Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Welcome to week # 3 of our series called Man Up! And it’s no coincidence that Father’s Day falls in the middle of this series. If you are a dad, we celebrate and honor you today. Ladies, if you are sitting next to a man of God that is trying to be the husband and father that God has called him to be, turn and give him a little kiss right now. He deserves it.

Husbands and dads, we are going to honor you today. And we’re also going to challenge you today. We’re going to challenge you to man up. We’re going to challenge you to be worthy of the honor that you receive today.

We opened the series by challenging our guys to man up with their money. Men are called to lead their family’s finances. Guys, if you’re family is drowning financially, you have to own that and you have to lead them out of it. It’s on you as the spiritual leader of your home.

Then last week, we challenged our fellas to man up their sex. We didn’t mess around last week. We went straight for the jugular. There are way, way, way too many guys who are living immature, destructive, selfish, and sinful sex lives. God expects more and, as His church, so do we. If you missed the message last week, the tension in this room was off the chart. It’s one of the most direct, most difficult messages that I’ve ever preached. But it’s also one of the most necessary. Guys, we have a calling from God to man up our sex. If you missed the message, listen to the podcast. It’s too important to miss.

Now, today…God is going to challenge us in a big way, guys. His challenge for you and me is to man up our defense.

Guys, you’ve heard that defense wins championships. It’s true. It’s true on the field, and it’s true off the field. If you want to be the champion of your family, you’ve got to play strong defense.

And, like we’ve done every week of this series, we’re going to look to a man named Boaz to lead the way. We’re in Ruth 2 today. Let’s pray and then we’re going to man up our defense.

We’re walking through the book of Ruth in this series. This book is largely a story about a woman named Ruth and a man named Boaz. These two would eventually get married, but much of the story takes place before that happens.

In Ruth 2, we find Ruth gleaning in a field that belonged to Boaz. Like we’ve said in the previous weeks, Ruth’s husband had died. Widows in this culture had very few options to make a living. One of those options was gleaning. This was when the widow would go to a field and pick up whatever the harvesters dropped. It is the cultural equivalent to begging on the street today, but it’s all Ruth could do.

That’s where we’re going to pick up the story today. Ruth is gleaning in Boaz’s field. When Boaz shows up at the field, he asks his workers about Ruth. His foreman brings him up to speed on Ruth’s plight.

That’s where we pick it up in Ruth 2:8. “So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls.

I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” (Ruth 2:8-9, NIV)

The first words that Boaz ever spoke to Ruth were words of protection. He was immediately playing defense, protecting this defenseless woman.

Fellas, that’s our role. We play solid defense because God has given us the role of protecting our families.

Boaz shows us a two-pronged defense strategy. Two fronts where we have to protect our families.

The first is protecting from outside dangers.

Boaz told Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls.” (Ruth 2:8, NIV)

Boaz knew that the dangers in other fields would put Ruth at high risk. She was young. She was a widow. She was completely vulnerable. And it sounds like Boaz knew the reputation of other landowners and field workers in his area. He knew that if Ruth went to another field, she would be easy prey.

He recognized the outside dangers and he set up a system of protection for Ruth.

Guys, there are a ton of dangers outside your home waiting to ambush your family. You are the leader, which means you are the protector. It’s up to you to protect your family as much as possible from those dangers.

This plays out in very practical ways. For example, guys, it’s up to you to keep the car in good running condition. If your wife is out driving at night and it breaks down, she’s in danger. Now sometimes cars just break down, but are you doing everything you can to make sure it doesn’t happen? That is a protection from your wife.

Are you constantly coaching your kids on staying safe? Don’t wait on some program at their school to do it. Be proactive and teach them. Teach them what to do if they find themselves in a dangerous situation.

Teach them to defend themselves. This might not be popular with everyone here, but I’m going to say it anyway. Dads, it’s up to you to be sure your kids know how to defend themselves.

Your girls need to know where to hit a man if he makes a move on her. If she’s a little older, buy her a can of pepper spray. Same goes for your wife.

Your boys need to know how to throw a punch. Seriously. I know that not everyone is going to approve of this, but I’m telling you that it’s true. I’m not saying that you teach your boy to start a fight, but teaching him to defend himself is your responsibility.

And listen up Dad…sometimes a situation might require you to fight. “But wait a minute…I thought Jesus said turn the other cheek.” He did, but not in the context of a man protecting his family. When it comes to protecting the family that God has entrusted to you, you’ve got to be willing to go Jack Bauer on somebody if that’s what is required.

Now, this is not a license to lose your flipping mind, ok? Don’t walk out of here, head to the nearest bar, and start a brawl. I don’t want to see any of you guys on the news tonight saying, “Well, the preacher said it was ok.”

The Bible clearly says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” (Ephesians 4:31, NIV)

I’m not telling you to take all your pent up rage and anger and go clock somebody. That’s not the deal at all. The Bible gives a very strong, very clear “no” to that kind of thing.

You’ve got to remember what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about playing DEFENSE! It’s all about protecting your family.

No godly man will go start a fight. But if a fight is the only option left to protect his family, a godly man won’t back down. A godly man will protect his family from outside dangers.

He will also protect them from inside dangers.

Go back and look at the next thing that Boaz said to Ruth. “Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you.” (Ruth 2:9a, NIV)

Boaz recognized the outside dangers, which is why he told Ruth to stay in his field. But he also recognized the inside dangers. And he took proactive steps to protect Ruth. He told his workmen not to lay a hand on Ruth. This was a danger in his own field that Boaz recognized and dealt with.

Guys, the dangers aren’t just outside our home. They are on the inside as well, and it’s up to you to protect your family. Now most of the time the inside dangers will look different, but they are no less dangerous.

For example, think about all the dangers in your house that come through your internet connection.

Your son has porn available at the click of a mouse. That’s a lot different from how it was when we grew up, isn’t it guys? I’m not saying that we didn’t have access to porn, but we at least had to go somewhere to get it. It actually required some effort, which increased the chance of getting caught. That was a decent deterrent.

Not anymore. Your son doesn’t have to leave his computer to see anything and everything. You might have known some boy in the neighborhood who had a Playboy. Maybe you had a Penthouse under your mattress. Let me tell you something…that is child’s play compared with what your kid can find with a couple of mouse clicks.

And Dad, that is being piped right into your house. The danger isn’t from without; it’s from within. It’s inside the walls of your house. And you can’t afford to bury your head in the sand and pretend that it doesn’t exist. It exists in your own house and God is looking to you to take the lead and protect your family.

Talk with your kids. Talk with your son about what’s going on. Talk with your daughter about people she might meet online. That 13-year-old boy that she’s chatting with could actually be a 47-year-old man. That’s scary stuff, man. Scary stuff.

But it’s a real danger inside our own homes that we have to deal with. There is no foolproof method, but there are a lot of steps you can take to protect your family.

Things like no computers in bedrooms. All computers have to be in the living room or the kitchen…somewhere that is accessible to everyone.

Put filters and accountability software on every computer you own. Xxxchurch.com is a great place to start for that.

Most importantly, talk to your kids constantly about this stuff. Don’t just swoop in like some sheriff from the Wild West claiming, “I’m gonna clean up this here town.” That’s not going to work.

Open an ongoing conversation with your kids. Remind them constantly that they can tell you anything. Foster relationships between your kids and other godly adults outside your family who can mentor and listen to them.

Guys, we’ve got to be honest about the dangers that our families are facing. Dangers from without and dangers from within.

Boaz is a great example of how God has called us to protect our families. Now, if you want to see an example of what NOT to do, the Bible gives you that, too. All you have to do is read about a guy named Lot. I refer to Lot as a guy, not a man…because honestly, he was a pretty pathetic example of a man.

That’s incredibly evident in Genesis 19. Listen to this absolutely pathetic story.

Starting in Genesis 19:1, the Bible says, “The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house.

You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."

"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."

But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.

He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house.

They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.

Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

"Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."

When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.” (Genesis 19:1-16, NIV)

How many times did Lot fail to protect his family? Seriously…he offered up his own daughters to be raped. The perverted guys of his town saw the two men (actually the two angels) that came to his house, and they demanded that Lot send them out so they could have sex with them.

Lot’s answer was to protect these men and give up his daughters. Pathetic…but it still happens all the time.

I’m not saying that we offer our children as rape victims. But we do follow Lot’s example when we put our families in danger to protect something else.

When you spend all your time at work to protect you position in the company, it puts your family in danger. They need your presence more than your paycheck.

When you protect your image in front of “important people” while you are a real tool at home, that puts your family in danger. They need the best of you, not the worst of you.

See what I mean. In a very real way, that is doing exactly what Lot did. Protecting something else while exposing your family to incredible danger.

And then, when Lot actually did try to step up and protect his family, his sons-in-law thought he was joking. I wonder why that happened.

Probably because Lot such a loser for so long. He had such lame reputation for so long that when he finally did try to step up, they didn’t take him seriously. Lot had just offered their fiancés up to be raped by all the men in town. Now all of a sudden, he’s the great protector. Doesn’t wash, does it? No wonder they didn’t believe him.

Men, your actions speak far louder than your words. It’s not enough to claim to be the protector of your family…they have to see you doing it. Otherwise, they’ll just think it’s all empty words.

And then, when it was finally do-or-die time, the Bible says that Lot hesitated. God was about to completely destroy the city. Lot’s family was in imminent danger…and he hesitated. It was actually the angels who grabbed the hands of his wife and daughters and got them out of the city because Lot wasn’t man enough to do it.

Are you contracting out your family’s protection? Are you relying on somebody else to do your job for you? That’s pathetic, bro.

When given the option to man up, Lot chose to wuss out. And there are a ton of guys today following in his footsteps.

Let me ask you the obvious question. Do you love your family? Do you really love your wife? Your kids?

The Bible says that love “always protects.” (1 Corinthians 13:7a, NIV)

Love always protects. So, let’s extrapolate that out a little bit. If love always protects and you are not currently protecting and defending your family, do you really love them? Do they believe that you love them if you don’t protect them? Probably not, and rightly so because the Bible says that love always protects.

Now, let’s go back to Boaz. Boaz didn’t just protect Ruth from physical danger. He also protected her reputation. This is awesome stuff.

Remember last week when we saw Ruth and Boaz at the threshing floor? It was kind of uncomfortable when we learned what Ruth was really proposing, but Boaz kept his integrity. His character didn’t crack.

He could have had sex with her. No one would have known. She was there for the taking…but he didn’t. Now, not only did he protect her purity, but he also protected her reputation.

Check this out from Ruth 3. “So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “Don’t let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.” (Ruth 3:14, NIV)

Boaz protected Ruth’s reputation when he said, “Don’t let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.”

Now, that might not make sense to us in our culture. But if we look at another book in the Old Testament, we see what Boaz was doing very clearly.

Hosea 9:1 says, “Do not rejoice, O Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor.” (Hosea 9:1, NIV)

Threshing floors were notorious for prostitution. Think about it…men working all day without their wives around. Then having some food and some wine and lying down to relax. That’s exactly how Ruth found Boaz, isn’t it?

It didn’t take long for prostitutes to figure out that this was a goldmine for them. Prostitution was rampant at threshing floors, and so any woman seen at a threshing floor was automatically assumed to be a prostitute.

That’s what Boaz wanted to protect Ruth from. He sent her away under the cover of darkness. He told her not to tell anyone that she was there. All in an effort to protect her reputation.

Men, you are the protector of your family’s name. You are the guardian of your family’s reputation. You protect it by how you carry yourself. And you protect it by standing up for your wife and kids.

Part of that is how you talk about them. Do you run your wife down to your buddies? Do you make fun of your kids in front of your friends? Let me tell you something, guys…that’s devastating. You are ruining the reputation that God has told you to protect.

And another part of this is going to bat for them. Now, I’m not suggesting that you be one of those parents who believe their kids are angels and can do no wrong. I was a youth minister for over 10 years, and let me tell you something…I couldn’t stand those parents. Because those parents always had the kids who were ALWAYS in trouble. Yet the parents lived in total denial.

I’m not suggesting you act like your family is perfect, but you are charged by God to go to bat for them. You defend your wife’s good name. You defend your kids’ reputation.

Listen, you can say a lot of stuff to me…but don’t say anything disparaging about my wife. Don’t demean my kids. Seriously. Don’t. I will take you on and I will take you down. Maybe you’re not used to hearing a pastor say that. Here’s the deal…I am a husband and a father before I am a pastor. And I will never, ever apologize for that.

Remember the song from the ‘80s called The Glory of Love? It was Peter Cetera’s first hit single after he left the band Chicago.

I’m not necessarily a huge pop fan, but I’ve always loved this song because I love the lyrics. Remember what the chorus said? “I am the man who will fight for your honor. I’ll be the hero that you’re dreaming of.”

Men, could you sing that song to your wife? Can you honestly tell her, “I will fight for you. I will fight for your honor. I will be the hero you need.”

And then remember the song that Josh sang earlier? What a song that was. Could you sing that to your family, guys? “I'll show them I’m willing to fight, And give them the best of my life.”

Men, that is who your family needs you to be. It’s time to man up your defense. We can’t shrink back from our godly responsibility of protecting our families. That’s what godly husbands and fathers do because that’s what God does for us.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 23, “For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you…” (Deuteronomy 23:14a, NIV)

God moves about to protect us. He doesn’t sit still. He doesn’t contract it out. He doesn’t wait to react. He is proactive. He is on active defense. He moves through our lives protecting us.

Now, combine that verse with these. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2, NIV)

God moves about protecting us, and He has called us to imitate Him. To do as He does. To play defense. To love our families and sacrifice for them and defend them.

That’s how Jesus treats us. These verses tell us that He gave up everything He had for us on the cross. And He’s calling every man here to make that same kind of sacrifice for his family. To man up your defense to the glory of God.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: Boaz fatherhood husbands Man Up men protection Ruth