On my first visit to Malaysia I spoke at a businessmen’s breakfast and shared about God’s call for men to be men. A learned man in the audience was so touched by my message that he asked me to take his speaking engagement at a luncheon that day and to share the same message.

One point I made strongly in that message was about being “nailed in place”. This issue comes from places where men were commissioned to be men. It is used when David commissioned Solomon to be king. It occurred when God called Joshua to replace Moses.

The actual term in the English translations is the call to “be strong”. The original Hebrew word, chazaq, means to “fasten” something in place or to take hold of something with no intention of letting it go. I use the term “nailed in place” to emphasize that real men, men who are fulfilling their godly destiny, do not change. Real men are nailed in place in terms of their commitment, faithfulness, determination to trust God, choice of values, and so on.

Western culture’s values are constantly shifting. Godly men do not change their values with the culture. What was evil and repulsive thirty years ago, is still evil and repulsive to them. What they stood for when they were full of zeal, is what they still stand for today.

Sadly, Christian men have allowed standards to crumble around them. What they once thought inappropriate, they now allow. What was once deemed offensive is now tolerated, or even promoted.

Western culture has slid downhill in succeeding generations because men who should have been nailed in place just kept stepping backwards with each new onslaught. Rather than holding ground they gave ground. Instead of seizing and fastening upon unchangeable things they went along for the ride and never regained the things they gave up.

It is time for a new generation of men to rise. It is time for men who will be “strong”, because they have fastened themselves onto things that they will not give up. It is time for such men to not only stand firm, but to work together to build stability and godly depth into their society.

I expect, however, that repentance might be a good place to start. Something like, “Lord God, forgive me for being weak in the knees and for compromising things which You want me to hold firm.”

Doing business with God is a powerful way to become strong. Then you can lend a hand to others who are looking for a mentor – someone who will stand up for what they believe.