What is a Godly Man?
Sep 23, 2025Dana Dill
Edited from a sermon delivered to Chino Valley Community Church men’s gathering on Saturday, May 3, 2025
In a world clouded by confusion about identity, the question “What is a man?” often elicits blank stares or shallow stereotypes. As believers, we don’t need to wrestle with cultural fog. Instead, we ask a better question: What kind of man does God call me to be?
Why This Matters
The stakes are high when it comes to the question of manhood. Counterfeit versions of manhood abound. It seems we’ve just as much to unlearn as we do to learn. Also, men dramatically shape their health and culture of their homes, churches, and communities—for better or worse. For example, consider the contrast between the family legacies of the criminal Max Jukes and the godly pastor Jonathan Edwards. After scholars studied multiple descendants from both men, here is what they found:
Max Jukes’ generational legacy included 60 thieves, 190 prostitutes, 150 other convicts, 310 beggars, and 440 individuals ravaged by alcohol addiction, with 300 dying prematurely.
Jonathan Edwards’ legacy included one U.S. Vice-President, one dean of a law school, one dean of a medical school, three U.S. Senators, three governors, three mayors, 13 college presidents, 30 judges, 60 doctors, 65 professors, 75 military officers, 80 public office holders, 100 lawyers, 100 clergymen, and 285 college graduates.”
A man’s influence is generational. Men, as bearers of God’s image alongside women, are called to reflect His glory in a distinctly masculine way. (1 Corinthians 11:7), then God being known and loved is directly affected by men knowing who we are and living that out.
So, again, what is a godly man? Thankfully, our Heavenly Father hasn’t left his sons without an answer. Through the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5, we see a godly man knows his call, fulfills his responsibilities, and remembers his need.
1. Godly Men Know Their Call (Ephesians 5:1–2)
The world’s models of manhood—romantic conquests (bedrooms), wealth (billfolds), or athletic prowess (ballfields)—are shallow, misleading, and destructive. Men who imitate these models do little good and much harm to themselves, their families, and society. Instead, the Lord provides us a different model: himself. Ephesians 5:1–2 says:
“Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.”
God’s picture of godly manhood is given us definitively in Christ. His character, conduct, and concerns are the standards to measure ourselves by and model after.
Some may hesitate here and think, “Isn’t Jesus a bit soft?” Although Christian art often depicts Jesus as soft or effeminate, the Scriptures paint a different picture. J. Oswald Sanders wrote,
“There was nothing soft or effeminate about Jesus. He was the strong Son of God, strenuous and virile. He confronted hypocrisy with scathing denunciation, drove the money-changers from the temple, and stood erect and calm before Pilate. Yet He wept over Jerusalem, took little children into His arms, and was moved with compassion at human sorrow. No one ever feared that contact with Jesus would sap his manhood. He was the manliest of men.”
A simple reading of the gospels will demonstrate the truth Sanders noted. Not only was Jesus a man, but he was a manly man who avoided the twin distortions of emotionally stunted strength and weak emotionalism. He was a man who seamlessly blended strength with compassion, courage with intelligence, and labor with love. A man worthy of imitation.
Children who mimic their fathers teach us a valuable lesson. They don’t just listen to their dads, they watch them closely. In doing so, inch by inch and often without anyone noticing, they become like them. The lesson? We become who we behold. Rather than comparing ourselves to flawed cultural icons, God’s men heed the call to fix our eyes on Christ as he’s revealed in Scripture. By beholding Him we will become like him.
