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It’s time to change the way we talk and think about male sexuality,” writes Zachary Wagner in the Speaking Out section of our July/August issue. The church, Wagner argues, hasn’t done its part to set boys up for success. Purity culture has too often cast men as “sexual animals,” rather than offering Jesus as an example of gentle self-control and godly maturity.
Wagner’s reflection—based on his book Non-Toxic Masculinity: Recovering Healthy Male Sexuality—joins a conversation that’s been taking place inside and outside Christian circles this year. Richard Reeves’s book Of Boys and Men and Christine Emba’s Washington Post column “Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness” are among the attempts to diagnose why men are struggling—in school, in the workplace, in families—and what can be done to help. Commenters on CT’s social media pages found Wagner’s vision of Christ-centered masculinity encouraging. “Thank you for putting Jesus as the highest example instead of politics or helpful debate,” wrote one woman.
Though a few said the article either went too far in support of “the feminist movement” or didn’t go far enough in “deconstructing the patriarchy,” and others wished Wagner had offered more concrete advice, many of those who commented found his take, in their words, “refreshing,” “timely,” and deserving of an “AMEN.”
Very few persons under the age of 60 or 65 are interested in or even know of anything related to a “denomination.” There’s a majority of youth that have no clue what a “church” is or even care. So these writings appear to be more of a traditional understanding of Christianity, even if they call themselves “nondenominational.”
I was taken aback by comments in the article ...