Courageous is Good, But It Isn't the Bible

I recently received an email from Adam Akre, one of the men at Immanuel Baptist Church, where I am privileged to serve as the primary teaching elder. Adam voiced a concern over the way he feels too many Christian men are substituting material associated with the movie Courageous for the Scriptures. His thoughts are worth your consideration:

The movie Courageous has been a serious eye opening tool God is using in men all over the world. It has brought to light a serious deficiency, the lack of Biblical manhood in our homes. The movie does a tremendous job of capturing the importance of being a Biblical man for our families.

That being said, I see a rather disturbing trend in churches across America in dealing with this situation. Instead of going to God's Word in dealing with the problem, churches are going to study guides of this movie and the book that lead to the movie to address this. Now is there anything wrong with reading books and using them to help us deal with problems? No, as long as we don't see them as an authority on the matter. The problem I have is as the church, we have the Authority on this matter and we aren't using it. The Bible clearly lays out requirements for men in leading the family. Deuteronomy 6, Ephesians 5&6, the book of Titus, and many more CLEARLY pave the way for Biblical manhood.

As Christians we do not need a movie, a book, or a resolution to do the things we are called to do. The fact that God commands us to do these things should be enough.

Let us remember what the Apostle Paul said, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17).