Recently there’s been a lot of cultural excitement over the prospect of becoming a high-value man. As Christians we need to be examining these things in light of scripture and it’s relevant to both men and women because you either are a man, married to one, raising one, or you’re going to be married to one.

A high-value man has a six-pack, makes a ton of money and can get any girl he wants. He also owns his own business, doesn’t spend time with those “below him”, and is of course more valuable than his wife because “what does she bring to the table?”

It is no coincidence that the top influencers in this space are nietzsche-quoting, god-hating, men. This is because the soul of nietzsche’s teaching is that you would become the top guy, the “ubermench” as he would call it. For nietzsche it’s all about man. You see the problem? The Bible says that wisdom begins with the fear of God, nietzsche says it starts with the love of man. The sons of nietzsche preach self-centered power, the sons of God preach humble submission to another man, Jesus Christ.  

Now the answer is not to Jesus-juke your way into an effeminate, beta Christianity where it’s okay to be bad at your job and unambitious. No, men were made to chase glory (2 Cor 3:18). This innate desire, the desire for glory, is what’s twisted and perverted in our culture today. But glory is not found in having multiple sexual partners. Glory is found in having one smiling wife surrounded by glowing children like Saturn & her moons. Common signs of glory are spit-up on your tie, bags under your eyes & a wife that’s happy to see you. Glory is being so diligent in your work that you stand before CEO’s and stuff money away for your grandchildren.

Above all a man who really desires glory has trusted in Jesus Christ, he has confessed his sins, and humbled himself before God. In Christ is true value which outperforms our culture’s monopoly money value system any day of the week. In Christ is true glory & value.

Jeremiah Jasso – December 31, 2023

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As the wise men ventured into Jerusalem seeking the toddler-king of the Jews they got a pretty shocking reaction, after they started asking around Matthew says in v.3 of ch.2 that “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” 

Herod’s reaction is not shocking. He knew when he heard this that his job as Caesar’s puppet-king was over so it’s not a surprise that this news riled him up. What is shocking is that it wasn’t just Herod who was troubled but “all Jerusalem with him.” You would expect the average citizen to be excited about their new king.

Well, you might say, maybe they just didn’t get the memo. Maybe they really thought it was a rival king or maybe Herod had manipulated them. No, it’s worse than that. They knew exactly what was going on. We know that on two separate occasions the news of the Messiah’s arrival had spread through Jerusalem before the wisemen came. The first time Luke says in ch.2 v.18 that when the people heard about the birth of the Messiah they “marveled”. They were filled with wonder and were amazed at the news. The second time a prophetess Anna came and told Jerusalem that redemption had arrived. So Jerusalem wasn’t troubled due to their ignorance; they were troubled due to their arrogance. They knew the truth. 

They marveled at the fact that the Messiah had come to rule with an Iron rod, but cowered at the thought of Him actively ruling their hearts. They were excited that he had come to take away sin, but were troubled when they realized that they’d have to confess their search history. And on top of all that they preferred the artificial peace of Herod to the Holy war of their rightful King.

It is easy, during this time of year, to fall into the same pattern. It’s easy to marvel that Christ came to take away sin all while disguising envy and bitterness as jokes and then hurling them at others like snowballs with rocks in them. See it is not enough to simply hear the truth. It’s not even enough to hear the truth and be amazed! You must also lay down your sins in faith and submit to Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah Jasso – December 10, 2023

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The reputation of King Saul precedes him. He was the first king of Israel and although they had high expectations for him, he failed. Looking back, it seemed like he couldn’t do anything right, but he did do one thing right; Saul forbade witchcraft, he outlawed it. We know from Leviticus 20 that witchcraft was supposed to be outlawed so Saul outlawing witchcraft was a good thing. In other words, witchcraft was the only sin Saul hated enough to prosecute.

But again, Saul turned out to be a huge disappointment because only a short time after taking a stand against witchcraft, he fell into the one sin he hated most. In 1 Sam 28 Saul goes and participates in witchcraft with the witch of endor. If you had told Saul just a short time earlier that he was going to end up committing the sin of witchcraft you probably would’ve lost your head. But now, Saul had become what he hated. 

The lesson here isn’t that you can’t hate sin. Or that if you hate sin you will inevitably become that sin. No, hating sin is good, Psalm 119:104 says “I hate every evil way.” We are supposed to hate sin.

But your hatred of sin is to be mixed with gratitude. When you are provoked by corrupt politicians, bad parents, disobedient children, recognize that if it weren’t for the Holy Spirit preserving and persevering you, that would be you. This is what drives us to pray with David “Lord take not your Holy Spirit from me.” We see clearly that before Saul could sink to the depths of witchcraft scripture says that the Spirit of God departed from him.

So does your hatred of sin drive you into a fit of gratitude that He has given you the Holy Spirit and has promised to persevere you to the end, or does it just leave you seething and angry? You have been given the priceless gift of the Holy Spirit so let your frustrations with the world drive you to be dependent on Him; and to be dependent on Him is to be in the Word, be always in prayer, and confess your sins.

Jeremiah Jasso – October 15, 2023

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