Men IN Action is a group of engaged and informed mentors impacting the community by developing positive social behaviors, to end all forms of violence, especially domestic violence and teen dating abuse. The group equips and encourages men to build each other up, hold one another accountable, challenge the status quo, and navigate life by being positive role models for our youth and each other. Men IN Action member John Crane shared these words with us.
The typical unforgiving caricature of fatherhood in our modern society is nothing close to the noble calling God has placed before fathers. Our culture—in its attempt to diminish the gender roles created by God—has emasculated men into a mere shadow of our true selves.
God has oriented the hearts of men to be the warrior and guardian. We are to stand in the gap for our families, serving as a bulwark against the dangers in our world. That is the role of the bravehearted Father.
The bravehearted Father is one who strives to live consistently what it means to be a follower of God and to love fiercely those whom God has placed under our charge. And we most lead forward courageously.
We are in a very real battle for the hearts and minds of our children. Fatherhood is often a lonely journey—being the point man in a hostile world. But, God has uniquely equipped us to model for our families what it means to embrace God’s way in a world that doesn’t.
To the women in our lives: we need your prayers. We need your support and encouragement. We need you to stand with us, beside us, behind us, offering those words of encouragement to “Keep fighting. Don’t quit! I’m with you.”
To the men who may be struggling to be who God created you to be: Remember Teddy Roosevelt’s observation that “the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly…who spends himself for a worthy cause.”
Fatherhood is a valiant striving. We fathers don’t always do it perfectly, but we keep pressing forward in this noble pursuit. Because with so many young people wandering in the cultural wilderness, the bravehearted Fathers can show the way Home.
John Crane is the founder of the Sagamore Leadership Initiative and is the Senator for District 24. He and his wife, Jean, live in Avon with their four children.
