God requires much of men. Men are called to go, subdue, lead, labor, serve, and sacrifice. Whether they believe it or not, husbands are heads endowed with covenantal responsibility before God for their families (Ephesians 5:23). Work, children, wives, aging parents, churches, and more — God calls men to bear peculiar responsibility in each of these areas. And none are insignificant. By way of success, negligence, or failure, a man’s leadership carries present and eternal consequences.
In short, masculinity demands men to take responsibility and sacrifice for the people and places under their care. This is no small task.
Burden of Atlas
For many men, the weight of such responsibilities can feel overwhelming, like a great stack of burdens poised to crush at any moment. Many who take their duties seriously may feel a kinship to Atlas, the Greek Titan of myth. As Hesiod wrote,
Atlas through hard constraint
upholds the wide heaven with unwearying head and arms,
standing at the borders of the earth. (Theogony 517–519)
Doomed by the judgment of Zeus, Atlas must bear the weight of the heavens on his shoulders.
Now, maybe that comparison sounds a bit melodramatic. But the responsibilities and burdens men carry are real and sometimes overwhelming. Some men abdicate, following Adam in his neglect. Others bear the work, suppressing the difficulty, only to crack under the strain.
All throughout our world, men are looking for answers and guidance. Much of the online “manosphere” exists to help men take responsibility. Deep down, men are drawn to such responsibility and know it’s what they are made for. So many of our stories (including the backyard fantasies of little boys) testify to our knowledge of this. We sense that a meaningful life is filled with good stewardship and Atlas-like work. Yet the everyday dragons appear mundane, faithfulness so easily becomes drudgery, and drudgery often gives way to defeat.
So, how can men persevere in their responsibilities? Are we left to our own devices — or that of masculinity gurus — to shoulder the burden? No, God did not give men such weighty obligations without providing a way to uphold them well. The biblical path to bearing responsibility is deep and enduring gladness in the God who made us and redeems us.
Mature Masculinity Is Glad
Mature masculinity must be glad. God made mirth to mark the task of men. Rooted men do not simply love and fight, lead and lay down their lives for the weak. They do so happily. Glad gravitas flavors all their working, serving, and sacrificing.
Consider Adam. When he first sees Eve, how does he respond?
This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man. (Genesis 2:23)
Adam’s joy erupts into poetry. Note that Adam is not ignorant of his particular calling. He is man and she woman; he the head and she his glory (1 Corinthians 11:3–12). He is God’s king in the newly created world, the namer of all creatures, and the gardener given dominion over the earth. He is responsible for Eve, he knows it, and he is glad. Duty was given to man not to be a burden but to be a work of delight.
Even better, recall the second Adam, Christ. All of his life and death perfectly pictures mature masculinity. In unflinching obedience to his Father, Jesus assumed responsibility for his people and fulfilled his divine calling. In all these things, duty was not drudgery to Christ — not even his death.
Christ’s death on the cross was a sacrifice of immeasurable cost, for the sinless Son of God bore the weight of the sins of the world and the wrath of God. No burden could be greater; Atlas pales in comparison. Jesus served his people and sacrificed for them, though it cost him everything. In the hours before his trial, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Yet Jesus did not fail to embrace the will of the Father. He did not shrink back from the terrors of his responsibility.
So, why did he suffer? How did he persevere and accomplish the greatest of all sacrifices? “For the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus did not take responsibility begrudgingly. He did not sacrifice out of mere duty. Jesus sacrificed and served his bride for joy. Joy gave Christ the strength to assume the sins of the world and bear the wrath of God.
Unshakable Joy
Men who take responsibility without God-fed gladness are missing the heart of masculinity. At root, masculinity in men is meant to image God. Without joy, our work is but a half-portrait of God, misrepresenting his character. Gladness is the overflowing heart of God that colors all his good works, for he is a gloriously happy God (1 Timothy 1:11). God sings over his children with gladness (Zephaniah 3:17) and rejoices in doing good for his people (Jeremiah 32:41). The Father delights in the person and work of his Son (Matthew 3:17). And Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him — the reward of his people redeemed and his exaltation at his Father’s right hand (Hebrews 12:2).
Because we are made in the image of the gloriously happy God, masculinity is to be glad-hearted. Mature masculinity takes responsibility, forgoes sleep, works hard, serves selflessly, gives generously, sacrifices freely, even changes diapers, and does all gladly.
Does this mean men must plaster on a smile while they work, no matter how they feel? No. The serious gladness of mature masculinity is not forced or affected but genuinely joyful. The calling of masculine mirth is not a command to pretend but to know what God has made you for, to know he has given you responsibilities and he is with you in success and failure, in life and death. It is a joy rooted in the Rock who never moves so that, no matter what comes, a man can laugh and labor because he trusts God. All will be well. God is on the throne. Jesus is Lord. God wins. So, we can really and truly pour out our lives with gladness in our hearts.
Sacrifice and service are hard responsibilities. But we can bear them because God carries the load with us. With God, you can say with the apostle Paul, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (2 Corinthians 12:15). Jesus has suffered for us with indomitable joy, and he bids us follow (Matthew 16:24; Hebrews 12:2). He walks with us and bears us up by his Spirit so that our labors are not alone. Masculinity that accepts responsibility really is like Atlas — but Atlas with a smile. So, bear and be glad. Sacrifice and smile. Hold up the corner of your world that God has given you and be happy in him.
