The Metrosexual vs. the Uberman
While in college, I befriended a kind old man who lived on-campus. We called him Old Man Ray because he was nearly 100 years old. Naturally, he stuck out in the crowd like a sore thumb, but his presence among us was welcomed. He was, after all, a 1932 Biola graduate and lifelong missionary.
I spent hours in his apartment listening to his fascinating stories. Before I left, he always made me read Bible verses or Christian quotes that he had typed on small pieces of construction paper. One of these, written by Elisabeth Elliot, I committed to memory:
"The steel of manly character is forged in the fires of control and denial."
He had me read that statement regularly, probably forgetting that I had seen it countless times before. Or perhaps he thought it needed to be seen that often. I did not know why at the time, but this central idea of becoming a man – a real man – was extremely important to Old Man Ray. Now I think I know why.
A few years ago social commentators wrote about the emergence of the metrosexual, defined as "an urban male with a strong aesthetic sense who spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle." We all know someone like this. He is the cultured young man who is sensitive, charming and stylish. Not a manly man, by any means, but a nice guy who is "in touch with his feminine side."
It does not take long to realize that you won't readily find a metrosexual fighting on the front lines of battle, wiping sweat off his grease-stained shirt, exhorting churchgoers to confront cultural evils or condemning terrorism in a presidential speech.
My belief is that the metrosexual is a modern consequence of the 1960s' rejection of self-control and self-denial. The disciplines required to form a boy into a man were eschewed by a generation represented by flower power, free love and peace signs. The libertine sensibilities encouraged by the ‘60s resulted in a loss of manhood because they opposed the time-honored means by which manhood naturally developed: the increasing of responsibilities, the imitation of masculine heroes, and the development of inner vigilance and physical fortitude. Put simply, sexual freedoms flourished while masculine ideals diminished.
Decades of this view of masculinity saw the rapid rise of homosexual expression, manly women, hen-pecked husbands who refused headship and other reversals of traditional gender roles. Yet despite the 1960s' warped views of masculinity, many real men have since reminded us of what true manhood is: e.g., Ronald Reagan, Oliver North, George W. Bush and most recently Rush Limbaugh.
As a matter of fact, Rush was recently named among America's leading "ubermen." This term, uberman, describes a man who embodies the traditional qualities of masculinity: strength, courage and confidence. That's definitely Rush. How ironic that, despite the fervent attempts of ‘60s activists to reshape cultural attitudes toward gender, our postmodern society still values real men. And I suspect it always will, in one way or another.
Relating this back to Old Man Ray, I now see him as a real man, despite being frail and soft-spoken for most of his life. But his was a masculinity of a Christian nature, the kind of which Elisabeth Elliot wrote. His life's goal was not to be tall, muscular and loud, as the uberman is thought to be. Those characteristics appeal to the secular man, but they are incidental to the Christian man, for the latter cares more about godly character. And such character is formed by denying one's flesh for the sake of his spirit.
We find the supreme example of this "Christian Uberman" in the Lord Jesus. He was a true man, not a guy who styled his hair, dressed fashionably and had girl-talk down at the well. Rather, he was a man acquainted with sorrows, for he knew the difficult task set before him and chose to walk it anyway. His character was as steel, forged in the fires of control and denial to attain the joy set before him.
Merry Christmas, and may you be encouraged in 2006 to become a Christian uberman!
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