Vol. XIII • 1991 http://www.creationism.org/csshs/v13n1p17.htm
Gentlemen
R E McMaster, Jr
Gentlemen
R E McMaster, Jr
God's laws line up with the nature of His creation, For this reason, God assigned men tasks commensurate with their created abilities. In the Old Testament, all authority was given to the patriarch except for the execution of a member of his own family. No one had more authority in the Old Testament than the patriarch of the family. In the New Testament, the instruction in God's law, the application of God's law is assigned to men as elders in the church. The requirements of eldership for men are stiff. To be an elder, a man must be tested and proven in the things of the world (Luke 16), exhibit proven broad-based maturity as a Christian man (Titus 1) and have either a proper wife or responsibility for not more than one wife. In other words, he has to be a complete gentleman. Women seeking "equal rights" eventually exhaust themselves in head-to-head competition. In polls taken today, women confess they were better off before they were liberated. They had more respect, more leisure time, less stress. Their children, deprived of the security and love only a mother can give, enter adulthood with scars, and are motivated by unrealistic needs and unrecognized drives....
Just as God's plan for man is anchored in His word. of which Jesus Christ is simultaneously the person, fulfillment and example, so too is a society anchored in the law to obedience of men to God. Colossians 1:23 speaks of the importance of being grounded and steadfast, continuing in the faith, and no" falling away from the hope at the gospel. Mark 4: 7, in Jesus' parable of the soils, declares if believers have no root in themselves, they cannot endure.
Men are commanded to provide for, defend and instruct their families, and love them as Christ loved The church. Mature Christian men, gentlemen, being grounded and having a root in themselves, have the ability to give and serve, and exemplify the fruit of the Spirit. God's authority given to men is to be exercising with love. Without love, male authority moves toward tyranny. Leadership by inspiration sours to dictatorship by fear where lave fails.
Mature Christian men, gentlemen, provide not only a protective and secure umbrella for women, but also an opportunity for them to fulfill their characteristically holistic nurturing capabilities in the home, the local church and community. Additionally, such men provide the fertile environment necessary for women to develop their economic and business talents, from whence they can finance the health, education and welfare needs of those they touch (Proverbs 31)...
Men in the world today know little of what it means to be a gardener. to live quiet, peaceful lives of service to their families while fulfilling their calling. There are few gentlemen left, but men today are by and large not grounded; they have no root. They have no long-term anchor capable of stabilizing them or their families when the stormy winds and challenges of life come. Women accordingly suffer even more during hard times. Plus in today's world, without a Christian fatherly example or a rich marital experience, women have no frame of reference for what it means to find fulfillment in their husbands' lawful and merciful spiritual leadership and calling. Too many women have never known a gentleman.
Men are not by nature gentle. The concept of a "gentleman" is a Christian concept. Men become gentle when they are rooted and grounded in humble, covenantal obedience to God's law and manifest maturity by love in the fruit of the Spirit. "Gentlemen" flow inescapably from Christianity, from a broken and humbled heart and spirit unto God. It is therefore no surprise that as Christianity degenerated in Western civilization, "gentlemen" have become more scarce.
Editor's Note: Reprinted in abridged form from Chalcedon Report, No. 299. June, 1990, P.O. Box 158, Vallecito, CA. 95251
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