Gillette's recent "toxic masculinity" ad has once again sparked a discussion in our country about what it means to be a man. I've read opinions of those in and out of The Church both supporting and attacking the ad and the ideas within. But all the noise got me curious about what Jesus Christ himself taught about being a man, and what our church's official doctrine is. My intent is not to politicize scripture, but just share what I found.
Many feel threatened by the ad, claiming that it is an attack on men in general, and I don't think that was their intent at all. Masculinity can be positive. In the scriptures, The Lord asked his disciples what manner of men they ought to be, and then answered, "Even as I am." What kind of a man was Jesus? Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave a great talk in October 2006 called "Let Us Be Men." He talks about the Savior's attributes that we, as men, should try to emulate. According to Christofferson, "Jesus rejected temptation. The Savior was obedient. Jesus 'went about doing good.' The Savior was fearless in opposing evil and error." In the 1999 talk "Behold the Man," first counselor in the presiding bishopric Richard C. Edgley said "I suppose it is natural for us to equate strength, machoism, and maybe even boisterous and aggressive behavior with manhood. However, the attributes of true manhood are not necessarily physical." When we compare the world's view of masculinity with the gospel view of masculinity, it's easy to spot the differences. Gillette's ad encourages men to stand up for others, to not encourage aggression and violence, to speak out against sexual harassment, and to set good examples. Where does that conflict with what the Savior taught? To close with Elder Christofferson's words, "He gave his life to redeem mankind. Surely we can accept responsibility for those He entrusts to our care. Brethren, let us be men, even as He is."
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I read a little thing this week that made me happy, and made me think.
It comes from Isaiah 54:2. Here's what it says: "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;" This scripture is often thought of in the context of missionary work. Sharing the gospel to all the world, the growing church, etc. But my mind took it in a different direction this time. I thought more about the change that is going to have to happen in all of our hearts as the church grows. I imagine this direction to make the tent bigger was given before it was apparent why. Can't you imagine God saying, "Enlarge the place of thy tent!" and the people saying, "Why? It's big enough for everyone already!" Our doctrine states that as the world get closer to the Second Coming of Christ, the church will grow too. That will require a lot of physical and spiritual expansion. The gospel is meant to encompass everybody. People will (and do) join the church who have very different ideas than me. People will (and do) join the church whose philosophies and politics I dislike. People will (and do) join the church whose personalities grate on me. People of different races and sexual orientations than me will join (and have joined) the church too. And to sum it up, I think what this scripture is saying is "make room." I'm certainly not arguing that everyone is perfect just the way they are. The core of the gospel is repenting and changing to become better. What I'm saying is, we need to give everyone the space they need to come into the tent and experience Christ for themselves. Christ's love is big enough to give everyone a chance. Am I? Just last night, the office of special counsel Robert Mueller disputed Buzzfeed's breaking news report from yesterday that President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. The special counsel's office said the story was "not accurate," but Buzzfeed stands by their reporting. Who's telling the truth?
Truth today is so volatile. Lying and fraud seem to have become second nature in our culture, and the internet makes it easy. How can we know what/who the reliable sources of information are? Jesus Christ teaches us this lesson in Matthew 7: "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Fruits, not roots. Internet shame culture judges people by things they did and said years ago rather than by who they are today. Christ would have us discern truth by looking at actions and consequences, not history. The same applies when seeking spiritual truths. Analyze how a teaching or practice changes you. If it moves you to do good, brings you closer to Heavenly Father, makes your actions more Christlike, inspires, uplifts, enlightens, it is of God. In my religion class this week, our professor drew our attention to the biblical rule of threes. Many, many, many times in the bible people, teachings, and phenomena will occur in sets of three. In Hebrew, saying something multiple times is an intensifier, like "holy holy is the Lord." But repeating something three times is the ultimate intensifier. "Wo, wo wo unto Jerusalem" is equivalent to saying Jerusalem is the woest. The most wo. This is like if Little Ceasar's "Extra Most Bestest" pizza was just called "pizza pizza pizza."
In Moses 1, after Satan tempts Moses to doubt himself and worship the devil, Moses tells Satan three times (in verses 16, 18, and 20 for those playing along at home) to depart. The "extra most bestest" of get-out-of-heres. But here's the twist: it doesn't work. Not until Moses commands the devil to leave in the name of the only begotten does Satan leave him alone. What does this teach us? Invoking Christ's name and authority was more powerful than the extra-most-bestest command Moses could come up with on his own. This is one more bullet point on the long list of scriptural cases where man's best efforts prove to be futile until Christ's power is added into the mix. This same chapter also teaches us that we are great, mighty children of our Heavenly Father with infinite potential - but at the same time, we are nothing without our older brother, Jesus Christ.
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