As told by Gibb

I have a confession to make. It may make you think less of me as a man. It may seem to undermine everything I have said on these pages before, it may allow you yourself to open up and confess yourself. Here it is, in print: I have a thing for cardigans. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if it is something of an addiction. The other day I found my self purchasing my 8^th item of knitwear (a cream and blue stripy number if you’re interested).

Now, I realise this will do nothing for might street cred. I mean, picture a man in a cardigan and he’s probably sipping a mug of Horlicks and smoking a pipe (either that or he’s Graham Norton). Yet, thanks to the recent influx of well dressed *ahem* boybands and the sword wielding antics of cardigan wearing Neville Longbottom in the final Harry Potter film, the cardigan revival has begun.

And I’m not even the world’s biggest fan of all that is made with wool. So great was their love of knitwear that, when I was at university, a couple of guys I knew donned the needles and started producing their own. Suddenly it is appropriate to dress like your aunt or borrow your mum’s clothes (fellas, we know who you are). We are abruptly presented with the ever uncomfortable and unanswerable question, what does it mean to be a real man, and what is this elusive ‘biblical masculinity’?

The truth is the men in the Bible are a mixed bunch, and not all body pumping hunter gatherers with the ability to ‘slaughter other men’ as one American pastor would want us to believe. You see, there’s Daniel a scholarly vegetarian, or Gideon the nervous wreck, Timothy a great listener (certainly more of a stereotypically female trait) or Joseph, with his pretty dreams and fancy clothes, Jacob, a proper biblical mummy’s boy and tee-total Samson. Yes, there’s Caleb the warrior, Joshua the Spy and Ehud the Assassin (who knew the real creed), but these are only a small part of the overall blue-print for a man of God.

You see, we are called to be radical Disciples of Christ. Paul, in his letters to his apprentice Timothy, outlines 3 things that we, as men of God, are called to be, whether tea sipping scarf knitters or bench pressing executives. First, we fight the good fight with prayer (1 Timothy 2:8). We must acknowledge our weakness and complete dependence on God, bringing all things to him. Secondly, we fight the good fight with Holiness (1 Timothy 6:11-12), it’s a two stage battle; we must both flee all sin and pursue righteousness. Finally, we must fight the good fight with the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), battling day in, day out to read, learn and be chiselled into shape by the Bible. And, I’m sure you would agree, all these can be done whilst wearing a cardigan.

The thing is, a real man doesn’t mind looking a fool in order to stand up for what he knows is right. A real man works for an audience of One, he will go against the flow to keep his integrity, he will fight not with fists but with faith and his banter is biblical not downgrading or sexist. Most importantly, we must learn what masculinity is from the perfect man, Jesus Christ. A bloke with so much love that he gave up everything he had so that we could have everything we don’t deserve. He gave up his life for his friends. Cardigans or no cardigans; this is our calling.

This article was originally written for Sorted Men’s Magazine (May/June 2012) To purchase this edition or other editions click here

To order the special Olympic edition (great for Church Olympic outreach events) click here

Our brand-spanking new commercial for Sorted Magazine, take a look then go and buy one!

I have had a sneak pre-print preview of the Olympic edition of Sorted Magazine and it is s-weet. Here are a few reasons why I think it is well worth picking up a box or four:

1. The cover looks sweet (see above).

2. It is only £50 for 50 copies, saving you £125 which could get you this or this or even this.

3. My column is accompanied by a large picture of David ‘Golden Balls’ Beckham. This made my girlfriend very happy.

4. There are three full pages of the legendary Bear Grylls.

5. Jess Ennis.

6. The magazine is a recommended More Than Gold Resource, and those guys are awesome.

7. Rico Tice gives a no-holds-barred gospel message. In case you don’t know, the man is an evangelism machine.

8. Carl Beech always has the last word. And rightly so.

9. There is an interview with some guy called Steve Redgrave. Apparently he is a knight of some sort….

10. There is an ultimate guide to the Olympics. You won’t miss a thing.

11. There are 108 quality pages, more than any edition yet.

12. You are part of something much bigger. Hundreds of Churches are buying these magazines as well as the thousands of copies that are being given away on tubes, in Churches and around Olympic venues.

So fellas, no excuses. Buy a box for your church here, or tell you church minister, events organiser or the chap with the churches wallet.

Lionel Messi and F.C Barcelona have torn the footballing world to shreds this year. In the league they went 31 games unbeaten and lost just twice, beating closest rivals Real Madrid to the title by 4 points. They scored a total of 147 goals in all competitions letting in a mere 36. Messi himself has scored 53 goals and, along with Villa’s 23 and Pedro’s 22, the front 3 fell just 2 short of the Messi-Eto-Henry 100 mark of 2009. But the statistics show only half a picture. Watching Messi and Barcelona this season can only be described as a joy, a modern wonder of the world. Their fluid passing, patient build up and phenomenal finishing has left opposition players, fans and managers gawping as their team is slowly and carefully ripped apart by the Lionel King and his pride. But enough of this pretty descriptive language, let’s get down to what really matters; what can the Church learn from Lionel Messi and Co.?