“Give me a man!” yelled the missionary. His goal was to preach the gospel to the villages along
the Huallaga River, a tributary to the Amazon, in the Peruvian jungle. He was quoting Goliath the
Philistine giant who challenged the Lord of Hosts and His people Israel. “I defy the ranks of
Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together.” “Give me a man!” yell the trials and
temptations that befall men in the world today, both in the jungles of Perú and in the cities of the
United States. If it’s not pornography, then it’s premarital sex. If it’s not self-control with food,
then it’s playing video games all day. If it’s not violence, then it’s holding grudges. It’s always
love of self. They all yell, “…give me a man that we may fight together!”
There are multiple answers to this challenge that our nature, the world, and the enemy throw at
us men. The first two are summed up well by Andrew Tate in Candace Owens’ interview of him.
The first is to simply give in, to live as the matrix, as he calls it, wants us men to live. In
summary, he says that there are forces out there that want to make men docile through porn and playstation so that men would not try and stand in the way of a behind-the-scenes power grab by the powers that be. In other words, a man gives himself as a victim to the challenge. Tate presents himself as another answer to this challenge. He is muscular, handsome, and talks
repeatedly of his cars, and the fact that beautiful women want him. He presents himself as an
example of mental and physical fortitude that can withstand the matrix’s attempt to subdue him.
This is the second answer to the challenge: a man gives himself to fighting the “Goliath” in his
own strength. These are the two approaches to the current crisis of manhood that Andrew Tate and Candace Owens discusses.
There is, however, another answer. In the letter of Titus on which I am meditating, Paul lays out
the requirements for being an elder in the church of Jesus Christ. That a man in this day and age
is able to meet them is the highest honor he can accomplish. They require that a man be above
reproach in his private life and the parts of his life that are on view for others to see. In other
words, a man who is eligible to be an elder in a local church is a man who has given himself to
Christ who alone can give the power to defeat the Goliath that men face today. Meeting these
requirements is the greatest thing a man can do in his life—it shows that he has managed his life
well in the face of this challenge. Take note that I am not focusing on being an elder, but on the
character that is required to be an elder, something God wants to do in all men.
Titus 1:5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains
and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, (Titus 1:6) namely, if any man is above
reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation
or rebellion. (Titus 1:7) For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not selfwilled,
not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, (Titus
1:8) but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, (Titus 1:9)
holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able
both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
First off, this man who is eligible to be an elder is blameless at home, according to verse 6. He is
faithful to his wife and his children live lives that are indicative of faith and obedience. Given the
fact that many 20 to 40-year-olds are postponing marriage, if not choosing to marry at all, we are faced with the reality that fidelity in marriage seems like an antiquated concept. Moreover,
many couples live together and are sexually active, no matter if marriage is a future plan. Here’s
an interesting example of how pervasive this is. Nancy Mace is a representative of South Carolina
in the US House. She went to a prayer Breakfast recently. She commented that she had to give
up the chance to have sex with her fiance in order to make the breakfast. Now, if her fiance
claims to be a Christian, and he has chosen to sleep with Mace, then at best he is ineligible to be
an elder. To be honest, there are bigger problems than his eligibility to be in leadership in the
church for the couple. In the eyes of God, sex before marriage is a grave sin, and God does not
want men who engage in it to shepherd the church. The same goes for pornography, adultery, and all other sexual immorality. Practicing these things disqualifies a man from being an elder.
God has permitted me to know men whose lives do meet this criterion for being an elder. Some
of the men I met in Spain before I even became a Christian lived their lives in such a way that
they were a powerful testimony of God’s goodness to me, and influenced me in my decision to
repent of my sin and believe in Christ. One man, Pepe, was married to the mother of his three
adult children. They had me over at their house. In my view, he loved his wife, and his
children respected him. Each of them was himself a believer in Christ. The way they interacted
with one another showed me the love of Christ. You see, my parents are divorced. So, to see “a
man above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of
dissipation or rebellion (Titus 1:6)” was immensely impactful.
For a man to be this way, God must have His way with him, making in him a character
that is described in Titus 1:7-8: “…not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not
pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout,
self-controlled.” I will not deny that finding several of these characteristics in any given man
who does not know Christ as Lord and Savior is possible. Finding their entirety, however, in a
man is the work of God. This is because the only man who fit Paul’s mold perfectly was God the
Son Himself—Jesus. Take, for instance, the first characteristic on the list, “not self-willed.” Jesus
lived a perfect life of obedience to God His Father. We see its climax in Jesus’ crucifixion,
which Paul says is His “…becoming obedient to the point of death… (Phil 2:8).” Now on the eve
of His crucifixion, Jesus prays to His Father, “…not My will, but Yours be done. (Luke 22:42)”
Knowing that Jesus did die on the cross, I worship God because His prayer was not just
idle words, but evidence that Jesus was not self-willed. And if in so great a matter as His own
death, Jesus the man was willing to deny the instinct for survival so that Another’s will might be
done, how much more obedient must He have been in smaller matters! If time permits, I would compare the gospel records of Jesus’ life to each of these characteristics, and we would see each perfectly embodied in the Lord. Furthermore, Not only does the Father show us that His Son perfectly had the character that Paul describes in Titus 1:7-8; but He also wants to work out that
character in men, if we are willing to let Him. Does Paul not say in Romans 8:29, that we are
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son?
The way that this character manifests itself in a man is how he manages what God has given
Him. This is why Paul begins 1:7 by saying, “For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s
steward…” The word here for steward is in the context of Roman slavery. A Roman master
would have a steward over his house, a slave who managed the property for him. We may think
of God as the Master, and men are the “managers” of His property—a marriage, a job, a friendship, a child, and even service in the church. It is crude for us in the 21st century to see a
metaphor in which God is likened to a slave master. Yet nothing would have more effectively
communicated a man’s relationship to God in terms of his relationships, jobs, etc., to Paul’s
original audience. If God is a Master, then He is a gracious Master indeed, because He would not
spare His own Son so that we might know him not only as Master but as Father.
So then, What does a man’s life look like? Is he addicted to porn? Is He on TikTok all day?
What are his eating habits? How does he treat women? God knows the answer to these questions because He sees in secret. If, as a Christian, you do not meet the criteria to become an elder, then God is eager to have His way in you if you will let Him. It is a life-long journey, and it is the greatest and most honorable that you can do with your life. Take note that I am not focusing on being an elder, but on the character that is required to be an elder, something God wants to do in all men. If you do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior, then you are excluded from the life that God wants you to live, and you have no hope. This is true, even if your answer to all these
questions is no. Goliath was killed by David, whom the writers of the Bible use to foreshadow
the Lord Jesus. In recording David’s victory over the giant who yelled, “give me a man!” the
writer gives us a glimpse into what Jesus did at the cross, defeating sin and death as only He
could. If you don’t repent of your sin and believe in Jesus, then you must face your sin and
death alone. Unlike David, you can’t win.
Matthew lives in Northern Virginia. He is a teacher by trade and loves to study the Scriptures and the history of the church. His wife Marina and he fellowship at Nokesville Bible Chapel.
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