Kingdom MasculinitySample

Day 4: Throwing the Mask Away

Michael Thompson reminds us in The Heart of a Warrior that every man carries both a glory and a wound. And often, the wound is what gets passed on. “You’re on your own.” “Don’t feel.” “Be a man.” These messages form a counterfeit version of masculinity. It’s what John Eldredge calls “the poser” and what the Bible often refers to as “the flesh.”

It’s the false self we build to survive, to avoid weakness, to gain approval

For generations, masculinity has worn this mask—hardened strength, stoic detachment, relentless self-reliance. It's a model many of us inherited without question, passed down like an heirloom, shaped by fathers who bore their own unspoken pain. But beneath the surface of this counterfeit masculinity lies a deeper truth: we were made for something more.

There is more to the story. God did not design us to live as hollow, hardened shadows. Like the great kings of Middle-Earth or the true sons of Aslan, we were made to feel, to fight, and to love. Real masculinity, like Aragorn’s humility or Peter Pevensie’s courage, is not the absence of emotion, but the presence of a heart alive to the Father’s voice.

In John 8:32, Jesus says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Freedom begins by naming the lie. What have you believed about manhood that has kept you bound? Where have you been hiding?

The world tells us to suppress the ache. But the ache is holy. It’s a cry from the depths of our masculine soul, longing to be fathered, to be healed, to come home.

Dallas Willard once wrote, “The most important thing in your life is not what you do; it’s who you become.” And who are we becoming if we continue to wear a mask and silence our pain?

The Psalmist says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). You do not have to carry the wound alone. Jesus isn’t afraid of your story. He steps into it, into your fear, your failure, your silence, and offers you sonship.

This isn’t about behavior management. It’s about restoration. This isn’t self-help. It’s spiritual warfare.

You are not just a man; you are a beloved son in a larger story. You are being invited into the wild, beautiful process of healing. And that healing doesn’t make you weaker. It makes you whole.

Today, let go of the poser. Let go of the lie. Step into the truth. Jesus stands not with judgment, but with outstretched arms. He is calling you by name.

Will you sit with this and pray,

“Father, I bring you the false stories I’ve believed about what it means to be a man. Heal the wounds I’ve carried silently and teach me how to walk in the truth of who I am as your beloved son. Amen”