Who knew a commercial for a shaving cream and razor blade company could stir up so much controversy? Gillette\u2019s marketing team knew what they were doing when they produced and aired their ad: \u201cThe best men can be.\u201d Love it or hate it, they started a discussion about what it looks like to be a man in the modern world.<\/p>\n
To a certain degree I get it. I\u2019ve never been the quintessential man\u2019s man. Growing up I was taught that men are rough, tough, buff and into sports stuff. Meanwhile I\u2019m sensitive, gentle, weak and into stuff like classic literature and cooking.<\/p>\n
The church didn\u2019t provide much clarity growing up either. Sunday school always seemed to cherry-pick examples from the Bible of type A leaders like Moses, brawny warriors like Joshua and unreserved evangelists like Peter. But what about the artists like Bezalel, the poets like David and the gentle leaders like Joseph? They were just as masculine, but I didn\u2019t learn to appreciate that type of biblical masculinity until later.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll never forget the day I turned in my poetry project in English class. I was a sophomore in high school, and I liked poetry. I enjoyed using symbolism and abstract ideas to express how I felt about myself and the world around me.<\/p>\n
So when I turned in my project, my English teacher read aloud a few poems for the class to hear. What seemed like flattery at first escalated to public humiliation. He read my poems in an effeminate voice, insinuating that either he didn\u2019t feel masculine reading them or I shouldn\u2019t feel masculine for writing them.<\/p>\n
I hate to admit I stopped writing poetry after that, but I did. Not because they teased me, but because I thought there may be truth to it all. Maybe it\u2019s not masculine to be poetic and artistic<\/a>.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until I was in college that I discovered Bezalel in Exodus 31<\/a>. Full of the Holy Spirit, he was called by God to be an artist. He designed and crafted every last piece of the tabernacle just as God described it to Moses. In 1 Chronicles 25,<\/a> I discovered Asaph and his sons whom God called to be temple musicians.<\/p>\n And then the obvious hit me. Poetry and poetic prophecies written by men make up much of the Bible.<\/p>\n Being artistic is <\/em>manly. God created us to be miniature creators, calling women and men <\/em>to use creative expressions to bring Him glory and honor.<\/p>\n