“And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…’” (Genesis 2:16-17)

The man was not only called to steward the land’s resources, but also to steward information. Remember, Eve had not been formed yet.

It’s as if God were telling Adam, “I’m going to tell you this and I want you to pass it on, to teach it to others.”

                                 Inside of every man beats the heart of a mentor.

Verse 17 concludes with this ominous warning: “…or when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen 2:17b)

           Adam was clearly warned of potential danger.

It was his role to be alert, to be on guard, to stand watch over himself and his family. Inside every man beats the heart of a warrior.

Verse 18 introduces a new character into this cosmic drama: “The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Gen 2:18)

           Adam was given Eve to satisfy his deep longing for companionship.

                      In more general sense, men were created to be in community.

                                 Inside every man beats the heart of a friend.

Something went wrong in the Garden though.

After Eve ate the apple, God asks this question of Adam: “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8-9)

God was not confused about Adam’s geographical location.

                      The question was more of “Where were you?”

• Where was your influence as a leader when Eve and the serpent were chatting under the tree?
• Where was the warrior I created to protect and keep watch over her?
• Where did the mentoring process breakdown?
• Where was the faithful friend when Eve needed you most?

           Adam failed, the human race fell, and men have been frustrated every since.

The four pillars of a man’s heart are that of Leader, Warrior, Mentor, and Friend.

           This is how God defines real manhood.

                      Let’s look at each one of these pillars in more detail.

1. LEADER
As we have already seen, God created Adam to be a provider.

           This term means to see ahead.

                      In other words, we are called to lead.

           We are called to be the leaders of ourselves, our families, our communities, our world.

           Guys, we have been called to lead.

                      But many of us have not been taught how to lead.

           I want us to look at two of the areas of leadership that we are responsible for.

A. Lead Thyself

The first area of leadership may take you by surprise.

           Men, the first priority in leadership is to lead ourselves.

Until we understand this principle, we will not be effective leaders in any of the other areas in which we are called.

In I Samuel 30, we see a young leader named David.

           Things have been going extraordinarily well for him, and he is well loved and respected.

                      All of that changed in an afternoon.

After returning home from fighting, he discovered that the enemy has attacked and destroyed their campsite, burning all of their belongings, and kidnaped their families.

                      David’s soldiers are tired, angry, and worried sick about their wives and children.

                                 Someone suggested it was all David’s fault and a mutiny was born.

                                            The troops decided to stone David to death.

                      Where should he direct his leadership energy?

                                 His soldiers or the enemy?

Neither. He needed to lead himself first.
He found a place of solitude and Scripture records: “But David found strength in the Lord his God” (I Samuel 30:6)

Only after he gets himself squared away internally, does he fire up his troops to rescue their families.

Jesus modeled this for us well.

His life on earth was a pattern of intense ministry activity followed by time set aside for solitude, fasting, reflection and prayer.

Bill Hybels writes, “Even Jesus needed to invest regularly in keeping his calling clear…and avoiding distraction, discouragement, and keeping temptation at bay.”

Men, are you taking time throughout the week to recalibrate?

At least once a week, we need to sit down and go through these challenging questions:

• Is there anything in my life I need to confess to God or someone else?
• Do I need to extend forgiveness or ask forgiveness of someone?
• Who do I need to thank?
• What wisdom have I gained from the experiences God has lead me through this week?
• What have I learned from my reading of God’s Word and other books?
• Am I taking care of myself emotionally? physically? spiritually?

Answering these questions will help us to come away with a clearer vision of how important it is to lead our self.

B. Lead Your Family

The next area that we are called to lead in is our families.

           We are called to provide for their physical, emotionally, and spiritual needs.

Again, David was a leader of men and nations.

He rallied the troops in times of war and wrote inspiring poetry that we still read today in the book of Psalms.

                      He also committed adultery and murder and covered it up for almost a year.

                                 He was flawed, especially went it came to the leadership of his family.

In one verse we learn a lot about King David, the father: “Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, ‘I will be king.’ So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. (His father had never interfered with him by asking, ‘Why do you behave as you do?’” (I Kings 1:5-6)

           David did not lead his children well.

                      Men, we have been called to take the lead in the discipline of our children.

                                 But let’s never forget that the word discipline comes from the word disciple.

Men, we should pattern ourselves after Joshua.

           He was a well-balanced leader who got it right.

Listen as he confronts the leadership of the Israelite community before he dies: “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

He spoke with authority and provided an example for us, as well as them.

                      He was a man who provided spiritual leadership for his family.

Dr. James Dobson writes, “Our very survival as a people will depend on the presence or absence of masculine leadership in millions of homes.”

                      Come on guys, let’s take the lead and give the world an example to follow.

2. WARRIOR

Inside the chest of every man you know beats the heart of a warrior.

           Just look at the movies we like.

                      Whether it is Rambo outnumbered in the jungle,

                                 or Mel Gibson’s Brave heart yelling “Freedom!”,

                                 or Russell Crow fighting lions as the Gladiator,

                                            we admire a man of loyalty, courage, and honor.

John Elderidge proposes that, as men, we have “an adventure to live, a battle to fight, and a beauty to rescue.”

                      Men were created to be the protectors of their families and communities.

                                 We are called to be alert and on guard for the sake of our children.

Gentleman, we are at war, and there is an enemy who is on the prowl.

Listen to the orders given to us by Peter: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (I Peter 5:8)

           There is an enemy, and men have been called by God to stand at their posts.

           Satan is a thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10a).

He wants to destroy our reputations, our marriages, our families, our children, and our churches.

           We must be proactive protectors.

                      And we must use all the weapons that God has made available to us.

Listen to Paul’s advice to the church at Corinth: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

We are to be actively engaged in combat, with anything that would cause harm to our families or communities.

We are to use the divine power that God makes available to us, to counteract any influence the enemy might have.

                      We are under His authority.

                      God has given us our orders.

                      Will we follow His commands?

• He gave us orders that we should spend regular time with Him, in solitude and silence, so that our relationship can grow deeper and stronger.

Psalm 112:1-2 says, “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

• He gave us orders to love our wives as Christ loved the church.

Paul exhorted the men at the church at Ephesus: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…Ephesians 5:25).

           He has given us the assignment of protecting, cherishing, and sacrificially loving our wives.

• He gave us orders to raise our children in such a way that they would know His word, know His voice, and follow Him.

Paul writes, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4).

It has been said that our responsibility as fathers, is to keep anything out of our children’s lives, that could keep Christ out of their hearts.

• He gave us orders to be involved in the local church.

           We should be using the gifts and resources He has given us to build up the body of believers.

The writer of Hebrews encourages us to make regular church participation a priority: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25).

We have men in this country everyday that are leaving for Iraq.

           They are warriors following orders.

                      If they didn’t report, they will be listed as A.W.O.L. (Absent Without Leave).

           Unfortunately, many men have gone AWOL from their families and the result is chaos.

                      We need an army of men to step up to the plate and fight for our families.