What Is The Masculine Patriarchal Christian Legacy?

What is your legacy? People long to be remembered after they die. They want to leave behind something that will stand through the ages as a reminder to the world that they existed. They fear being forgotten by humanity after their death because they want to believe that their life meant something, that it had a purpose. They want to leave a mark. As Christians, we know that we will always be remembered by our creator and one day, He will bring us back to life from that memory. Men still have an inherent need to leave a mark on the world, though. So, as Christian men, what should this legacy that we leave behind be? World’s nicest guy? Hmm. That’s not very motivating, is it? 

What then? How about the legacy of a strong Christian warrior? A wild and courageous man who lived the life God set before him to the utmost, never bowing before Satan. These men exist, and they disappear with only God to remember their names, leaving nothing behind except a good example. This is a strong man, but he had no legacy. Our goal is to be this strong man, a man after God’s own heart, with a legacy of faith that will march down through the generations as a shining example to all who see just what true masculinity looks like. This is a noble goal, but how exactly do we do this?

Let’s take a look at a man who left a legacy of faith that changed the world. David, a man after God’s own heart, made a lot of mistakes, but one thing that he did right was to raise Solomon. He made a lot of mistakes with his other sons, but with Solomon, it seems he took the time to do it right. Solomon turned into a fine king and raised at least some of his kids right, and those sons raised their sons and so on and so forth, clear down the line to Christ. Christ was in David’s lineage as a direct result of David’s faithfulness to God. David, as much of a man as anyone could hope to be and a mighty warrior, left a legacy that changed the world. What legacy is this exactly? How was Christ his legacy of faith? 

Before I answer that question, let's take a look at another example of a man who left an enduring legacy of faith.   

1 Chronicles 7:40 NKJV All these [were] the children of Asher, heads of [their] fathers' houses, choice men, mighty men of valor, chief leaders. And they were recorded by genealogies among the army fit for battle; their number [was] twenty-six thousand.

Asher had 26,000 male descendants who were choice men, men of valor, and chief leaders. That’s quite the legacy, don’t you think? I think most of us would love to have a legacy written like that. By this time, hopefully, you are starting to get the idea of what the legacy is that I am pointing to. Raising up our children in God’s ways is the strongest legacy of faith that we leave behind. This masculine legacy is passed down by raising our sons to be courageous and strong warriors of God. We are obligated to our descendants to raise them in God’s way because this is what God desires for our marriages. His design for marriage and children is that He desires godly offspring. In Deuteronomy, He instructed the Israelites to raise their children in His ways and to teach them about Him constantly.

Deuteronomy 4:9 CSB "Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don't forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don't slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

Deuteronomy 11:19 CSB "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

All it takes is one man walking away from the faith to break the chain, but if we raise them with strong beliefs and values of their own, this won’t be an issue. This was David's legacy of faith. Strong followers of God that marched down clear until Christ, and because of his faithfulness, the Christ came from his lineage. This is the legacy we desire.

We all have people who look to us for their example of what a godly person is, people who look to us as role models. As men, it is our responsibility to make sure that those we are leading, whether intentionally or inadvertently, are going in the right direction. For those we are leading to be headed in the right direction, that means that we who are leading (every man who is following God) must also be going the right way. Christ is the way, and He is the beacon we must be headed towards. If we are headed straight toward Christ, then if we disappear, those behind us will still be headed in the right direction. We reflect and point to Christ, not ourselves.   

You should desire for the young men to want to be like you. That sounds pretty conceited at first glance, doesn’t it? I put it to you that it is the essence of selflessness that is paramount to fanning the flame, and it is this desire that matters, regardless of whether or not young men actually look up to you. You don’t get better without some desire driving you, without some goal to look to. You want to become like Christ, and even more importantly, you deeply desire for others to become like Christ because fanning the flame is all about others.

Now, what are the reasons that I desire to have younger men look up to me? I want to give them an example of a man with strength to offer, a man with manners, a man with courage, and a man with gentleness. I want them to see a man with his strength under control, a man who has physical power to control, and a man who treats those around him with respect. Without strength to control, it’s not gentleness; it's simply weakness. If you have no strength, you are not peaceful; you are harmless. This is a vital distinction to make when you are looking to become a man. However, all that is born out of the primary reason that I desire to be the sort of man they can look up to. I desire them to look up to me because when they see me, they see Christ; because they see a man after God's own heart, just as David was, a mighty warrior and a mighty man of valor walking in the way! Once they can see Christ in me, then the rest of those things are vital to becoming a strong, masculine role model. We must have the strength to offer to those around us emotional, physical, and spiritual strength. We must be gentle, and we must be courageous. We are to be lights and mighty warriors for Christ.

Judges 6:12 ESV And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor."

Oh, to be greeted by an angel in this manner! There is a deep desire in the heart of every man to be a mighty warrior and to fight for those he loves. That is our job, and it is the job we pass on to our sons! We train them to be warriors, strong and courageous, especially in the spiritual realm!

Remember as a young teen how attractive those older men who were strong warriors for Christ were? We wanted to be like them because they were like Christ. Those who look up to us crave strong masculine leadership just as we once craved it and still do to some extent. We desperately need strong masculine role models, just as those coming behind us so desperately need us to be those strong masculine role models. Those who have gone before us have fought the same battles we are fighting now, and we can look to them to see what a strong man of God looks like. As I said earlier, we should desire to be the sort of men that the younger can want to be like. It's not automatic; we have to actually be the sort of men worth imitating, which means that we have to be like Christ. We have to treat people well and serve them well. We have to serve our wives and families well—manners maketh the man.

My next question is not necessary at this point because we should know who we train for, who we are fighting for, and why we work so hard to become like Christ. It's not just for ourselves; it's primarily for those who depend on us to have that strength to offer and those who depend on us to be strong role models. We were given physical examples that we can see and interact with so we have a better understanding of what Christ looks like. We have a better understanding of becoming men of God because of those who have become men of God before us. Our legacy is those we leave behind, those who followed us and looked to us for an example. When we are gone, as we will inevitably be, those who follow us and look to us for the masculine example ought to be able to keep straight on the direction we were going and still be headed towards becoming men and women of Christ. Most importantly of all, our legacy is the sons and daughters we leave behind. Daughters who will grow up to be strong mothers and sons who will grow up to take our place on the battle lines of our spiritual war.

Yes, our most important legacy is the children we leave behind. The children we raised up in God's way of life, the children we taught at home. We have to teach our children, and that is such an important task that we cannot afford to leave it to others. Giving our children to others, let alone the government, to raise and teach is out of the question. We cannot raise our children unless we are the ones teaching them! We must be the ones they spend the most time learning from and being taught by. We are raising our legacy of faith, not the government.

Why is it so crucial to our children and our legacy that we are the primary ones raising them and teaching them? We are the ones who know best for our children, and teaching them and raising them teaches us important lessons as well. If God gives us children, then He has called us to fulfill our duty and raise them. As men, we are the primary source of spiritual instruction for our children and families. Not just feeding and providing shelter for them, but teaching them His ways, and teaching them how to be men and women of Christ. When we raise up our children to be strong men and women of God, they will raise up their children in the same way, and what we end up with is a legacy like that of David or Asher. We raise up choice men and women of God to carry the banner of the kingdom long after we are nothing but dust. That, my brothers, is the true masculine patriarchal Christian legacy.

© Kyle Bacher 2024