Boys Do Not Become Men by Accident

Intentionality in raising boys to be men in accordance with Scripture has never been as crucial as it is in today's postmodern culture.

CBMW board member R. Albert Mohler Jr. recently examined this issue from a unique perspective on his daily radio show radio show: Mohler interviewed Col. Shane Blanton, who serves as president of Chamberlain-Hunt Academy, a Christian military boarding school in Port Gibson, Mississippi. Blanton is himself the father of four sons.

Established in 1879 on the bank of the Mississippi River, Chamberlain-Hunt Academy includes students from a spectrum of backgrounds across the United States. Boys are challenged with a rigorous academic program and learn military discipline.  The purpose is to train boys to become men who live out a comprehensive worldview to the glory of God.

Chamberlain-Hunt Academy is unswervingly committed to providing its cadets with daily structure. Students rise at 5 a.m. and participate in classes, chapel and physical activities until 9 p.m. Blanton said the cadets get 30 minutes of free time each evening, but even that brief time is used for substantive purposes. Structure is crucial for the maturity of boys, he said, adding that structure and accountability need to be instilled in boys from a young age. "We are men under authority under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and it needs to be reflected in everything we do," according to Blanton.

The dialogue between Mohler and Blanton provided keen insight into the importance of intentionally pointing boys to Christ and training them up in a robust, biblical manhood. Mohler pointed out that every Christian family, whether it includes boys or not, must be concerned about the manner in which boys are raised. 

Said Mohler, "If you do not make it an identifiable, prioritized, issue, then it is something that will fall through the cracks. Every family had better think about this. If you do not have boys but have girls, you'd better be thinking about the young men that they will date and marry. In your local church you had better be giving high profile attention to the raising of boys.

"In this day of broken homes, one of the most important things that churches can do is to make certain that we are fathering the fatherless so that there are some opportunities for boys who may not have fathers in the home to have fathers in the home of Christ and the church where they can find some leadership, some mentoring, some models. The difficult issue is the whole issue of discipline because we are reaping in this culture what we have sown for so long."

Blanton said the greatest dilemma facing boys today is the all-too-widespread reality of the absentee father.

"Where are the men?" Blanton said. "As Christians, are we doing what we should be doing? Are we praying? Are we in God's Word? Are we setting an example in front of our own sons, in front of the sons of other men? Are we leading by example?

"General Patton said that there is only one type of discipline and that's perfect discipline. We know that to be true because God says He disciplines those He loves. If we consider ourselves sons of God are we setting that example for young men to follow? I would say that it is lacking."

There is no substitute for a man's direct involvement in the life of a boy, Blanton said.

"Fathers must be consistent and be involved in the lives of their sons," he said. "I think we need men to be involved in the lives of boys. That is key. We need men to be involved, not that mothers are not important-they are an essential part of that family makeup-but boys need men to become men."