Greg Laurie - Masculinity and Faith in America

You know, it feels like things are beginning to change in America. And what’s even more remarkable is this movement isn’t just being carried on by the older generation-people like me. It’s gaining momentum among the young, and I love this. I have to be honest with you: I haven’t seen anything like this since, well, the Jesus movement in the'70s. Now, you recall the Jesus movement. That was the last great spiritual awakening, and that is when I personally came to faith as a 17-year-old kid. And it changed my life. I’ve been praying that God will send another Jesus Movement, or Jesus Revolution as it was called by Time magazine, to this generation. A film was made about it, of course, by that title: Jesus Revolution, directed by my friend John Irwin, and it told the story of my life and my wife’s life-how we met. It’s a love story, and it’s really a love story between God and people as a generation going the wrong way was turned around.

You know, people were talking a lot back in those days about revolution. Oh, let’s have a drug revolution. Let’s have a sexual revolution. And I love it that the Lord sent a Jesus revolution. And I love it that Time magazine coined that phrase. In fact, there are two Time magazine covers that really summarize how times were feeling back then. First, there was one that was just black with reversed-out red letters asking the ominous question: Is God dead? Then, only a few years later, there was a sort of psychedelic image of Jesus with the title: Jesus Revolution. I think it’s fascinating that Time discovered that it was actually a revolution. I don’t even think we knew it at the time.

And we need another Jesus revolution in our nation right now because it seems like everything has been going the wrong way for far too long-in academia, in media, and in entertainment. It’s like they’ve taken a wrecking ball, tearing down everything biblical to help build this great nation we call the United States of America. It’s been a runaway train. And who’s getting hit the hardest? I’m telling you, it’s our kids. They’re the most vulnerable among us.

I mean, social media alone is having a dramatic impact on young people right now. You know, it’s been found that more young people are starting to identify as gay, and even some identifying as transgender. And they’ve identified that this is a social contagion. In other words, because kids see it on platforms like TikTok and they see celebrities normalizing it, and they see it reinforced again and again, they start thinking, «Maybe hey, that’s what I’m going through right now.» So social media is like gasoline poured on a pre-existing fire, making everything worse. And that’s why we need divine intervention.

We want America to be great again. We want America to be strong again. We want America to be healthy again. But most importantly, as Christians, we want America to be godly again. Think about what our first President, George Washington, said in his farewell address. And I quote: «Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.» And Patrick Henry, whose words «Give me liberty or give me death» still inspire us today, put it even stronger. I quote: «It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.» End quote.

And God has given to us a playbook, if you will, in the Bible on how to cause a nation to be rebuilt again, to be godly again. And I’m talking about His words to the nation of Israel in 2 Chronicles 7:14, where the Lord says, «If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.» I love that because this is what we want. We want God to heal our land.

But notice that He says, «If my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face.» You know, so often we point our fingers at culture. We point our finger at Hollywood; we point our finger at the White House. And meanwhile, God points His finger at His house. He says, «Hey, it needs to start with my people.» Now, contextually, that was given to Israel, but I think in principle, it applies to any nation, including America.

Let’s go over it again: God is speaking: «If my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.» You know what? That can be personal too. Maybe you find that you need a spiritual awakening as an individual. Maybe there was a time when you were stronger in your faith than you are right now. What do you need to do? You need to humble yourself. You need to pray. You need to seek His face. And you need to turn from your wicked ways. And God will hear you from heaven. And He’ll heal your life. He’ll change your life. He’ll transform your life. He’ll restore your life. Yes, we need a revival in America. But let it start with you and with me.

So let’s think about the word revival a little bit. A technical definition would be to restore to original condition. I used to have the coolest old car. It was a'57 Bel Air convertible, tropical turquoise with a continental kit. And it was a thing of beauty, and I got it for a great deal. And my wife never wanted to drive with me in it because she said, «I feel like we’re in a parade.» I would go down and pick up my son when he was out surfing in my beautiful'57 Chevy, and he would say, «Dad, could you not pick me up in that car? It’s kind of embarrassing.» The only living being I could get to ride with me in my Bel Air convertible was my dog. And maybe he didn’t even like it; I’m not sure. But it was just totally restored to the way it would have looked in, well, 1957. That’s what revival is: restoring to original condition.

So when we say we need a revival in America, we’re saying that we want God to restore us to the way it should be, the way it can be. We’re saying, «Lord, we want a spiritual intervention in our nation.» Let me tell you what it’s like to experience a revival. First of all, I didn’t know I was experiencing a revival. I thought I was just experiencing Christianity, and I was, but in maybe the best way possible.

So I’m a 17-year-old kid. I’m on my high school campus. I’m going the wrong way fast. I’m using drugs; I’m making bad decisions. I come across the Christians; I hear the gospel. I kind of overheard the gospel, quite frankly, because no one invited me to that meeting on the front lot of my high school. It was all set up by the Lord because I found out later that normally this little Christian group met in the science room at lunchtime for a Bible study, but the air conditioning was broken. So on that particular day, they went out on the front lawn of the campus, and I happened to be walking by. I heard about Jesus, and I gave my life to Christ.

And so there was a very persistent young guy that came up to me; his name was Mark, and invited me to church. And I actually said, «No, that’s okay. I don’t really want to go to church.» Even though I believed in Jesus, I really didn’t know what I’d done yet, and I could have fallen through the cracks so easily. But this guy Mark wouldn’t take no for an answer. He picked me up at my house and took me to Calvary Chapel, which was in the middle of a spiritual awakening. It was overflowing with people; you couldn’t even get a seat. And there were a lot of young people, but there were older people as well-people of all cultures, all backgrounds crammed together in this church singing these praise songs.

And so I walk into the church, and this girl walks up to me that I’ve never seen before, throws her arms around me, hugs me, and says, «God bless you! Love you, brother!» I’m thinking, «I’m not your brother unless I’m a brother from another mother; I don’t know.» And the reason I didn’t really respond well to that is my mom never hugged me. We never showed affection in our home, and here’s love being expressed. And I saw all of these people praising the Lord, and I was literally relieved that there were no seats because I didn’t know that I really wanted to go in there. And then someone in the front row recognized me and said, «Greg, we got a seat for you.» And I was sitting in the front row of a spiritual awakening. Contemporary Christian music, it’s a whole industry now, was being born before our eyes. Contemporary praise and worship was being born before our eyes.

And let me tell you a little bit about what church was like. Every service you went to, there was a sense of anticipation-a sense that God was going to do something. You could feel it in the air. Let me tell you something else: no one was ever late for church. No one left the service early. Everybody brought their Bible. And when the pastor, Pastor Chuck Smith, would get up to speak, we would all open our Bibles. I think one of the beautiful sounds I know of is the rustle of Bible pages when you say, «Turn in your Bible to…» Well, I didn’t even really have a Bible at that point, as I recall, but I was ready to change. I was ready to learn, and my life started transforming quickly and dramatically, and it was because God was at work.

So you know, sometimes I think we overly romanticize revival or overly complicate it or overly mystify it. And here’s a way to think about it: if you want to see a revival, do revival-like things. So let’s say that there’s a couple that’s been married for many years and they’re having marital problems, and they come in and they say, «You know, we just don’t have the spark that brought us together. We’ve lost the love in our marriage. We’re thinking of divorcing.» Well, I would probably ask them, «When’s the last time you complimented each other? When’s the last time you went out on a date together?» I mean, think about what you used to do and what you do now, right? So when you first took her out on a date, you know you opened the door of the car, and you pulled her seat out in the restaurant, and you brought her a little gift. And then you get married, and 20 years later, now you still open the door for the car; you just close it before she’s all the way in. You know? You still pull the chair out in the restaurant; you just don’t put it in back. And then when she falls, you point at her and laugh. And you brought her a little gift just the other day: your dirty laundry.

Hey, why don’t you go back and do romantic things again? And I think the emotions of romance will catch up. In the same way, if you want to see a revival, do revival-like things. So what did we used to do? We read the Bible every single day. Maybe you need a personal spiritual awakening. Why don’t you start every day by reading the Bible again? We worshiped the Lord. Do you lift your voice up and sing when you’re at church during worship, or do you fold your arms and just look around, or scroll through reels, or answer texts, or emails? I mean, you got to engage. Another thing we did a lot of was we shared the gospel. You know, it wasn’t unusual to be out and about and just see people on the street carrying Bibles publicly. I would add talking to people about Jesus, and we found ourselves doing that as well.

When’s the last time you told someone about Jesus? If you want to see a revival, do revival-like things. So I think it just needs to start with us as individuals. You know, I love what Jesus says to the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2. He commends them for their hard work and their discernment and other things they’re doing right. But then He says these words: «Nevertheless, I have this against you: you have left your first love.» Then He gives the three Rs for getting right with God. He says, «Remember from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works quickly.» Or, as I like to put it: Remember, repent, repeat.

So first, you remember. Remember, was there a time in your life where you were stronger spiritually than you are today? Okay, mark that if that’s the case. Repent; repent means to change your direction. It’s a military term: you were going this way; now you’re going that way. So repent of that and repeat: do the first works quickly. That’s what Jesus tells us to do: Remember, repent, repeat, and you will have revival.

So let’s talk about today, this moment in human history. I see some promising signs of what may become another spiritual awakening. You know, sometimes I’ll be outside walking with my wife, and I’ll say, «It’s starting to rain.» She’ll go, «No, Greg, it’s not raining.» I go, «No, it’s starting to rain.» She’ll say, «Greg, it isn’t.» And then my response is, «Bald men always know when it’s raining first.» And sure enough, she’ll discover it after a few moments. Her hair is so thick; you see it takes her a while to feel the rain.

And I see a drop here, a drop there of rain, promising that maybe something greater is coming. Every time you turn around, it seems like you hear about another huge gathering of students having spontaneous baptisms or having meetings and worship services. And I think this is very hopeful.

But here’s another really interesting thing: Did you know Bible sales were up 22% last year? Nearly 10 million more Americans have engaged with the Bible this year than this time in 2024. Take the runaway success of shows like The Chosen and House of David, based on the Bible. It shows that there’s an interest in this. Like on the Amazon streaming platform, The Chosen and House of David are regularly in the top 10 because people are hungry for truth. They’re tired of this woke ideology that’s being pushed down their throats by so many corporations today and so many of the films and so many of the other expressions of art.

People want something that’s wholesome, something that’s good. But I think even more than that, they want something that’s godly. And here’s what’s really interesting about the growth in Bible sales: men are leading the way, specifically young people. This is unusual. Now, God bless you ladies; you’re usually in the front of this. You’re usually the ones that attend church more often than men. You’re usually the ones that end up being the spiritual leaders in your homes, and we’re so thankful you have stood in the gap and done that.

But it’s time for men to man up. There was a New York Times article that pointed out that there’s a return of young men to church right now. The article said, and I quote: «For the first time, listen to this: for the first time in modern American history, young men are now more religious than their female peers.» End quote. I like that because men need to catch up, and men need to return to that place that God has called them to. Again, going back to the New York Times article, it says, and I quote: «At church, they encounter calls to responsibility, sacrifice, and leadership. This is in contrast to the messaging of self-indulgence and avoidance of commitment.»

See, that’s a good thing. They want to be challenged. A lot of guys, myself included, are tired of hearing these terms toxic masculinity and the patriarchy. You see, instead, young men are reclaiming the right to be men in the best sense of the term-strong, protective, and loving. I read an interesting article the other day about Barney the Dinosaur. Do you remember him? By the way, I didn’t let my kids watch Barney the Dinosaur; he troubled me. Now I know why! Oh, but he was so affirming. He would sing, «I love you, you love me,» etc. But this article pointed out that Barney the Dinosaur was actually designed as a response to what they called hyper-masculinity. They said Barney could be understood as resisting that, pushing back against it, offering a different model of sexuality and gender — all coming together.

Now, give me a break; I always knew there was something weird about Barney. So people are tired of this nonsense, especially young people, and specifically young men. Check this out: The Apostle Paul tells us what it means to be a true man. In 1 Corinthians 16:13 — 14, he says this: «Be watchful; stand firm; act like men; be strong, and do it all in love.» Remember that scene from The Godfather when Johnny Fontaine, the singer, goes to Vito Corleón, the Godfather, and he needs his help getting a part in a film? He starts to cry, and Vito Corleón slaps him and says, «Be a man.» You know, sometimes I think, well, we don’t need to slap our young men, but they need to snap out of this beta male mentality and man up and learn what it means to be a man of God.

So from that text, here’s what we learn: First, a man is to be watchful. So a man is to be the protector in his home. He’s the last one to bed; he locks all the doors; he keeps an open ear to any threats against his family. So there is that physical protection a man should provide, but there’s spiritual protection too. He guards the family against harmful influences, like on television or social media. He talks to his kids about what they’re facing in school, listens to them, finds out what the teachers are saying, and he’s a spiritual leader in the home. I said this earlier; I want to say it again: I thank God for godly women who often lead the way spiritually in the home.

But guys, you need to do this. The father, according to Scripture, is to teach these things to his child when they rise up, when they go to bed, and when they walk in the way. A dad needs to lead, and he needs to protect. Secondly, a man is to be a provider. He needs to take care of his wife and children. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 5: 8, «Those who won’t provide for their family have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.» You know, you need to get out there and work and take care of your family.

And thirdly, you are to stand firm. The man is a spiritual leader in the home. You should be initiating prayer, initiating Bible study. You should be the one that’s saying, «We’re going to church.» And this is not the case in many Christian homes. One final point: the man is to be strong. And what is strength? Well, it’s physical strength, but it’s more than that. So enough already with feminized men, soy boys, beta males. We need strong, godly men! Question: Who was the strongest man who ever lived? Well, it wasn’t Samson, though he was very strong. It was actually Jesus. Jesus was omnipotent, which means all-powerful, but yet at the same time, He was the ultimate definition of true masculinity.

Even Pontius Pilate said of Jesus of Nazareth, after He had been whipped (and by the way, a lot of people did not survive the scourging; it was so brutal), that it was time for Him to go before Pilate. And Pilate said, «Ecce homo,» which means «Behold the man.» He really was a man. No one was stronger than Jesus-defending the weak, loving the children, serving others. And Jesus, in His only autobiographical statement, said this: «I am meek and lowly.» So what does it mean to be meek? Well, it doesn’t mean to be weak. To be meek means you have power under constraint. It means you’re controlling the power that you have.

Sort of like taking a horse and putting a bridle on it and riding the horse: the horse is submitting to the rider. So Jesus constrained Himself. I mean, think about this: When they arrested Him and were taking Him away to be crucified, He could have gotten out of that situation with a mere word to heaven. He even said to Simon Peter, who tried to defend Him with a sword (remember Peter cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest who was probably leading the charge to arrest Christ), «Put away your sword.» Don’t you know that I could call in angels from heaven who would come and deliver me? But He didn’t do that. Christ meekly surrendered and showed us what true godly masculinity is.

Fifth and finally, Paul tells us that the man of God does all in love. What does that mean? Well, it means you express love. It’s important to do that. You need to tell your wife you love her. You need to tell your children you love them. And you need to accept love from them, and you need to demonstrate your love. Jesus said, «Greater love has no man than this, that he laid down his life for his friend.» So you love sacrificially. I think on a practical basis, it means you keep the marriage vows that you’ve made, and you’re faithful to your wife for your lifetime. And then you are to love your wife as Christ loves the church. Guys, we need to rise to this occasion. This is our moment to be men of God. Again, to quote the great theologian Vito Corleón, «Be a man.»

So it’s Q&A time, and I want you to send your questions to me. You can write to me at gregharvestorg. It’s right there on the screen: gregharvestorg. And I may answer your question on the air. So here’s a question that came recently from a young man. He asked this: «How can I learn to be the kind of man God calls me to be when I didn’t have anyone to show me what that looks like?» Good question. I can relate to that question because I never had a dad growing up. If you know my story, you’re aware of the fact that my mother was married and divorced seven times. There’s only one man in my life that behaved as a father. His name was Oscar Lori. He adopted me, but unfortunately, my time with him was very short. But he was a great dad. He took care of me; he disciplined me. I remember one time I stole something from a store, and he made me go back to the store and return what I’d taken. And then he was a lawyer, so he took me to the jail and made me talk to the prisoners to see what it was like to end up in jail. The problem was, I thought they were really interesting people, and I think I was getting along with them too well, so that didn’t work out as well as he had hoped.

But he was a great dad, and it was a real shock to me when one day I came out of school, and our Cadillac was loaded up with all of our luggage, and my mom said, «Get in, we’re going to Hawaii.» And I said, «Where’s dad?» She said, «He’s not coming.» My mom divorced him, married another guy who was very abusive-in fact, almost killed her — and I didn’t see my father again until much later in life. That’s another story for another podcast where I’ll tell you how Oscar came to faith. But I didn’t have a dad.

And so I become a Christian, and I get married, and Kathy gets pregnant. And one day I wake up, and I’m a father, and I literally realize I don’t know anything about parenting-literally nothing. So here’s what I did: I found older, godly men that could mentor me. One of those men was Pastor Chuck Smith. Not only was he my pastor whom I would listen to teach, but I got to know him personally and spend time with him. And I just learned how a godly man functions in life, and that was very important for me. There was another man named Keith Ritterder that was a great mentor to me. Later in life, another pastor there at Calvary Chapel, his name was Roma. He was a great mentor and example. And finally, fast forward a number of years, I was able to spend a lot of time with Billy Graham, and he certainly was a father figure.

And being around these godly men, I just learned a lot. You know, some things are caught and some things are taught. And sometimes just seeing how a godly person behaves is so very helpful. So here’s what I would say to you asking me this question: Find older godly men in your church, most likely, and let them influence you. I mean, I want to say to guys out there: you should seek to help younger men-women too-but especially younger men who need to see a father-son dynamic. You know, the coaches do this, and obviously, pastors do this, and teachers do this. There are so many opportunities for us to help others. And I think there are so many fatherless young men today who literally may not have a father at all or they don’t really have a good example for a father.

So be a godly father if you can to someone, and then find one if you need one. My first son, Christopher, who has been in heaven now for 17 years and would have just celebrated his 50th birthday, had a little buddy named Hank who spent a lot of time at our house, and he came from a broken home. And so we included Hank in a lot of family adventures, and we’d go here and go there, and Hank came along. And it wasn’t until many years later-Hank’s a young man now, a father himself-he told my wife, «When I came over to your house, you know, Greg was like a dad to me.» And I never said that to him, and he never said, «I’m like a dad to you,» but I saw how he treated his son, and that’s where I learned how to be a father. I didn’t even know that! That was a real blessing to me.

So I think as we get older, we need to realize that there are responsibilities that come with that, and we should try to be a father figure and a mentor to younger men and women out there in our culture today.