All of us as men have small things- fears, hang-ups, anxieties, idols, and other things we hold onto- that have the potential to hold us back from being all that God wants us to be.

Most Christian men know that they be committed to the Lord, to their wives, to their families, and to living lives of purpose, integrity, and character.

But for a lot of men, it’s not a matter of knowing. It’s a matter of behavior.

In other words, most of the time it’s not our ignorance that holds us back from becoming all God wants us to be. It’s our unwillingness to act, to make a change, or to actually do the work. It’s our unwillingness to sacrifice, to get vulnerable, or to humble ourselves. It’s our unwillingness to be consistent, to be disciplined, and to be held accountable. We could be so much more than what we are. But so many little things so often hold us back.

If you’ve been in church for longer than 5 minutes, you’ve probably heard someone talk about “discipleship” or “making disciples”. Jesus had 12 disciples. After the resurrection, He commanded them in Matthew 28:19-20, to “go into all the world and make disciples”. In many churches, that verse is painted on the walls. The language of discipleship gets tossed around frequently, as does copious amounts of discipleship programming- discipleship classes, discipleship books, and even discipleship conferences.

It seems like a concept of which almost every Christian possesses at least a loose working definition. Yet, our application of this concept is sorely lacking. Even if most Christians have similar ideas of what a disciple is, very few of us can articulate a coherent process for how to make one. Worse yet are the Christians who have read books, attended classes, audited seminars, and gone through trainings on the art of “disciple-making”- but have yet to lift a finger to do it.

If you’ve ever looked at the commission of Jesus to spend your life make disciples and felt unqualified, unprepared, overwhelmed- you’re in good company.

The 12 Apostles just might have been the most unqualified, unprepared, overwhelmed, and unlikely leaders to lead the Christian movement. Religious leaders in Israel during that time were among some of the most educated, brilliant, and qualified in all the known world. Yet God took these 12 ordinary, uneducated, blue-collar men and used them to turn the entire world upside down (Acts 17:6).

Unknown, alone, and isolated. Three words that describe the modern man. It shouldn’t shock us too much that loneliness and isolation have a devastating effect on us emotionally, mentally, and even physically. Our Creator has something to say in His Word about this-

“It is NOT GOOD for the man to be alone…” (Genesis 2:18)

Human beings were not created by God to live for 27 years in solitary confinement in cells that are 9 feet long and 6 feet wide. Neither were they made to live in virtual cells of social isolation made possible by an artificial purely online world. Or self-imposed cells of emotional and relational isolation created for fear of others getting too close and not liking what they see.

Loneliness and isolation are both not good for us. In fact, they will destroy us.