My favorite local coffee shop, the Red, White, and Brew, started offering quiche on their breakfast menu. I snagged a couple of to-go servings for my wife and I to have with our coffee this morning. This stuff is great!
There is a saying somewhere I heard that real men don’t eat quiche… what a stupid saying! It had to be started by a donut salesman. If real men don’t eat quiche, then I think it is time we redefine and rethink what is a real man, because I seriously do not want to be a closet quiche eater.
Seriously.
Although I admit, I am not surprised the way the world thinks is contrary to the way I think. I have been battling this worldly way of thinking for years. Take for instance, the whole issue of crying… I grew up watching John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, so you can gain a fairly good understanding of what I learned about when a man cries.
Like never…
What a bunch of baloney! Take a look at the shortest verse in Scripture, John 11:35.
Jesus wept.
I look at Jesus Christ and see the perfect image of a man. Now wait, before you get freaky on me and think about some of those stained-glass images or oil portraits, this is not the image the churches and artists of the world have painted to look like a female with a beard.
This is another point on where I think differently than most of the world. Think about the Jesus Christ described in Scripture.
This is a man who worked as a carpenter (without power tools!!!!) and walked almost everywhere He went when He traveled. He most likely had muscles and the build to carry wood and tools wherever they were required. Forget about the Renaissance styled paintings of a wimpy Jesus with more feminine qualities than Marilyn Manson, we’re talking about a powerhouse of muscle and someone who could stand on His own.
Think about it… He turned over the moneychanger tables in the temple and no one stopped Him. Why? It wasn’t because He was undernourished. It wasn’t because He looked like a glamour model. It was because He was and is a Dude with a capital “D”.
Scripture states He was beaten so badly the night before He was crucified, He hardly resembled a man when He carried His Cross – could a wimp pull that off?
Jesus was as strong physically and emotionally as any man, and maybe even more so since He wasn’t burdened with sin. He was and is the perfect image of a man, and guess what? He wept.
We are created in His perfect image, and as He illustrated, there are times for us to cry.
When I attended my aunt’s funeral services last week, I kept the waterworks under control up to the point my cousin Kristie commented about my aunt and uncle’s love for one another. I thought about my wife and started to cry. I cried at the birth of each of my children. I cry when I confess my grave sins before God. I have cried in front of our church, in front of other men, and privately.
And, surprisingly, I have lived to tell about it.
We see Jesus wept at the death of His friend; Peter, a strong, rugged fisherman, cried after he denied Jesus; and David, a mighty warrior and king, cried before God and many others. Each of these men allowed their tears to flow and became stronger through the expression of grief. Jesus spoke to the tomb and Lazarus was resurrected; Peter worked through his grief and came back to shake the kingdom of Satan; and David always arose stronger in faith than before in his tears.
Whether man or woman, do not be afraid of tears. When you hurt the worst, go to your secret prayer closet and weep out all your bitterness. Cry in your pillow, in your bathroom, in your car, or in your truck. Go where you need to and let the tears flow. Cry until you have no more tears left, then allow God to comfort you in your brokenness.
Psalm 51:17 promises God will not turn away from a broken heart. We cannot find anywhere in Scripture where the Lord says, “…stop your blubbering and take it like a man!” I believe this is because the tears have a purpose in all of us. We do not cry because we are physically broken and leaking, we cry because we are broken in spirit or emotion, and this is where only God can bring healing or strengthening.
For me, I am through concerning myself about what the world thinks about a crying man – this is how I get strong. What about you? Have you been holding back? Let me encourage you to find a place in the next day where you go quietly and pray about whatever hurt or bitterness or pain or shame or whatever you have been holding back. If you feel the tears come, don’t stop them… they have a purpose.
And when you are done, why not celebrate your newfound healing and strength with a healthy plate of quiche!?!
Glenn Sasscer
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