Behold the Man - Harold Burke-Sivers

Chapter 1 excerpted

The first man of the Bible -- literally -- is Adam. In Genesis 2:15 we read, "The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. "The word for "man" (adam in Hebrew) is derived from the Hebrew word for "dust" or "soil" (adamah), and, although depicted as male, he embodies the fullness of humanity. The word for "till" (abad in Hebrew) means a work in the form of service. The word for "keep" (shamar in Hebrew) means to guard, protect, and defend. Adam, then, is not simply a gardener but a steward who receives from God his mission and calling as a man: to serve, protect, and defend everything that the Lord has entrusted to him .

"Then the LORD God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.'" Why is the man's solitary existence not a good thing? In his original solitude, man realizes that he is superior to all of God's creatures, that he is self-aware (he can know himself) and he can know God. Man is also made in the image and likeness of God (see Gen 1:27), who exists as one God in a communion -- a Family -- of three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Man, therefore, is created to exist within a family, in a communion of persons who are three but, at the same time, are one: fathers, mothers. and children. Man makes no sense by himself, and so God creates a "helpmate" fit for him.

The Hebrew word for "helpmate" is ezer kenegdo. The root of the word ezer means "power" and "strengthn. Combined with kenegdo ("opposite to" or "corresponding to), the phrase was often used to denote one who stands opposite or parallel to the other who surrounds, protects, aids, helps, and supports, especially in battle. Woman is not created to be a maid or a servant to her husband -- to make the meals, do the laundry, and clean the house. God created a woman in the same original solitude as the man (she is also superior to all of God's creatures, is self-aware, and can know God), but she possesses her own unique and special gifts from God that complete and perfect the gifts of the man. They are to battle sin and death--together.

This is an extremely important point. We live in a culture today that insists "equality" and "sameness" are identical, expressing itself in the sentiment "In order to be equal you have to be the same." This fails the litmus test since there exists within the complementarity of men and women a fundamental and intrinsic unity. In other words, men and women are equal in dignity but are different physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The gifts from God that are unique and special to men complement and perfect the unique and special gifts of women. To be created and loved by God is not enough; what matters to us beyond existence is to be loved by another person. The overflow of God's infinite love is continued and perfected by the creative power of human love between a man and a woman in the covenant relationship of marriage, and between Christ and His Church in the covenant relationship of celibacy.

Prior to the Fall, the consciences of the man and his wife were directed toward their Ultimate End: the Beatific Vision, life forever in heaven with God. Satan, through his lies and deceptions, forms the consciences of our first parents away from God and toward themselves. Sadly, he has been using the same technique over and over again, century after century and millennium after millennium, that continues to destroy the hearts, minds, and lives of those who seek life-giving communion with God.

Satan lies to her about the meaning of death and tempts her with the proposition that she does not need God at all -- that by eating the tree's fruit she can become her own god, "knowing good and evil." Satan's premise is entirely false because God cannot "know" (experience) evil, since He is complete and perfect Good. Hence, there is no possibility of man becoming "like God" in the way Satan has proposed. Through his temptation the devil twists, confuses, and distorts the truth of God's command so that the man and his wife freely close their hearts to God's will, leading them not to the intimate embrace of the Beatific Vision but to the "knowledge" of separation from God's life in the throes of Original Sin.

The woman's husband is finally mentioned in Genesis 3:6, although he has been there the entire time. Though the woman succumbed to Satan's mendacity, the man is no less culpable than his wife. There is no indication that he attempts to remind the woman of what the Lord had said, nor does he intervene in any way. Incredibly, while Satan is tempting his wife, the man says and does nothing. He takes no action to protect and defend the heart of love. Instead, his response to sin is weak and pathetic: "She also gave some to her husband, and he ate." His silence is deafening and confirms his complicity in disobeying God's commandment.

The verse does not imply that the woman tempted her husband into sinning, as is sometimes thought, but that he was a willing participant with his wife in introducing sin into the world. He was supposed to protect and defend her, but he did not, and we are still living with the consequences of that decision today, as evidenced in the aftermath of the Fall: But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, ''Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

The man admits that he was afraid and hides himself. Fear is the reason why so many men do not accept or practice the Catholic faith. Fear has made it easier for men to accept the lies of the culture rather than embrace the fullness of truth found in the Catholic faith. Fear makes men spiritually and intellectually lethargic; we have become satiated by the banquet of indifferentism and drunk on the wine of mediocrity. Fear makes us hide from God behind the veneer of being a "good person'' in order to justify our sinful behavior. We make excuses why we cannot find time to strengthen and deepen our faith life. Uniting ourselves to Christ in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not a priority. Fear prevents men from becoming priests in both the hierarchical and domestic churches, and, instead, we worry about being politically correct and put our trust in worldly ideals and possessions. We eschew Eucharistic Adoration, the Rosary, and other devotional practices that cause us to be still and know God, admonishing them as '"boring" and "old-fashioned' as the din of the world deafens the voice of God in our hearts. Fear makes us spiritual geldings.

When God asks the man directly for an explanation of why he failed to keep the commandment about the tree, he cannot find the moral fortitude to "man-up" and accept responsibility for failing to serve, protect, and defend. In his cowardice, he assigns blame to his wife. Following the example of her husband, the woman assigns blame to Satan. Instead of making a gift of themselves to each other in truth and freedom, now -- as slaves to sin -- they shift personal culpability for their offenses against God to one another.

Every man is called to be the chief servant of his family, whether he serves as a husband and father in the domestic church (the church of the home), as a parish priest in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) for the Church on earth, or as a young man who serves as an example of sanctity and virtue within society as he discerns God's will for his life, "that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Our Lord Himself teaches us by his example: "For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many," and, "He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Our spirituality as men must flow from the Sacred Heart of Jesus and His call to live the Gospel with both fervor and humility. Humility does not mean thinking less of ourselves; it means thinking of ourselves less. Humility means making our relationship with Jesus the single most important relationship in our lives.

If we are to be true men of God, we must willingly and lovingly lay down our lives in service to our brides, bearing witness to the awesome power and testimony of the crucified Christ. We must have the courage to say with Saint Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." When men pick up their Crosses and follow Christ, they unite their sufferings to His Passion, receive everlasting life from His death, and draw their strength from his weakness. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness", the Lord said to Saint Paul, prompting Saint Paul to say, "I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

Being vulnerable means not being afraid to be countercultural -- to embrace the fullness of truth and become servants of all that is good and beautiful. Being vulnerable means recognizing that the Sacrament of Reconciliation allows men to open our hearts and trust the Lord completely, not being afraid to say; "Lord, I love you, but I am human and, in my weakness, I've made a mistake", and then receive God's mercy and forgiveness. Being vulnerable means emptying ourselves before the Eucharistic Christ in complete surrender to the will of God so that the Lord can fill us with His life. Being vulnerable means exposing the deepest parts of who we are before our "brides": our spouses and the Church. We cannot continue to be afraid to express fully who we are in Christ, and until male spirituality moves beyond the confines of the cultural status quo -- until we acknowledge and appreciate what it means to be a gift to others -- we will consistently face obstacles and uncertainty within our families, parishes, and communities.

Discussion Questions

1. How do I serve, protect and defend my relationships with my wife, children and the Church?

2. How have I made my relationship with Jesus the single most important relationship in my life?

3. In what ways do I let fear keep me from the man that God is calling me to be?