Let's Bash the Men

     We are living in a time when it is very popular and actually acceptable to 'bash' or put down men. It's laughed about on sitcoms, it sells products on TV, it is a conversation opener at all kinds of events and sadly it has even creeped into the church. I have my theories of why this is happening but they are too many to go into here and now. Let's just suffice it to say that it is happening at an alarming rate. If you doubt me, just watch TV for a day and count how many times a man, never a woman, is made to look stupid in a commercial. (hint: start with the Cheerios commercials first).
     Now being a mother of two wonderful men and being married to the best guy in the world and having the role model-that-they-broke-the-mould-for father, I take exception to all this man bashing. None of the men in my life are the lazy, stupid, boorish, only-out-for-one-thing, kind of guys the world is portraying men to be. Yes, I have know men, and women who would fall into those categories but they are not the majority and I certainly could never lump all men together as the world would like to do.
    You're probably saying 'so what's the big deal?', well I think there is a danger here because we have very, very young girls growing up to be men bashers. If a child grows up bashing the opposite sex, why would they then want to marry them? If they do marry, how can any respect come into a relationship where one sex is feeling superior to the other? This is not God's plan and it saddens me and well let's just be honest, it makes me angry when I hear Christians bashing each other because of their sex.
     "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Philippians 2:3 This is a verse that Christians need to remember. Nowhere in this verse does it say that it is only to be followed for a certain sex. No, we are to put others ahead of ourselves. We are to esteem them better than ourselves. To esteem means to hold in high regard. If you have fallen into men bashing, you are not holding others in high regard.
      Maybe you've had a 'rotten' man in your life. Maybe he hurt you terribly. Maybe you swore that you would never trust another man again. And just maybe you have never seen a great guy or you think those kind of guys don't exist. Let me tell you that they do. When we build walls around ourselves we are telling people to 'stay out!' When we fall into men bashing we are building a wall and telling every man in hearing distance 'I hate men', 'I don't trust men'. Why would prince charming want to be near a woman who obviously hates men??
     We live in a world full of sin and it is no respecter of persons. I have met women who have been involved in abusive relationships and I have met men who have been beat up by their spouse. Abuse has no regard to who it is being done to. Abuse isn't just the hitting, punching and other physical characteristics. Abuse is also what we use our words for. When we bash men, when men are bashed on TV in commercials or sitcoms, when we bash them in conversations so others can hear, we are seeing abuse. Abuse to who? To all men. One of God's creations is being torn down.
     'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus' (Gal 3:28) Girls, we didn't need the women's lib movement of the 60's to set us free and to make us equal to men. That's just another lie the world has fed us. We have always been equal because God created us equal and we are all one in Christ Jesus. Bashing men is just another trap the enemy of our souls has set for us so that we help him in tearing down God's creation. Let's not fall into that trap and if we have already found ourselves in it, let's get out and determine that we are all God's creations and one is not better or more superior than the other. We are all God's handiwork.