Worldview Wednesday: Dockers Ad

Its hard to read, so here it is in full text, so here it is: the man-ifesto. "Once upon a time, men wore pants, and wore them well. Woman rarely had to open doors and little old ladies never crossed the street alone. Men took charge because that's what they did. But, somewhere along the way, the world decided it no longer needed men. Disco by disco, latte by foamy non fat latte, men were stripped of their khakis and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny. But today there are questions our genderless society has no answers for. The world sits ideally by while cities crumble, children misbehave, and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street. For the first time since bad guys we need heroes. We need grown ups. We need men to put down the plastic fork, step away from the salad bar and untie the world from the tracks of complacency. Its time to get your hands dirty. Its time to answer the call of manhood. Its time to wear the pants."

As you can imagine Dockers is now being charged with sexism, gay bashing, and anything else that the feminist lobby can think of. For myself, I am thrilled to have a husband who wears his pants, and wears them well. We are raising our son to wear his pants and to wear them well. I see a new pair of Dockers in both of their futures. They don't need new pants I just feel a need to support this company!

Bubble Wrapped Sons

I happened to catch a TV commercial the other day that tickled my funny bone. I believe it was a commercial about mini van safety but the implications of the commercial were also a commentary on society and how we relate to boys as moms. The mini van pulls into the parking space and a cool, hip mom steps out with son. They proceed to the back of the vehicle where the mother begins pulling out safety equipment and putting it on her child. By the time she is done this poor kid has on every know piece of sports safety equipment from the helmet and eye protection to the football pads and shin guards. He looks as though he is prepared to participate in a major sporting event. Instead the last thing that the mother takes out of the trunk is a .......... tennis racket. Talk about over kill! All of that for a game of tennis.

I have always been concerned about raising our son because when I look around a society I know exactly how I DO NOT want our son to turn out. The question has then become, how do I produce something different? Lately I have heard several Godly men comment on blogs, on air, and in printed materials that even the home school movement is failing to produce men. The reason for this they claim is that fact that mothers are primarily in charge of the education of their sons. There is not a "man" on the planet who would dress his son in all of that safety equipments in order for him to play a game of tennis.

When I talk to my husband about his childhood I am amazed at the breadth and freedom he had to roam, create from nature, and play with things that I would consider dangerous. They would leave home in the morning with bb guns and spend the entire day exploring the woods and playing. There were plenty of injuries to go around but he considers these experiences to be core to learning how to be a man, to develop judgment and strategy. If you ever need to get a room full of guys talking, just ask them about their battle scars. You will have enough conversation for hours as they all attempt to out do the scars of their friends. The only equivalent to this that women have is our labor stories and the escapades of our sons. Woman nurture and want to keep their loved ones safe. That is why we bubble wrap our sons and tell them no every time they talk about building some weapon of destruction. My sons job is radically different and will continue to be radically different from that of his sister. Some day he will be responsible for the leadership and protection of his own family. There are things I can do to help develop those skills, to encourage them but this will always be tempered by my desire to keep him safe from any and all harm.

I don't have any answers to this dilemma. We are praying about how shift the balance for our son so that he spends most of his time with his father. Until then, I have to seek my husbands opinion on decisions. Even on things as basic as, "hey mom, can take my entire arsenal of swords to small group tonight for all the kids to play." Of course every fiber of my being is screaming no! Instead I sent my son to his father who wisely said that he could but he had to seek the permission of the host before bringing out the arsenal. I never would have thought of that one.

Staying at Home Part 2

"Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house." Psalm 128:3

This verse in Psalms is speaking of a blessing for your husband. If he fears the Lord and walks in HIS ways, then his wife will be like a fruitful vine within his house. His children will be like olive plants around your table.... He will be blessed." One of the smelling what I am stepping in comments made by Voddie Bauchman at the home school conference referred to wife swapping where one husband sends his wife out to make money and then hires someone else's wife to raise his children. Neither of the wives in the wife swap are at home being fruitful. They are being fruitful for someone else. Their vines are growing on someone else's building. The work you do outside of your house will provide money and income into your home and there are times and seasons when this is necessary and needed. But, ultimately you are blessing someone else with all of your skills and talents and consequently will be neglecting the vision of your husband and the needs of your children. Disregard for our homes has long term negative ramifications. Likewise choosing to pour ourselves into our homes has long term blessings for those around us.

Scripture tells us that we can not serve two masters. We can either serve the employer or our husband. There will be a time when a choice will have to be made. I had to make those choices when I worked outside the home and many woman I know currently working outside the home continue to have to make that choice. Unfortunately, almost always we lean toward the employer in our decisions because we depend on the money and we know that while our families won't "fire" us our employer can. Although, I do believe that this type of burden is partially the cause of the 50 percent divorce rate. The pressure of determining whether to go home and care for a sick child or stay at work is often not even a choice. The choice was actually made when we left our homes. We can go a step further and say that we will either serve the Lord or we will serve ourselves. Ultimately living out your faith in your home is an act of worship. Serving your family unto the Lord is your worship. That is a high calling!

"The Mom"

As part of the home school culture reflecting biblical truths my husband has been required to sign and agree with our membership in certain organizations. His participation in the majority of those organizations is non existent. He does not attend meetings, answer emails, fulfill a unit of service, or contribute in any significant way to those groups. Having him sign off on membership agreements was done as a way to acknowledge his head ship of our family and his awareness of a commitment that WE were making. Even though I am the one actively participating, his cooperation and signature signified a deeper spiritual truth, that ultimately he is the one who is responsible before G-d for his family. I know in many families this was merely a required formality by an organization and that it held no importance to them. It is not a mere formality for us. Needing his signature to join gave Mr. occasion to exercise his headship. This is something that most men in our feminized culture do not get to experience very often! After reading the following statement issued by one of the groups that we have been involved with my husband's comment was that they have taken away an opportunity. Many men will not notice the loss but others like MR. will see and know that they have once again been replaced by "the mom".


"The Board, along with much valuable input from our Coordinators, has voted to remove the requirement for the husband's signature on the membership form, whether you are new or renewing.
We discussed the merits and reasons for this at length among our Leadership(Board and Coordinators) and after much prayer and discussion voted to remove.
As "the mom", you will be signing your signature on behalf of your husband and family that you agree with our Statement of Faith, agree to abide by the rules and will fulfill your unit of service."



I know many of the reasons for determining this requirement to be no longer necessary. Many moms are already just forging their husbands signatures. They are not practicing biblical head ship in the home, have little understanding of the concept and see no reason to bother their spouse for something like his signature on a piece of paper. Our society is fragmented, and many husbands even in the Christian community are divorced from their families if not legally certainly emotionally. These are all excuses and fall under the same sin that Eve committed when she asked, "Did God really say?"



A commentary by Dr. Peter Pett reflects on Psalm 11:3 which says "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?’ The important thing to the psalmist is that at all costs the foundations are preserved, otherwise the righteous have nowhere to turn. That involves maintenance of YHWH’s Instruction (Law) at all costs however hard it may be in the circumstances. To obtain the right in the wrong way, or not to defend it when called upon to do so, would be to destroy the right. Of course the foundations can never actually be destroyed, for ‘The foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, that the Lord knows those who are his’ (2 Timothy 2:19). In the end all depends on God and on His personal and eternal knowing of His people. But it is still the duty of the righteous to uphold those foundations at whatever cost. "


The foundations must be preserved at all cost! What is more foundational than our spheres of influence as determined immediately in Genesis. Albert Mohler said, "God for our good and to His glory has set forth a pattern for his church which for instance is going to hold up a male pattern of teaching authority. All I have is the responsibility to understand the God's word is clear about this matter. It is my responsibility to obey it and to glorify God in it and to understand that if it is for Gods glory than it is for our good as well. If men are given the opportunity to sit back and allow women to do everything than a good many men will allow just that. One of our responsibilities in this generation is to get men into faithfulness and encourage them into their responsibilities as husbands, as fathers and yes as leaders in the church. "


As a Christian organization we are not taking our responsibilities seriously if our policies release men from their duties and responsibility and instead encourage them to them abdicate their God given role!