So one thing that's annoying during the NCAA Tourney are the commercials for the sitcome "Two and a Half Men." You've got Charlie Sheen, age 41, living this life that is for some folks the ultimate male fantasy: lots of sex, no real relationships, no real commitment to much at all.
Sociologists invented the term "post-adolescence" to describe adults (mostly males) who continue to live like children for an extended period of time. It is fearful, lazy, self-absorbed, hiding, passive, predatory, spoiled, alone. This is the description of the lead character of the number one comedy on television.
Men run and hide. It's what we do. It's why we retreat to video games and sports rather than pro-actively engage the world around us. My home and ministry worlds both function with men and women in equal partnership together. But I believe that the Scriptures call men to a certain level of initiative that is unique. I think that's because our default is mostly to be passive and lazy, it's how we cover up our fear of being exposed for being frauds.
I was talking with a student about a guy that she has a very healthy, platonic relationship with. She was concerned about a certain set of behaviors in his life, specifically when he was called upon to take significant leadership in a group project. "It's like he screamed 'please don't take me seriously.'" To which I replied, "Exactly." To be taken seriously is to risk something. To perhaps fail. If I'm lazy or just cut-up all the time, there's no real risk involved.
A fallen culture that idolizes youth will inevitably foster a love for the passion of youth and forfeit the wisdom of age. "Two and a Half Men" (and the images of male-ness that it promotes) is a case-study of the type of men that we are producing: forty-one year-olds who revel in the fact that they never learned to move past the mistakes of a twenty-one year old.
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