time. These are all lofty goals, but purely anchored in the world. Looking back at those predictions, I can now report to you that I did not become a rock star, I am not a millionaire, in fact, I have once again climbed out of the mountain of debt that I created for myself. I never got my dream car, and my perfect marriage ended in divorce. Now, what about your high school predictions? I need to set a sidebar here for a moment. Although my first marriage ended in a disaster, compounded by the knowledge that it was my first wife who led me to Christ, my second wife (a Christian woman with a strong love of God and a servant’s heart) has helped me realize that through all my struggles with God, He has been right, and I have been wrong. I am proud to say that this year my wife and I have celebrated 30 years of putting up with each other, which demonstrates to me that God does have a sense of humor (just kidding, love you honey). Where do men go to for answers in the world? I would suggest that the current reigning champion response to this question would be the world’s media stage, in particular, the Internet and Social Media. Please make sure that you underline this following statement: “Social Media is everywhere, and no one is immune to its effect.” In a recent study by CNBC, Facebook alone had more monthly users (1.28 billion) than there are people in India—the world's second-most populous country (1.24 billion).

Social media are available on your computer, cell phone, tablet, T.V., in bars, restaurants, bookstores, coffee shops, schools, libraries, - get the idea. However, social media are only a gateway to more extensive platforms of information.

Broadcast television that began operating sometime in the late 1940’s had a very limited number of channels to choose from, largely because the center of control was in the hands of a few corporate giants who wanted to control the programming that went out across its network. However, the cable-broadcasting network began in 1948 in Pennsylvania as a way to provide television broadcast signals to rural areas where traditional broadcast reception was poor.

From there, the growth was astounding. In 1975, Time-Warner introduced HBO (Home Box Office), satellite pay subscription service that would be carried on existing cable systems.

In 1976, Ted Turner launched TBS (Turner Broadcasting System), the first nation-wide satellite channel. Interestingly enough, a year later CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) became the second nation-wide channel. As a major revenue generator, cable television service grew at a much faster pace than traditional broadcast television. Fast forward to 2014, and the availability of programming for cable and satellite systems seems unending. Most cable systems offer up to a thousand or more channels twenty-four hours a day. At the very least, we might say that this is information overload. At most, we might say that television has become the most time-consuming medium in the history of mankind. That is except for one other venue, the Internet.

Let me say at this point that I have spent the better part of my life involved with media technology. As a Media Specialist, Television Production, and Photography instructor, I am well aware of the impact that this medium has had. But in my twenty-year career, I have seen nothing that has come close to the overwhelming attraction that the Internet has had on this society. Having worked with computers since the early 1990’s, the exponential growth of this medium astounds me and at the same time creates in me a serious level of trepidation towards the everyday user, especially young men with inquiring and impressionable minds.