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Game is Christian

Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

I have been fortunate to have some great male mentors who demonstrated that masculinity is about initiative, confidence, and a commitment to purpose greater than ourselves. This is what “having game” is about. It is also what God teaches us about manhood.

Beta-tude is characterized by passivity, supplication, and a heightened sensitivity to others’ feelings. As R. Bradley Andrews comments, Adam evidenced classic beta behavior. He should have spoken up to protect himself and his wife. Only he was charged with God’s command not to eat from the forbidden tree. Only he was charged to tend and care for the garden of Eden. And only he was made directly from the dirt that he was entrusted to cultivate. God’s purpose for mankind belonged solely to Adam. Woman was designed to support man. Being a helpmeet is a subordinate but not inferior position. In fact, God refers himself as the helpmeet of Israel. In God’s economy, value is not dependent on function.

God’s curse came on Adam because he listened to his wife instead of the giver of life. The fall of man is the regression of the alpha male into beta-tude and the rise of women’s hypergamy. The curse is that people suffer loss in their intended function. Man endures pain from his function – work and execute his purpose. Woman endures pain from her function – loving people in relationship. The curse poisons her relationship with her children. It also poisons her relationship with her husband, whom she wants to control through unrestrained hypergamy but instead he dominates her through self-centered game (Genesis 3:16).

Jesus Christ redeems the effect of the curse. The cross and resurrection is a paradox of alpha confidence, commitment and initiative achieved through beta sacrifice, submission, and suffering. As Mark Driscoll, classic alpha male and megachurch pastor, puts it – Jesus is both tough AND tender. His strategic act of redemption frees men to pursue a purpose greater than their own selfish desires. Jesus enables men to work because their value is based on his completed work on the cross. Jesus enables women to love because he loved them first and unconditionally. Game, in it’s truest form, is the restoration of both men and women’s identity in Christ.

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