Man Without Meaning Gains Nothing

“You are anxious about many things, but only one thing is necessary.” These words, echoing from Jesus to Martha in Luke 10:41, offer more than a simple rebuke they provide a profound lens through which to examine today’s confusion over manhood, womanhood, and human identity. The modern world scrambles for clarity, yet seems content with ambiguity. And in the rush to reclaim biology, we may have surrendered something far greater.

A Hollow Victory for Truth

Yes, it’s true that culture has begun to turn back toward the obvious: men and women are different. This might seem like a triumph of truth after years of total confusion about gender. But beneath the surface, another loss festers a deeper, spiritual erasure.

Today’s man may be permitted to say he is a male, an adult human, even to cite chromosomes or skeletal density. But if this is all he is allowed to be, then what truly defines him remains tragically unclear. Society may concede the title “man,” but it denies the meaning. It may allow the label, but it forbids the calling. The body remains, but the glory departs.

The Soul Redacted

Science has become the new high priest, offering cold data in place of divine design. But Scripture tells a fuller story. Genesis 1:27 reveals that man and woman were created in the image of God not as biological specimens, but as beings bearing purpose, glory, and destiny. When humanity is reduced to the sterile confines of the laboratory, the soul is starved. Man becomes a shell, measurable in parts but hollow in heart.

This is the state of modern man: a figure who can name his bones but cannot name his mission. He is told he is “XY,” but not that he is a protector, provider, or priest of his home. He is instructed in anatomy but not in honor, called strong yet stripped of the call to lead with sacrifice and virtue.

Traits Without Calling, Identity Without Purpose

The prevailing narrative now argues that any traditional trait of manhood is non-exclusive and therefore non-essential. Is a man strong? Some women are stronger. Is he brave? Some women are braver. Does he provide? Many women do that too. And so, the traits of manhood are dismissed not because they are untrue, but because they are not uniquely true.

Yet this logic is not applied universally. Toxic traits such as abuse, privilege, and dominance are often reserved for men in the cultural conversation, even when women exhibit them too. Injustice, imbalance, and ignorance follow when manhood is painted only in shadows and never in light.

This confuses not just individuals, but entire families and societies. The tree is stripped of its leaves, its trunk left bare. When a man doesn’t know who he is or what he’s for, he becomes a storm without shelter. And when men become stumps, women and children suffer in the fallout. As the family weakens, the culture follows.

The Restoration of Meaning

But the Bible doesn’t leave us in the dark. The Word of God does what science cannot: it calls man not just to exist, but to be. It defines him not just by what he is, but by who he is called to be.

Scripture calls men to lead not with tyranny, but with tenderness. To serve with strength and protect with purpose. In Ephesians 5, a husband is commanded to love his wife as Christ loved the church with sacrifice, with sanctifying purpose, with selfless devotion. That is not biology. That is identity. That is calling.

When we return to the Book, we see the portrait God paints of manhood: prophet, priest, and king one who hears God’s Word, serves with intercession, and leads with integrity. We recover not only the shape of man, but the spirit of him.

Men Are Not Accidents

Modern confusion asks, “What is man?” but refuses to hear the answer. The Enemy asked Adam this same question in Eden, “Where are you?” It was not geography God sought it was identity. And the question echoes still.

We must resist the impulse to let the microscope replace the Bible. Science can tell us what’s in a man, but only God can tell us what he’s for. We must teach our sons that they are not random beings of bone and sinew, but divine creations with eternal purpose.

If the world has regained a sliver of truth that men are indeed men it is not enough. For man without meaning gains nothing. In reclaiming the biological, let us not lose the spiritual. Let us remember that a man is not simply defined by XY chromosomes, but by a call to bear the image of Christ.

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