Beer can smashing neanderthals

I have read a lot of criticism of various different ministries that are voicing messages to men about masculinity. I feel some critiques have valid points being raised but to me many are missing the real point of why these manly messages are being so received. What is it about the characters, the bits of heroic prose and imagery that are used that resonates with a lot of men? I have read many of the theological concerns with some content in books like Wild at Heart etc...and it seems some are valid but many are over the top too. I have listened to the paranoid prognostications of a mass of steroid popping, wife slapping, gut protruding, beer can smashing neanderthals storming the pews. But to me that seems to be just doing the exact type of over characterizing that the critics seem to be complaining about. 

Granted not all church bred men are sea-foam green wearing, lillty two stepping charismaniacs, with one eye cocked to the ceiling and the other glossed over. Not all talk in submissive hush tones like a beaten dog. Not all shake your hand like its made of tissue. But many do...but most of that stuff is not really the problem; though it sure does grate against many men's minds. So much so that just writing it or finally voicing it out-loud has been like finally exhaling after holding ones breath for what seems like eternity. Oh my goodness I am not the only one who cant stand that stuff! Coming out of the closet so to speak has been liberating to the male soul. Getting in touch with his real feelings has been therapeutic even if those feelings are the ones being expressed. Every woman and every man possessed with a counseling spirit wants us to talk, share, be honest and real...as long as it isn't too rough. 

Many talk about Jesus as the perfect example of masculinity, that sounds so spiritual to say, but in reality there is a few hundred layers of feminized preaching that have coated that image that desperately needs to be peeled away. I think many of these ministries are just trying to do that; redeem Jesus from the nursery and the tea parties. 

Let's be honest the Hugh Grant image of the Christian male reigns supreme. 

It amazes me that this issue seems to be up for debate. 

Much of the messages from Eldridge and Driscoll and others seem to be awakening the very core elements that undergird the very concerns being made. Being a good father, a loving husband and productive worker and a righteously ambitious expander of the kingdom are all noble endeavors. William Wallace and Maximus can embody those characteristics too. Conquest isn't evil. The challenge of Jesus to the church in Revelations is to be an overcomer. That is both an internal war and an external war against odds, hardships, failures, lack, opposition, unbelief, fear and a host of other opponents. The masculine soul is needed in such matters. An awakening of the fire in the belly is a good thing when faced with so much today that seeks to distort the true image of God in man. 

I applaud the books, the sermons, the language, the manner in which it is spoken and the edge in which it has been done. It has born great fruit in me, helped me take courageous leaps of faith, awakened His grace and courage in me and helped me see I am not alone.