"We're Looking For A Few Good Men"

"Be alert, stand firm in the faith, act like a man, be strong.  Your every action must be done with love" (1 Cor. 16:13-14, HCSB). 
"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible [i.e., the "outward appearance" per KJV], but the LORD sees the heart"  (1 Sam. 16:7, HCSB).
"God doesn't call us to success, but to faithfulness." --Mother Teresa of Calcutta, canonized by Rome and recipient of 1979 Nobel Peace Prize

THE POST TITLE IS FROM THE USMC RECRUITING REGISTERED TRADEMARK SLOGAN, AND THE NAME OF A TOM CRUISE, JACK NICHOLSON MOVIE ENTITLED, "A FEW GOOD MEN."  

We shall see men in the light of Jesus' standard, which is the true measure of a man.  

That used to be the rallying cry or catchphrase of the US Marine Corps until women were allowed (How macho can it be if women can do it (LOL!), assuming they don't lower their standards?), then they changed it to "the few, the proud, the Marines."  It's quite ironic that you can become a cook in the Marines and or a medic and think that requires some special manly or exclusive, especially masculine skill set or mindset--the image is all psychological and social.  One tends to think of grunts, jar heads, or warriors--a lean, mean, fighting machine!  But just being in the Marines is an attitude and they always say, "Once a Marine, always a Marine!"  They take special pride in their catchphrase "Semper Fi," Latin for always faithful.   Marines also pride themselves in believing pain is weakness leaving the body!   My dad was one and he never once talked about it, but it seemed he raised us like he thought we should be ones.

We must commence by defining terms so as not to cause any undue misunderstanding by connotation.  Voltaire said, "If you want to converse with me, define your terms!"  So many disagreements could be settled this way because many quarrels are mere problems of semantics or a failure to communicate.  Don't they know that to be "good," any religion will do; Christ didn't come to make bad men good, but dead men alive!

Now to the title of a few good men.  Don't they tolerate "bad" men?  Depends upon connotations and denotations.  Does this imply that the Marines have a monopoly on good men or that if you are a Marine you are a good man?  Aren't the men of the other services also good in a sense?  Are there only a few of them?  You would think that the more good men, the better!  By good, they probably mean disciplined, intelligent, teachable, moral, patriotic, and very physically able.  Obviously, their boot camp is known to be more rigorous than Army basic training and is longer in duration though.

Jesus said that only God is good and that we are evil!  God doesn't grade on a curve!  Only by human standards can man be considered good and goodness is only relative (as if God were to grade on a curve and compared to Saddam Hussein, we are saints!).  By our standards, we sometimes call men good but this kind of goodness can be found in any religion--do-goodery or becoming goody-goodies.  God is good and the gold standard of goodness we measure us all by--the bar is pretty high and let's not lower it to make us look good.  The word is commonly becoming misused nowadays and people refer to themselves in the first person as being good--"I'm good!" That remark has no predicate and no one knows what is good: his accent?  Misuse only confuses issues and muddles the truth.  But we must become aware of the real meaning of the term too and not be part of the problem, but of the solution! 

I've heard of people referring to someone as a good Christian or a bad Christian in comparison, but these terms are unbiblical and there aren't even so-called carnal Christians as some subset of the category of believer--all believers can be spiritual or carnal at any given time and in or out of fellowship due to unconfessed sin--this isn't a problem for the few, but all.  The problem is that some believers haven't learned to walk with God and stay in touch with the Spirit or are just immature or infants in Christ.  We all need to grow up and be patient with less mature believers because we have been there and should relate not condemn.  In discernment, remember your humanness and their spirituality or position in Christ.  We are all works in progress so to speak and must realize God isn't finished with any of us yet!  Note that the Bible delineates all 52 known virtues that one should cultivate and these are applicable to both genders--courage, integrity, fairness, justice, temperance, self-control, etc.

To define terms spiritually we speak of obedience as the measure of faith and we are all committed to it as a condition of discipleship.  Obviously we can know them by their fruits!  Obedience is the more easily recognized, not one's internal spiritual state.  However, when people often speak of bad Christians they are usually talking of hypocrites or nominal believers (in name only) and don't think they are walking the walk, though they talk the talk.  One condition of salvation is sincerity--without which there is none; it's necessary but not sufficient.  There are those sincerely wrong!  What matters also is that the heart is in the right place, even more than one's doctrine be impeccable.

We are all good Christians in the sense of following Christ in obedience, for no Christian is truly a hypocrite---God has no dealing with them and Christ hated duplicity. In another vein, we are all bad Christians in the sense of falling short and not measuring up to Christ's perfect standards and being sin-free--William Jay of Bath said that he was a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior!  Everyone that is biblically savvy knows Paul referred to himself as the "chief of sinners!"   John Bunyan wrote his famed autobiographical book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, alluding to Romans 5:21 and 1 Tim. 1:15 to show his falling short, not emphasizing his spirituality, nor to glorify his past or sinfulness--it was a work in humility.  Sinless perfection this side glory is unattainable (cf. Psa. 119:96; Prov 20:9).  Some Christians will be the first to tell you they are hypocrites!   We must get away from the "let's compare" mindset and start realizing that compared to Christ we all fall short.  Jesus said to be perfect like the Father is perfect, meaning that perfection is the never attainable standard, but direction is the test.

There are godly standards of a so-called "good man" should strive to have.  It doesn't mean marriageable or husband material--but he is faithful and reliable with a proven track record that speaks for itself!  Women are looking for them and wonder what to look for or where to find them!   A good man isn't one who is necessarily impressed with his machismo or how "tough" he is.  He certainly isn't a bully!  He is like Jesus in many ways or in the process.  In Christ's humiliation and subordination, he emptied Himself of the independent usage of His Deity or divine nature and submitted to the Father's will, known as the kenosis in Koine (Greek).

Jesus was manly (even a man's man), for example, was gentle and He and Moses were called this in Scripture (gentlemen is a word of compliment!), which implies He had his strength under control and in restraint or never lost control of Himself.   But one thing for sure:  Jesus was no people-pleaser.   NB:  We must never equate good men as men of the world or successes in the eyes of the world; e.g., achieving the American dream or having a degree of education or scholastic merit or achievement.  God doesn't want our achievements--He wants us and our obedience in God's will! What is honorable in the eyes of the world is often despised in God's eyes! 

All Christians are called to be submissive to authority and respectful but not doormats--they know how to stand up for what they believe and fly their Christian colors!  We must all stand up and be counted for Jesus or we are not with Him--as Christ said, "If you are not with Me, you are against Me."  Jesus was a magnet to other men and therefore the fisher of men and also good with children and that's why they were drawn to Him.  There are many godly or Christian qualities to admire in men and no man has all of them.  It's the role of the Holy Spirit to make a believer holy or mature in Christ after His image and likeness and He does it by doing away with everything that's un-Christlike, not resembling Jesus.  Jesus was a leader of men extraordinaire, but to be a good leader one must first be a follower and that's why He asked us to follow Him.

You ask me what the measure of a man is:  how a man lives for Christ's glory and knows his purpose in life; a man with vision or one with a plan!  No one should be a nowhere man not knowing where he's going or what he wants to do with his life!  He is purpose-oriented and makes goals that are achievable, realistic, measurable, time-specific, and spiritually focused.  In other words, he's not concentrating his efforts and desires on selfish ambition but in serving God.  He doesn't necessarily have big plans or goals for himself but for God's glory.  As Baptist preacher William Carey preached:  "Expect Great Things from God; Attempt Great Things for God."  With God, we can do anything, even move mountains.

The measure of a man in God's view is not his stature, looks, clothing, talents, aptitudes, possessions, sex appeal or prowess, athleticism, physical appearance, build or physique; however, according to Proverbs, the glory of a young man is his strength, but of an old man, his wisdom!  We all should be known for our faith being expressed by our love in action.  That means all that matters is that God is on His side and with Him in what he's doing and that way he cannot lose--he's in a win-win situation and never a no-win one.  Job was told to brace himself like a man and men are not to assume the feminine role in society but identify with their own gender, neither must he be effeminate, wimpy, or a pushover--able to assert himself.  NB: Scripture frowns upon "girlie" men, so God expects men to act like men!  Is it any wonder men bond so easily--they should have much in common and I'm sure there was plenty of bonding that Jesus did with His disciples too. 

Never discount or count a man of God out who is in God's will!  No one for whom Christ died is a loser in God's eyes or worth nothing--a good-for-nothing!  Christ is the only One who has something to say to so-called losers and the down and out--there's hope!  There are no hopeless cases, only those who've given up hope.  The answer to how to become a good man is to become a godly one, doing good and avoiding evil, who is mature in Christ and focused on His will--never underestimate the power of what God can do with someone dedicated and sensitive to His will!  It takes fortitude and grit to dare to stand alone, gallantry, even guts or mettle!  It is a noble undertaking that shows faith in action and creeds translated into deeds.  Dare to follow Christ and do His will!  He challenges us all to follow in His steps to our individual crosses, dying to self or saying "no" to Satan and self before saying "yes" to Him.  The world needs more of these men who are taking their cues from God, not the culture!  And who are willing to step up to assume their spiritual roles as models and mentors in the church, family, one's circle of influence, and even society at large.

In the final analysis, Christ is beyond our analysis; we cannot put Him in a box, and can only know Him but not fully comprehend Him, figure Him out; He cannot be adequately described but only known.  (For the finite cannot contain the infinite, the ancient axiom goes.)  In short, we cannot put Christ in a box or peg Him psychologically or personally and must not define a so-called good man in any certain terms without some reservations--we're all at different stages of development and cannot compare ourselves with each other.    Soli Deo Gloria!