Men Who Won't Grow Up by Dave Boehi

Sometimes the simplest gesture can make a big statement. I remember the weekend when I first brought Merry to meet my family in Oregon. My parents took us to a college basketball game, and it was raining hard when we arrived at the arena.

We had only one umbrella, so Dad dropped us off so we wouldn't get wet. That really impressed Merry - she thought if my father had that type of servant attitude, some of it must have rubbed off on me.

And though I confess that I haven't always followed my father's example, I did learn much from him about being a husband, a father, and a man. I'm fortunate to have a father who modeled how to take responsibility - he provided well for his family, he loved my mother, he was involved in his church and community, and he worked hard at helping raise my sister and me. He was consistent, stable, and wise - and he was there for us.

In fact, he still is.

I've been thinking about my father lately as I've thought about men who won't grow up. For example, Merry is involved in a ministry to business women here in Little Rock, Arkansas, and she has met many women whose husbands reverted to adolescent behavior after years of marriage. They decided to leave their wives and children to pursue the excitement and adventure they felt they were missing.

Then there's the "Peter Pan Syndrome" - the growing phenomenon of young men who don’t seem to want to grow up. They drift from job to job, live with parents or with a crew of buddies, and focus much of their energy on drinking, carousing, watching sports, playing video games, and chasing women.

What makes this generation of young men different from previous ones is that many are delaying marriage longer than before, and our culture is encouraging them to prolong adolescent behavior. In his recent book, Guyland, sociologist Michael Kimmel writes:

Guyland is the world in which young men live. It is both a stage of life, [an] #ff0000 time span between adolescence and adulthood that can often stretch for a decade or more, and ... a bunch of places where guys gather to be guys with each other, unhassled ....

To read in full, please go to http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/familylife-today/read/articles/men-who-wont-grow-up-9144.html