I've Never Killed Giants
God calls men to faithfully lean on His strength, not our own.
By Justin Fluhr
If you had asked me in college to make a list of men who embody true manhood, I would have answered with characters from the movies Rudy, Rocky, and Saving Private Ryan. If you had asked me the same question on a Sunday, I would have given a churchy answer and pointed to the story of David and Goliath. My problem was, by the age of 29 I had never fought a battle on the gridiron, never fought in a professional boxing match, and certainly never fought in a war overseas. I began to ask myself, “How can I truly be a man if I’ve never killed a giant?” It’s the question every boy asks: “How do I become a man?”
More Than Grit
Unfortunately, the best solution this world has to offer is found in quarterbacks and war heroes. Even when we look to our own lives, we face the challenge of living up to the legends of men whose accomplishments seem to quickly outweigh our own. How can working a 40-hour office job compare to those men who have explored and invented and discovered? How can my fight with traffic compete with my great-grandfather who fought in World War II? For some of us, holding up to the image of our own father seems like an unattainable task. It must have felt that way for Solomon. His dad was the giant killer. Talk about an intimidating standard to live up to! However, when David was on his deathbed and the time came to name Solomon his successor, David’s manhood challenge didn’t involve common sayings like “Never back down!” or “Pick yourself up by your bootstraps!” Instead, David said:
“Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies...”
1 Kings 2:2-3
David didn’t suggest Solomon should forge his own path; he told his son to walk in God’s ways. Biblical manhood is less about mustering your own strength to conquer an enemy and more about harnessing the God-given strength to fight for faithfulness. Paul makes the same argument to the Christians in Corinth: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:13–14)
The Measure of a Man
One of the traps guys fall into is belief in the lie that real manhood is about how strong we are compared to other men. In truth, it’s about how strongly we cling to God. David knew that it wasn’t his physical strength that defeated Goliath, but the strength of his faith in the God who can defeat every giant. If you asked me today to make a list of men who embody manhood, I wouldn’t mention Rudy or Rocky. I would tell you the story of the E-Town dad who quit his job and started working the night shift so he could care for his daughter during the day as she battles epilepsy. I would tell you the story of the dad who serves in the Middle School Ministry so he can invest deeper into the spiritual life of his son. Or I would tell you about the mailman who leaned into God’s presence in the midst of his daughter’s life-threatening illness.
True manhood isn’t measured in medals and championships. It’s measured in faithfulness, dependence, and love in the stewardship of our everyday influence.