Jeremy L. Berg

In our Old Testament reading this week from Isaiah 64:1-9, we have a timely and entirely appropriate cry of Isaiah to God on behalf of a wayward nation,

“O that you would tear open the heavens and come down…We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

The focus of this new season of Advent is to beg God to intervene (“come down”) in our sin-stained world and rescue us from the filthy mess we’ve made of this world and our own lives. One huge mess being paraded past us in the headlines daily is the flurry of sexual harassment allegations against very public figures.

With this constant barrage of nasty allegations, it’s easy to start getting a jaded picture of men in general and to forget all the ordinary men out there quietly trying to honor their marriages and treat the women all around them with dignity. We are right to applaud and encourage the women courageously speaking out against such abuse of power and demeaning behavior. These courageous stories are being shared with the hashtag: #MeToo. 

Today, I wonder if we need others to speak out with the hashtag #MeToo, but instead more stories of “celebrities behaving badly”, we hear positive accounts of the countless ordinary guys quietly going about their lives doing their best to honor women, remain faithful to their wives, and leave a legacy of sexual purity for their children.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing to hear some “allegations” of honorable men “caught in the act” of quietly going about their ordinary lives just doing their best, however imperfectly, to honor the women around them?

What if we saw headlines tomorrow spotlighting a faithful husband pushing his bride of 50 years around in a wheel chair in the mall, holding hands and still honoring their vows by “forsaking all others until death do us part”?

Let’s tell stories of men who have made fidelity to sacred vows and a covenant commitment more important than indulging sexual desires and chasing selfish pleasures.

Let’s hear stories of committed husbands who go out of their way to set up wise boundaries to protect their family and marriage. The Vice-President was recently ridiculed for following the so-called “Billy Graham Rule” of never meeting alone another woman; I call this wisdom and continue to follow it myself.

Let’s celebrate stories of broken men come cleaning about their struggle with pornography, repenting of their sin, and are trying to honor their marriage by putting filters and accountability software on their devices and working toward healing.

Let’s acknowledge those thoughtful businessmen who, when they travel for business, intentionally try to share a hotel room with a colleague so they are not tempted to watch bad late night TV, or routinely turn down invitations by coworkers to go to the strip club next to the hotel.

My heart is grieved by the times we live in, but my spirit is full of hope and resolve as we begin the season of Advent together this Sunday. Why? Because Isaiah’s desperate prayer has been answered, and continues to be answered every day, as we discover afresh that God has “ripped open the heavens” and stepped down into our mess in order to save us from it and restore us to Himself!

But this season also comes with a warning that is deeply needed today: If we don’t repent of, turn away from and deal with our secret sins, they will eventually overtake us. Like another celebrity’s reputation and career, we too will “all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, will take us away” (Isaiah 64:6).

So, let’s expand the #MeToo hashtag this Advent season.

Have you or someone you know been the victim of sexual harassment?  #MeToo

Do you know men doing their best to honor the women in their lives? #MeToo

Are you yourself a sinner in need of God’s grace and a fresh start today? #MeToo

Are you desperate for God to once again come down into your life this Christmas? #MeToo

Are you grateful for a church culture where both woman and men are honored? #MeToo

Finally, I want to apologize to all women in the church on behalf of all men who have ever treated you with less dignity and love you deserve as precious daughters of God and the beloved brides of Christ. Please forgive us, and let all men who follow Christ recommit ourselves today to honoring and loving you after the example of Jesus “who loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5)!

So, anyone ready to share a positive [#MeToo] tribute to a flawed but faithful man in your life?