Two Definitions of a Man

By Johnny Ray Youngblood

CBN.com – And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, … choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. (1 Samuel 17:8-10)

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. (Ezekiel 22:30)

In an effort to make these texts come alive, I’d like for us to imagine both of these passages, 1 Samuel 17:8-10 and Ezekiel 22:30, as classified ads in the Sunday Times—in the “Help Needed” section. Then, these passages would read a little bit like this.

Man needed to make up the hedge and to stand in the gap before God so the land and country won’t be destroyed. Apply immediately. (Ezekiel 22)

Nation in trouble—under threat of enemy! Man needed to fight and kill enemy mascot. If applicant succeeds, Israel will be served. If applicant fails, Israel will serve. (1 Samuel 17)

Brethren, if you or I were alive at the time that these ads were placed in the Times, who of us this morning would apply? Who of us will qualify if we did apply?

I tremble to think that the Ezekiel ad would reach the same conclusion: “… but I found none.” I dare say that 1 Samuel 17 would run for days, because most of us would cower or disqualify ourselves at the thought of fighting Goliath! However, I make bold to tell you that, although the original parchments on which the want ads were penned have yellowed and faded and are at risk from the slightest gust of wind, a new edition has been published and these want ads are being run again today: MAN NEEDED!

But lest I lead you the wrong way, I better say that only one position is still open; only one ad is still being run, and that is 1 Samuel 17. The Ezekiel 22 position has been filled. It took a while, but it was filled! A number of folk applied and most did not qualify, but the position finally got filled! Abraham applied, but his misleading tongue and his avaricious spirit disqualified him; Isaiah applied, but his unclean lips and his blinding stare at Uzziah disqualified him; Isaac applied, but his wells were deeper than his faith; David applied, but like Moses, his blood-stained hands disqualified him; Jeremiah applied, but he cried too much; Ezekiel himself applied, but he didn’t really live in the real world. So God, who placed the ad in the first place, said, “I’ll do it myself. I’ll qualify myself for the job, and do it myself!” And, he did, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. (Now, although that specific position has been filled, another want ad now takes its place. And that is, “Men needed to recruit men, to walk through the gap that has been filled and to hide behind the hedge that’s been made up.”)

But the position for 1 Samuel 17 is still open. Read the ad again, my brothers: “Nation in trouble—under threat of enemy. Man needed to fight and kill the enemy mascot. If applicant succeeds, Israel will be served. If applicant fails, Israel will serve.” Let’s bring the ad up to date: “Black folk in trouble—under threat of enemy. Man needed to fight and kill the enemy mascot. If applicant succeeds, black folk will be served. If applicant fails, black folk shall continue to serve.”

What we need to notice about these biblical texts is that these two passages have the same cry: MAN WANTED! MAN WANTED! From two different sources, the cry comes, MAN WANTED! And for two different reasons, the cry comes, MAN WANTED! The cry is, “I’m looking for a man.”

Notice the two voices that announce the search, that make the appeal. In Ezekiel 22 the voice is God himself. God says, “I’m looking for a man.” 1 Samuel 17 quotes Goliath of Gath. He says, “I’m looking for a man.” Both of these voices—God and Goliath—are entities of size and power. Some of us know God. Not all of us, but some of us, know him. Some of us have received the grace to know God. Some of us are the recipients of the grace to see God. Some of us are the recipients of the grace to hear God, and many of us are recipients of the grace to experience God.

Brothers, do you know God Almighty? If you don’t, let me just tell you a couple of things about him. God is the one who originates life; God is the one who terminates life; God is the one who washes the air with his rain and who sweeps the earth with his wind. Brothers, God laid the grass like a carpet and then tacked it down with flowers. God is the one who calls for our attention when he orchestrates the roll of the thunder’s bass drum, and he counters it with the cymbals of his lightning…. God, do you know him? He is the architect and designer of all things wild and wonderful. God is the designer of creatures great and small. God is the architect of all things grand and glorious. The bottom line is that anything that has been made was made by God. Brothers, God is the one who put strength in the mountains, who gave height to the pine, who makes sturdy the oak. God is the one who put the wet in water and the dry in sand, who put heat in the fire and put cold in the ice.

God didn’t quit there. The Lord painted the robins red and the elephants grey, the sky blue and the grass green. God painted me and you black, these folks white, those ones yellow, those ones red, and if there’s really anybody on Mars, he made them green. God is alive and well. And, brothers, what we need to know is that God is looking for a man! Extra, extra! Read all about it! God is looking for a man!

Now, Goliath was not God. He had size—he was nine feet tall—but he was a freak, with possibly four brothers who were also of intimidating height. He had a voice like the bottom of a well. He had the strength of at least ten men—he wore approximately 1,200 pounds of armor for battle. But, he wasn’t God.

God and Goliath: two different beings, but both of them looking for a man. God needs a man to stand before him and Goliath. The land is under threat. Children’s futures are not bright. The presence of men and women are on the brink. But a man can save the day! A man can stabilize the present and secure the future! Don’t you hear the call reverberating throughout history? MAN WANTED. MAN WANTED. MAN WANTED.

Well, we know the need and we know the assignment, but what are the qualifications? I’m glad you asked that question. If we look at 1 Samuel 17, we sense that, really, there are two definitions of a man. Goliath had one definition, and God had one definition. Goliath was looking for a male with physical size and muscular power. Goliath was looking for a man who was a victim of patriotic fever and a man who possessed some military genius.

I think Goliath has influenced us more than we realize when it comes to our definition of A MAN. We think a man is always one who has the height of Ed Lawson, so men who fall short feel they have to make up for their lack of height. They act out of what’s called a “napoleonic complex.” (Napoleon was a short man who compensated for his stature by trying to conquer all of Europe.) Goliath has affected a whole lot of us. And if you don’t believe me, just think about some of our definitions of A MAN: tall, dark, rugged, heroic, powerful. If he’s a man, he can push folk around. If a male is soft and loving, somebody says he’s a sissy. Goliath has influenced us more than we realize.

Goliath didn’t just have size; he had weapons also. Goliath felt that A MAN is a guy who has weapons to fight with, to do war in life. And most of us predicate our manhood on our weapons. Goliath had a shield in front of him, and his shield was so large he had to have somebody else carry his shield. His sword was so long that when David killed him, David had to use both hands to wield it. Goliath’s breastplate was so large that it weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 125 pounds.

Now, we don’t have swords and shields and breastplates like Goliath, but we’ve got weapons. And you know something? We think our weapons make us men. We’ve got cars; we think, the bigger our car, the bigger men we are. We figure the better our clothes, the better men we are. We figure the more money we have, the more we can flash. I saw a brother walk past me one Sunday with a wad of money that would choke three horses at Aqueduct. At offering time, he walked around the sanctuary, and when he got to the front, he pulled out his money, looked up at me, peeled off a dollar, and gave it to God. I’ve heard ladies talk about how they watch how, when a man wants to get with them, what he’ll do is pull out his money and flash it. You know, like “Hey baby … ah, you know.” Come on, brothers, you know what I’m talking about. And all I’m trying to say is that Goliath has given us our definition of A MAN.

We’ve got other weapons, like our sexual prowess! And then we’ve got, especially here in New York, con artistry. This con game is a weapon that men use. We are constantly taking on weapons in order to protect us against the darts and arrows of life. Goliath has affected us. If we don’t have money, a lot of us feel our manhood is endangered. When we get up in age and when our sexual prowess fades, we start to feel that life is over. When our car is down, we feel that we can’t go anywhere. If we have no job, we get so depressed that we can’t even go out and look for another one.

And Goliath is still saying, “Give me a man.” He’s got criteria that he wants us to live up to that we’ll never achieve—not when it comes down to Goliath’s definition of A MAN. There will always be somebody stronger than you; there will be somebody with a bigger sword and a larger breastplate; somebody with a better track record than you, and so, if you go by Goliath’s definition, you will never be A MAN. And brothers, what you’ve got to know about Goliath is that he knew there was nobody in Israel his size. That’s why he was out there selling those “giant tickets.” He knew there was nobody in Israel his size. Nobody would fit his definition of A MAN, because his definition was limited and limiting.

Brothers, you know the people of God are still attacked and ridiculed about the absence of men and the inability of the men who are present to achieve. “What are the men doing in the church?” folk will ask. “Where are the men in church? Ain’t no men in church.” Or, if they really want to cut at us, they’ll sneer, “Ain’t no real men in church.”

It’s not only bad when Goliath sells these giant tickets that we can’t buy. What’s worse is when we do buy Goliath’s definition of A MAN! Brothers, there are folk who will tell us that being a man is what Goliath is calling for, and I want to serve notice that Goliath’s definition is not the essence of being a man. Physical strength has nothing to do with it. A man is not defined by his size. I’ve been told, “It ain’t the size of the ship, it’s the motion of the ocean!” Somebody else said, “It’s not the wand, it’s the magician!” I submit to you that a man is one who knows how to get up and try again. A man is one who never allows anybody to get over on him.

Brothers, we’ve got the wrong criteria for manhood! We’ve been given the wrong job description. We’ve been given the wrong advertisement. And many of us have been given the wrong training and preparation. And when we buy Goliath’s definition of A MAN, we always sell ourselves short. What we need to know is that, while Goliath was taunting Israel, Goliath was the real fool. What he failed to remember was that, even if he thought there was no man in Israel who lived up to his standards, there was (and is!) a God in Israel. And because God is in Israel, he hears what you say and he sees what you do. And God will not allow his own to be put to shame indefinitely. Goliath wanted a man, and I’m glad to announce that when Goliath cried for A MAN, especially from Israel, God provided a man!

Now Saul, who was the king, had been brainwashed into accepting Goliath’s definition of A MAN, so Saul looked over the man God handed him. But, my brothers, God had a man. Ain’t that good news? When the enemy of God’s people was looking for A MAN, there was no man according to the enemy’s calculations. But God did have a man there! This man was not as old as Goliath, but he was a man. In fact, he wasn’t old enough even to be drafted into the Israelite army, but he was a man. He wasn’t nine feet tall—he probably stood between four and five feet—but he was a man. He was not skilled in military warfare; all he could really do was play a harp, write poetry, and swing a mean sling, but he was a man. He was not adorned with the protective armor of war; he just dressed himself in a shepherd’s clothes, but he was a man! He held no position in the nation, just the youngest son of a man named of Jesse, but he was God’s man!

David was God’s man to save the nation. He was provided and prepared for battle by God. God looked over Eliab and Shammah and the other brothers of David. They had size; they were eligible for the draft; they had military prowess. But they were not the men God wanted to defend his people.

David was a young shepherd boy. David was out in the plains of Bethlehem, probably with his sandals filthy most of the time and mud between his toes. He carried a shepherd’s staff. His hair was disheveled. His skin was dark from being baked by the noonday sun. Then, when Goliath called for a man, God heard him and God sent a man. God chose David. Now, Goliath thought he was a boy, but God knew he was a man. David confronted Goliath, and David won the battle. David cut off Goliath’s head. David saved the Israelite army.

Black men, consider David’s qualifications for the job at hand. First, David had pride in his people. David loved Israel, and one of the things we need now is men who love black folk. We need black men who love their own. Brethren, I know it seems like nothing, but we need to stop making jokes about ourselves. It’s all right to laugh at ourselves, but we’ve got to stop putting ourselves down with jokes because this has made us selfish and every man now looks out for himself. But today, as a man of God, I’m saying that we’ve got to lift our vision and concern, even beyond our immediate family, and see the need of black people in this nation.

I don’t have to tell you that our nation, our community, is threatened; you see this for yourself. Genocide is a definite reality! The modern-day Goliath is more sophisticated. This new and stealthy Goliath is defying A MAN to come forth. And God is looking for a man to answer that challenge. Martin Luther King came forth and this new Goliath killed him, but Martin was still God’s man because he took more out of Goliath than Goliath knew he had to lose.

God is still looking for a man! This new Goliath is preventing a lot of men from coming forth by the unfair and discriminatory laws that are being passed on a daily basis. This new Goliath is sifting the pride and strength out of a lot of our men. This new Goliath is creating obstacles and planting traps in new places to lure us away from the mandates of God. This new Goliath orchestrates circumstances that make it difficult for us as black men to be more involved in our communities. However, God is still looking for a man. Brothers, like David we must take pride in our community!

The second thing, men, is that we have to feel good about ourselves. One of the illnesses I’ve discovered is low self-esteem. Too many men I know don’t feel good about themselves. That’s the reason so many of our brothers are on drugs—because they don’t like themselves. If you loved yourself, you would not pop pills into that strong, beautiful, black body of yours. If you loved yourself, you wouldn’t stick those needles in your arms and legs. If you loved yourself, you wouldn’t drink the liquor that folk from another area code push in your community. If you really loved yourself, you would take pride in yourself, you would learn how to talk, you would learn how to treat others, and you would learn how to treat yourself.

David felt good about himself and he said, “Well, I don’t know if I can beat this fellow, but I’m sure going to give it a hell of a try!” Some of us are defeated before we even try, and that’s because we don’t like ourselves. I’m not telling you to become narcissistic, where you just think you’re the only one in the world, but you’ve got to love yourself before you can love your neighbor. I know this because Jesus told us so. Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

So first, we need to care about our community, about our people. Second, we need to feel good about and love ourselves. And, third, we need to trust God. David trusted in God. David saw that his height was different from Goliath’s. David knew that his biceps and triceps would not measure up to Goliath’s. David tried on Saul’s armor, but the armor was too big. Men, this means you’ve got to be yourself! You can’t try to be like somebody else. You have to be yourself. If David had gone out in Saul’s armor, he would have lost the battle. He would have tripped over Saul’s sword. The breastplate would have hung too low and probably beat his knee caps to death. His helmet would have fallen over his eyes. David had to be himself and use what he had.

So, David did what he knew he had to do, with what he had to do it with, in the name of the Lord. Yes, he did! The record tells me that David said, “I can’t let this go…. I’m going to fight this fight with what the Lord has provided!” Then he walked down through the valley. There was a stream running down that mountain, and he went down by the brook and picked up five smooth stones. He used only one on Goliath, but he knew that Goliath had four brothers, and David had enough sense to know that if he killed Goliath, the giants would keep on coming. So he was ready, just in case the enemy was planning to live up to his reputation. David walked down through that valley concentrating on the divine presence, and I can hear him saying, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil; for thou art with me.”

David was on his way down there, but his brothers were saying “Don’t go.” Brethren, you need to know that some of your brothers are scared; some of your brothers won’t let you be the man that you ought to be! They’re afraid for themselves and they’re afraid for you, but when you’re in touch with the Lord, even when your brothers are scared, you walk anyway. You may be afraid, but while you’re walking, you know that you’re not by yourself. Just say those comforting words, “The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want.”

David went down there. I see him in my mind’s eye, grabbing his slingshot, laying it out, reaching into his shepherd’s bag, pulling out one of those smooth stones, and putting it in that slingshot. I can see him pulling the two ends together, getting ready to wind it up. I can see David as he winds it up. I see him right now, as he winds it the first time. And I see him praying right quick as he twirls it a second time. “Renew my strength,” he prays as he swings it one last time, and then he lets it go!

My brothers in Christ, when you are God’s man, you’re never by yourself. Even nature worked on David’s behalf. That rock left the slingshot, and then one of the angels that controls the wind let a gust of wind go, and the rock struck Goliath’s forehead, dead center. I can hear David saying, “Thou preparest a table before me, in the presence of mine enemies.” I see him after he gained the victory and returned home; everybody wants his autograph. I see David signing autographs and saying, “Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut off and wither away as the green grass.” I see him writing poetry again: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Listen to David declare, “I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in him will I trust.”

Well, my brothers, God is looking for a man! I am just a recruiter. The army needs somebody. We are soldiers in the army. We’ve got to fight. And although we have to cry, we’ve got to hold up the blood-stained banner. We’ve got to hold it up until we die.

Goliath has one definition of manhood, but God has another definition. Brothers, we must stand and walk through the gap! Jesus paid the toll. At the cross, Jesus paid it all. Sin left a crimson stain, but Jesus washed it. Oh, my brother, whatever your name is, whatever your deeds are, Jesus is looking for you! You don’t have to be perfect to come in. He says, “Come as you are, and let me tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give you strength for your weakness, joy for your sorrow, hope for your despair, light for your darkness, salvation for your damnation, and peace for your confusion.” I have one witness that I need to call on right now. The apostle Paul said, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I’m a new man in Christ! God is looking for a man. God is looking for a man. Although your sins be crimson, he’ll wash them. The Lord needs somebody. Brothers, we all have to answer this ad one glorious morning. You ought to come, black men, and give your life to Jesus Christ!

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