I posted on my social media yesterday that Alex Pretti displayed ‘Jesus Masculinity’ by putting himself between armed men carrying out oppressive law enforcement and a woman, just like when Jesus put himself between armed men and the woman caught in adultery.
I said this is what real masculinity looks like. Men using their power to defend women against the violence that comes from the kind of misogynists that call themselves “real men”
I’ve been frustrated for a decade now at the lack of Christian men working to end violence against women. It’s not like Christian men aren’t interested in getting involved in issues that only affect women: there’s plenty of them out there with a lot to say about abortion. But when it comes to standing up against domestic abuse, I can count on one hand the number of Christian men I have encountered who are activists, who stand up to other men.
I get it though. After seeing the murder of Alex Pretti, I get it. I get why you don’t want to adopt ‘Jesus masculinity.’ It’s costly.
Misogyny on the other hand is lucrative. Men are making a fortune from it, in fact, it’s become a profession: At the time of his death Charlie Kirk had made around $12 million from telling women to stay home and submit to their husbands; Andrew Tate has millions of followers; misogynistic preachers such as John Piper enjoy powerful positions within the church; ordinary American men who choose to become ICE agents can receive a signing on bonus of $50,000, an annual salary between $50,000 and $80,000 and have their student loans paid off. Even that chap in Morecambe who attacked me online last year, a “nobody” in the manosphere compared to his chums Lawrence Fox and Calvin Robinson, manages to make a fairly lucrative living out of misogyny, having convinced his followers to buy him a house!
If you choose to embrace the version of masculinity offered by these men you are promised acceptance by other men, and perhaps popularity, wealth and power. Should you choose Jesus’ masculinity as Alex Pretti did, it may even cost you your life.
But we need you. We need more men like Jesus. We need men who follow the gospel call to “defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17) The world needs this more than ever right now, not just in the US, but right here at home too. We need Jesus’ masculinity and the call is urgent.
Should you choose to be a man like Jesus I can’t promise you an easy time, a quiet hassle free life, I certainly can’t promise you the wealth and power that comes from making the opposite choice. I can’t even promise you’ll come out of this world unscathed. But I can promise you Jesus, and all the fulness of life he brings: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:35-36)
