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This section isn't mandatory, but we recommend that you go through it together. We take some of the main ideas from our "Truth of the Month" video and explore them further using specific examples, stories, and videos that flesh them out in unique ways. Each main idea has a few quick discussion questions to get you thinking before you jump into your lengthier calibration discussion for the month.

Click through the titles in the green menu below to explore further.

Truth #1

"You see, the source we let answer that question determines the sort of man we become. If we take that question to culture, friends, family, or others, they'll push us to conform to their idea or image of a 'real man.' No matter what you take that question to, you become the "man" that source wants you to be when you trust their answers are true. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it is the 'man' you are meant to be."

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Here are a few examples of this. Let's say you take your manhood question to:

  1. Country music culture: If you ask a country music song, "What does it mean to be a man?" The answer can vary. Some songs say a real man has a truck, drinks cold beer on a Friday night, and has a dog or girl next to him (sometimes both). Others invoke a sense of responsibility, "A man is a provider, a hard worker, and is "American" through and through. We bleed red, white, and blue."
  2. White collar professional culture: If you look at that culture, they say a man is successful in business. His success looks like well kept shiny cars, a beautiful updated never broken home, and a beautiful well put together family (if he has one at all). A man in that culture, isn't just "successful," he LOOKS successful too.
  3. Sports Culture: A man in that culture is committed to endurance and performance. He stays late, practices for hours a day, eats a particular way, and avoids "distractions" from the task at hand: winning. Performance during a competition is everything; if he stops, he's not a real man. "Real men push through. They give it all they got until victory or outright failure." And when the performance isn't up to par, a man in that culture gets back into training until he is.

These are all simple examples of what it means to trust a source with your manhood question, but you can see how they lead us to live as a specific kind of man. Not all of the "answers" above are evil, but they aren't filtered through what OUR CREATOR says a man is.

Quick Discussion Questions

  1. What are some other examples you can think of? Discuss it together?
  2. Any examples of this you see in your life?

Truth #2

"It is, 'Who am I?' or our question of identity. THIS is really the trailhead of our life's journey because the way we answer our identity question determines HOW we answer every other question in life, especially manhood. Identity is SO important that it is our main focus this year. If we can learn and trust who we truly are, we can know how to live as a real man."

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We see this play out in a lot of ways. Manhood is often tied to identity in our conversations. What is the first thing you usually ask someone, or they ask you, when you meet them? "What do you do?" We usually answer with, "Well, I am a..." That I am statement is telling because it gives away an unconscious belief that what we do is who we are. If we apply that to the three examples we gave in the Truth #1 section, we come out with these "I am..." statements:

  1. Country music culture: "I am an American country boy."
  2. White collar professional culture: "I am a successful, business man."
  3. Sports Culture: "I am an athlete."

All of these "I am..." statements portray the kind of man we are trying to be. To those around us, they cast an image, and we often hope that image of a "man" is enough to gain their approval.

Quick Discussion Questions

  1. Create a few "I am..." statements based on the answers you gave for Truth #1.
  2. What kind of "I am..." statement do you usually give to people when you meet them for the first time? How do you see that "identity" play out in your life?

Truth #3

"We were made TO LOOK AND LIVE LIKE OUR CREATOR. God put himself in our DNA - He created us to reflect his identity and purposes. TO LOOK AND LIVE LIKE HIM. How crazy is that? With his life-giving breath in our lungs, OUR CREATOR made us to be LIKE HIM. That is Humanity's origin. We were created by the hands and from the heart of a good God to be little images of himself upon this earth."

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What exactly does "image bearer" mean? Well, let me give you an example. Most of the time, my (Chris') family stays at Sylvan Lake in South Dakota during our trek to Montana. At 7,000 feet, the lake is surrounded by massive, jutting rock pillars and various tall pine trees. During perfect conditions, you can see an exact reflection of the surrounding landscape on the lake's surface. See the picture below:

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That picture is a good example of what it means to be an "image bearer." God made us to reflect him, which means we think like he does, act like he does, and ultimately, look like he does. It's like when people see say, "I see you dad or mom in you." referring to your physical looks or actions. That is how Adam and Eve were. If you saw them today, you would say, "Wow, you look just like your creator." We are meant to be the same. That is what it means to be an image bearer- to reflect our creator in every way.

Quick Discussion Questions

  1. Zoom in on the picture of the lake. What other ways might that photo depict the truth that we are made to "look and live like our Creator?"
    1. What needs to happen for the image to reflect well? How might that parallel your "image-bearing" of God?
  2. Can you think of any specific character traits of God that we are meant to reflect? How do you reflect those in your life today? Discuss them together.

Truth #4

"That Garden was where we had unopposed, close, trusting relationship. Nothing stood between us and our Creator. And in his unhindered presence, we lived life with perfect clarity. He was our True Source and gave us satisfying, clear answers to every question. He bestowed on us our true identity and showed us how to live as real men. This was our Garden State, and in that state, life was just as God intended, complete and satisfying in every way."

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Have you ever had moments in life where everything just feels right? Like for a moment, the pieces of life fell together in a way that made you go, "Yes, this is how life is SUPPOSED to be!" Where even for a moment, the anxieties and troubles of the world fell away, and you experienced a real sense of peace and rest? Imagine living in that every day without fear of it ending because of something you or others did to ruin it. Instead, this feeling of "all things are as they should be" is there to stay, not because you live in a fantasy land or performed well to get there, but because all things REALLY ARE as they should be.

The hurts of the world don't exist. The confusion about what to do in life just isn't there. You don't experience loneliness or isolation. Instead, you have a deep sense of belonging, like "Ahh, this is what I was made for," and no one can ever take that away. That is what it was like to be in our Garden State. Everything in the world was just as it was supposed to be. We were satisfied in our hearts and enjoyed life in every way. We knew exactly what life was supposed to look like and ran free, without fear, into each day's sunrise.

The closest I can come to explaining this is being like a child in a safe home. You don't have to make life work. If something is broken, your dad fixes it. If you are hungry, your mom makes you food. You know you are loved and cared for in every way. You have no anxieties or worry about tomorrow because your parents are planning it out for you. You get to just be a kid, focus on the present, and experience your parent's delight in who you are as their beloved child.

Quick Discussion Questions

  1. Have you ever experienced a moment in life where everything just felt right or you felt like a kid safe at home? Describe it to each other.
  2. How did that moment compare to the passage from the teaching above?
  3. What do you do to try to recapture that feeling in your daily life?

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