Effeminate Men
Effeminacy shows itself in some surprising ways in scripture.
In Genesis, the conversation between Eve and the snake says much more than what the words tell us. We’re shown an effeminate man who burdens the rest of humanity with his bad decision.
During creation, God instructs Adam that he can eat of any tree in the garden except for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Soon after, God creates Eve and they begin a happy life in the garden.
When the serpent tempts Eve to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam is silent. The scriptures say Eve ate the fruit and handed some to Adam and he ate of it.
Take a moment. Imagine a strange man is attempting to entice your wife to do something. He speaks slick words and seems to be drawing her away from you to do something wrong or harmful for her. Do you sit back and allow that man to have ownership over the conversation with your wife? Don’t you step between your wife and the dangerous man?
Why did Adam allow it to happen?
What is Effeminacy?
The passive nature of Adam produced a whole host of issues for the two of them and us as humanity. The weak-willed, passive, soft nature of his handling of the situation created the mess Christ had to eventually come down and clean up.
Even though we could spend a lot of time tearing apart Adam, that’s not the important takeaway from all of this.
Scripture holds examples of both men who fulfill their masculine nature and men who live out an effeminate nature.
But let’s start with the meaning of the word.
Effeminate In Scripture
In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul begins by making an argument against the believers. He chastises the Corinthian church, pointing out that taking out lawsuits against each other in the courts of the government was a bad move. After all, if they are believers and faithful followers of Christ, wouldn’t it stand to reason that they would be better judges for themselves than to go to the world? He further points out their problems by wondering why, if they were true believers, they would even need to have lawsuits against each other.
As he makes his case that they prove their wickedness by starting lawsuits against each other, he follows with a list of wicked actions committed by those who are not of the kingdom of God. He says, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”
And there’s our word: effeminate.
Malakos Means Effeminate
Some scholars make the case that this word means a sexual relationship between a boy and an older man. The word, malakos, was used to describe the boy in the relationship. However, the word is used elsewhere. In Matthew 11:8, Christ is talking to people who were seeking out John the Baptist. He says, “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces!”
Which word translates to malakos? Soft. Both times Christ uses malakos to describe the clothing of the men in palaces. Think silk, luxurious, decadent clothing in a palace. You get the image of a man who is consumed by pleasure and luxury. A man who shirks the difficulties or choices of conviction to keep pleasure for himself.
Plutarch
Plutarch, a Greek philosopher who lived during the first century and would have been well acquainted with the culture of the Corinthians, described malakos as a “soft life”. He described soft living as living a lifestyle “in the bosoms and beds of women.”
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas felt the contrast to effeminacy was perseverance. He considered effeminacy to be the “withdraw[ing] from good on account of sorrow caused by lack of pleasure, yielding as it were to a weak motion.”
Consider the label of malakos to be similar to what we might call a “Nancy boy” or the Brits might say is a “puff.” While it has meaning revolving around sexual identity, it is not limited to only gay men. It speaks of a nature or personality. Think passivity and lack of will.
An Effeminate Man will not Inherit the Kingdom of God
Paul’s list included a lot of sexual lifestyles before going into things like lying, cheating, stealing, and hatred. While effeminacy includes giving into sexual indulgences, the context seems to be men (or even women) who dive into pleasure headfirst, seeking it out and casting aside the tiresome or difficult nature of responsibility.
In other words, being soft/effeminate means much more than just sexual indulgence. After all, sexuality consumes us as people. This is why so many find their entire identity in who they sleep with. It consumes their mind as they slip deeper and deeper down the abyss of lust. They become a shell of themselves, a brute beast desiring only pleasure at the expense of all else.
That sexual indulgence, that consumption, also means the man is weak-willed, passive, compromising, and indulgent in pleasure and luxury. He’s driven by his lusts and desires. He sacrifices the difficult life, conviction, and responsibility to consume more and more pleasure. The more he becomes consumed by giving into pleasure and decadency, the more one-dimensional he becomes.
What is a Masculine Man?
A few chapters later, in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, Paul states, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”
The word in Greek for “act like men” is andrizomai. This word itself means to make oneself a man or to be brave. Couple that with the other phrases around it, and you get a clear direction of how a man should act. Instead of giving oneself over to the desires of the flesh and falling down the rabbit hole of lust, greed, pride, and hatred, a man should aspire to be strong, stand alert, be firm in faith, and act bravely.
These are in direct contradiction to what it means to be soft, weak-willed, passive, and indulgent in pleasure.
John the Baptist and an Effeminate Man
A perfect example in scripture of this contrast plays out at the end of John’s life. John the Baptist is a tough man. He lives in the wilderness, he lives on locusts and honey, he wears sackcloth, and isn’t afraid to get in someone’s face. At one point, he points to the Pharisees and says, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
John also stood before authority and bravely proclaimed the truth. Herod the Tetrarch (a ruler in Jerusalem) had taken his brother’s wife and married her. John rebuked Herod to his face. While Herod despised this, he knew he couldn’t do anything to John because the people knew he was a prophet.
However, Herod’s wife held a grudge. One night, Herod’s daughter gave what most consider a sexual, enticing dance to Herod and his guests. He was so...enthusiastic about the dance that he offered her anything, up to half his kingdom. She went to her mother wondering what she should ask for. Her mother responded, “John the Baptist’s head on a platter.”
The daughter returned to Herod and asked for exactly that. Herod was grieved because deep down he didn’t want to execute John, but because of the oath he spoke before his guests and his daughter, he gave in. John was beheaded in the prison and his head was brought forward in a presentation of luxury and decadence (think food on a platter.)
Effeminate Men Avoid Responsibility
We witnessed two distinctly different examples. On one side, we had a man who refused the trappings of luxury or comfort and instead devoted himself to proclaiming the word of God. He was a bit wild and some might think “off”, but his conviction and righteousness were true. Christ spoke glowingly of John the Baptist.
On the other side, we have Herod. A man living in the lap of luxury and decadence. So turned on by his daughter’s dance, he made a brash oath and promised the world to her. Trapped in his lack of wisdom, he gave in to the social pressure of his guests and daughter, as well as his perceived reputation.
See the difference? One man found himself completely controlled by reputation, desire, luxury, decadence, power, and sexuality. The other man may have met a sad end, but his reputation with Christ has stayed for an eternity. Today, we look at John the Baptist with fondness and admiration. After all, the man lived out his true masculine conviction.
At the end of it all, effeminacy is found in that man who shirks responsibility and avoids duty. Just like Adam who did not do what was right in the garden, Herod did not do what was right and took the easy way out.
The Danger of Effeminate Men
People get hurt when men are effeminate. Spiritual evil will use any means necessary to draw men away from their duty and responsibility. It does so by offering the trappings of the world. When men become passive, weak-willed, and soft, they become targets for the enemy. Remember, he is a prowling lion, looking for who he may devour.
Understandably, lions don’t seek out the toughest prey. They look for the weak or infirm. They look for the isolated. Satan looks for and then uses men who are weak and isolated. When men consume themselves with the absolute garbage of the sex industry or chase after trappings of wealth and luxury, they then become a danger not just to themselves but to others. They will use others to get what they need. They’ll leave others high and dry to protect their ability to get their desires. These men will sacrifice the future and the world to stay in their own luxurious, pleasurable bubble.
Effeminate men are a powerful tool in the hands of Satan. Every time we follow the effeminate route, we allow him to do damage. Our compromises, weak nature, lack of conviction, and sinful indulgences create waves of destruction around us that may be felt for generations to come.
Look no further than Abraham, who listened to his wife and tried to make an end-around God’s promise by fathering a son through Sarah’s servant. This created Ishmael and therefore birthed animosity between the Jews and Ishmaelites since that moment. Abraham didn’t wait for the promise to be fulfilled through God’s hand, and his weakness of will/lack of conviction devastated generations to come.
When we fall into effeminacy of character, we are major problems to those around us. We put our families at risk. We put our churches and communities at risk. We put the future at risk.
A Masculine Man vs. an Effeminate Man
It is men who stand in conviction, responsibility, and duty who solve problems and provide righteous outcomes.
Just look at the example of Christ. He NEVER shrunk from his duty or responsibility. He NEVER compromised. Jesus Christ walked this earth with every single minute devoted to the mission His Father in heaven gave Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ provided salvation to all who will receive it precisely because he refused to give into the trappings of sin, pleasure, decadence, wealth, power, or influence. Satan himself tempted Christ three times, and yet Christ refused and walked to the ultimate death.
Jesus Christ did not just face physical torture and death at the hands of wicked and effeminate men. He faced the wrath of a just God who poured out justice on Christ to atone for the sins of mankind.
So. Maybe you can set down that phone and do what you’re supposed to do today.
Comments