We have ceremonies for weddings, funerals, graduations and birthdays. But what about ceremonies for manhood? How does your boy know when he has officially become a man?

Last week on Redeeming the Chaos, we talked about the 3 building blocks of manhood, as discussed in Robert Lewis’ book, Raising a Modern Day Knight. If you missed it, go back and listen to Episode 30. Today we’re going to continue our discussion and look at biblical manhood and the importance of manhood ceremonies in our boys’ lives.

BIBLICAL MANHOOD VS CONVENTIONAL MANHOOD

Conventional manhood is not incorrect, it is simply incomplete. It rarely satisfies.  

According to Lewis, Conventional Manhood: 

* Equates manhood with position – there’s an emphasis on what he does, not who he is. * Value must be earned; credibility comes by winning* Success is always the goal, even at the expense of relationships* The reward of success is power, respect and attention from peers and coworkers* Conventional manhood claims that success comes from personal wealth and influence

Again, this view of manhood is not necessarily incorrect, but it is incomplete.  There’s nothing wrong with pursuing a profitable career or success in life.  The problem comes when our boys thing that this is ALL there is to life. There is something missing from the conventional view of manhood, and that “something” is a transcendent cause.  

I want more than anything for my boys to realize that true satisfaction and joy in life will not come from pursuing wealth or power or entertainment or pleasure, but can only be found by pursuing life in Jesus Christ. 

Psalm 107:9  For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MANHOOD CEREMONIES IN A BOY’S LIFE

We’ve discussed the 3 building blocks of authentic manhood:  A vision for manhood, a code of conduct and a transcendent cause.  

Now let’s talk about the importance of ceremonies in our sons’ lives. 

Our western culture has done a terrible job of establishing ceremonies and rites of passage, and initiation into manhood. We discussed the topic of ceremonies and initiation on several previous episodes of Redeeming the Chaos. 

In Episodes 18-20 I reviewed John Eldredge’s book Wild at Heart and I talked about the importance of ceremonies in our boys’ lives.  Also in Episode 24 I interviewed Kathleen Henderson and we discussed what it looks like to teach our boys to be “real men” and the importance of celebrating milestones.

You can listen to each of these episodes here:

Episode 18 – Why Are My Boys So Wild?

Episode 19 – Battles and Bombs and Booby Traps, Oh my!

Episode 20 – How Boys Become Men

Episode 24 – What is a Real Man?

As believers and as parents,