What Does It Mean?

Real Men Matter

To say that “Real men matter,” is a declaration.  As with all declarations, it opens up at least two questions that need to be answered: What does it mean and is it true?  How is it different than to say that “Men will be men?”

What It Means

To say that “Men will be men,” is vague, but it does convey a meaning.  It does resonate with a truth that all men have a basal nature that is universal.  It is unnecessary to dispute this, so for the sake of argument it can be left to stand.  Real men and natural men are both endowed by their creator with the same underlying nature.  They are both mortal.  They will both die.

It is their relationship with eternity that differentiates a real man from a natural man.  This difference does not arise from a difference in their fundamental natures, but from a choice.  A man may start out perfectly natural and yet may never make a choice for eternity.  Another may start out with a nature fraught with imperfections and yet still choose eternity.  To be real does not mean to be perfect.  It means to aspire to perfection, a perfection that is only rarely achieved in the short span of a mortal life.

Why Real Men Matter

All men live in a context, an environment with which they must interact.  Inability to adapt to one’s environment results in failure and, ultimately, in death.  This is a fact.  Environment dictates the rules of engagement.  A man’s ignorance of his environment places him at a distinct disadvantage in his life’s struggle.  Our species enter this world as helpless babes.  Almost everything necessary to success must be learned.  We all live in and must learn about our economic and scientific environment, our political environment, our social environment, and our spiritual and religious environment.  With so much to learn and so little time to learn it, the importance of native intelligence cannot be overestimated.  Some measure of intelligence is certainly necessary, but is it sufficient to ensure success in life’s endeavors?

What Else is Needed

Natural man uses his intelligence to adapt to the environment of his existence, whether he lives in an age of savagery, of barbarism, or of civilization.  True man does more than merely adapt.  He transcends the limitations of his environment and thereby effects changes in the environment itself.  He does this by exercising his God-given ability to choose.  He chooses not to be limited by how things appear to be, but by seeking out the reality behind appearances.  He uses his intellect to adapt, not merely to appearances, but to the unseen reality for which appearances are only an indication.  His fidelity to reality makes him real.

Real men are marked, not by their great intellect, but by the manner by which their intellect is directed.  Real men are loyal.  Real men are sincere.  Real men are just – honest and law-abiding.  Real men are humble. Real men are patient.  These spiritual qualities are not the product of intellect.  They are not arrived at by adherence to a humanly derived ideology.  They are the hallmarks of a relationship to eternity.  Real men will leave their mark, not always apparent, upon the worlds of time.  They will matter.

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