Today is the second installation of a three-part message of encouragement to men, built on this quote from Pastor Tullian Tchividjian’s sermon last Sunday: “When we apply the Gospel to our relationships—by loving one another, by serving one another, by laying down our lives for one another—the power of God is unleashed in our relationships.”
Far too many men in the church of Jesus Christ are chasing after “the good life” rather than the godly life, and thus they make the power of the Gospel impotent in their lives. They seek their identity in the stuff of this world and live lives marked by dissatisfaction, disappointment, and disillusionment. It is time for every man to “man up,” to grow up into Christ, and to take responsibility for himself, his family, his church, his community, and his world. To do anything less is live less than God’s best.
When Jesus said “Man shall not live by bread alone” (Matthew 4:4), He was making it clear that the physical life will never satisfy our deepest desires. Our DNA is hard-wired with the driving desire to “feast” on the only thing that can fully satisfy our hunger and thirst: Jesus! Jesus once pointed to a well of drinking water and said, “Everyone who drinks of this [physical] water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again” (John 4:13-14).
If we seek fulfillment from anything smaller than Jesus, our hunger is never satisfied and our thirst is never quenched. Spiritual beings that we are, we simply cannot be satisfied and sustained on anything less than the spiritual sustenance found only in our Savior. I speak to men every day who live in homes bigger than they need, who carry far more debt than they can repay, and who eat foods richer than they should. Why? Because they are determined to live “the good life.”
Men who are intent on climbing the ladder of success, rather than laying down their lives for others as Christ called them to do, are stepping on others in their mad scramble toward the top rung. And tragically, when they reach their goal, they find the ladder they sacrificed so much to climb is leaning on the wrong wall!
These men do not realize that they are robbing God! They withhold their time, talents, and treasure from the advancement of the cause of Christ. Even when they do seek to advance the cause of Christ, they are seeking the cause itself and not the Christ behind the cause. They want to be known as men of God without truly knowing the God who made all men.
Last Sunday morning, Tullian charged every man in the congregation to live a life shaped by the Gospel and the Gospel alone. To “man up” is to step up into faithful and fruitful service to the King. It means to love others even when they are unlovable. It is a challenge to serve others even when it is not convenient. It is a call to lay our lives down for others, and in doing so, to live for something far bigger than our own goals and desires. This is the call for every Christian man. This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 
Pastor Tommy,
I’ve read this several times and I continue to be convicted and inspired! THANK YOU for all your tirelss efforts to teach, rebuke, correct, and train the men of our church to grow in rigteousness and to set our eyes on the right Prize! Bless you!