Levi's call to men. . ."Wear the pants."

It the wake of my recent devotion at church the feedback has been mostly positive even my step-mom couldn't find an argument against the words that the Lord laid on my heart. And while that would make most people happy, which I am, I always enjoys a good challenge. While I was back in Cali over Christmas, she and I did discuss certain ramifications of femininity being challenged and the feminist movement, but other than that not to much opposition, yet.

In any case, my friend Vicki passed along this ad that she had come across by Levi's. You know Levi's right? Those 501's that you can't live without. Well even Levi's has put a call out to men to "Wear the pants". As the email pointed out many Preachers have compromised their standards, and God's, in favor of appealing to men and bigger numbers. It's my belief that the down fall of Christianity is the "mega church". The bottom line is when Preachers quit preaching about God's standards God is capable of using what He can in order to get the attention of Christians. Remember Balaam's donkey? To quote the email I received "How sad that Levi's can discern the times better than most Christians today". Sure it's a gimmick, but the fact that they are willing to take a risk with this ad should be an admonishment to Christians and is a prophetic statement concerning where society has come from, and where it is going in the future.

“Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had to open doors and little old ladies never crossed the street alone. Men took charge because that’s what they do. But somewhere along the way, the world decided it no longer needed men, disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khakis and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny. But today, there are questions our genderless society has no answers for. The world sits idly by as cities crumble, children misbehave, and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street. For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes. We need grown-ups. We need men to put down the plastic fork, step away from the salad bar and untie the world from the tracks of complacency. It’s time to get your hands dirty. It’s time to answer the call of manhood. It’s time to WEAR THE PANTS.”

Personally I have to agree with the ad. I know shocker right? But really it's sad to think about the state of confusion that the world has people in. I had a chuckle to myself in the first line, where it says women rarely opened doors. Once upon a time I believed that dating was the right way to go about meeting "Mr. Right" (but that's another topic for another time), and so on a date a boy and I went to the movies, or I should say that he attempted to take me to the movies. He bought the tickets and as we approached the door, I slowed down and stepped back so that he could open it up for me. However, instead of that happening he stopped and waited for me to open up the door for him. Ummm, what just happened there was completely astonishing to me and so I looked at him and said "Aren't you going to open the door for me?" To which he replied, "Are your arms broken?" Uhhh, NOT COOL. So I just looked at him calmly and told him I would be right back. Where did I disappear to? To the pay phone (remember those) to call a friend for a ride. When I returned he asked me where I had gone and I told him that I went to call my ride to come pick me up. No movie was going to be worth sitting through at that point.

Now do I know how to open up a door? Sure. And could I have done it? Yes. But if a guy wants to come across as a gentleman then there are certain courtesies that should be adhered to. I don't ask for much, but that is up there on my list. And the fact of the matter is that there are things that most men growing up today are just not taught or are asking the women to step up and do because of the role confusion that is taking place.

However, my brother Jack warmed my heart while I was in Cali last week on this very subject. The morning of the 23rd he as I went out to run errands so that I could get some groceries and my other brothers Christmas presents. We were leaving the house and I had to go back and get something from inside, the gate was already open and I didn't want the dog or my family's evil cat to escape while I ran back inside. So i told him that he could go on and get in the car while I got my phone. So sweet he gave me an earnest look and said in his monotone voice "But I'm holding the door open for you." Yeah, my heart pretty much melted at his courtesy. Now men, if you are reading this and it seems foreign to you, there's no reason to not know how to behave as a gentleman if a 9 year old knows how to. Likewise, ladies need to let the men rise to the occasion. Sure, we can do it, but it's also nice to have it done for us. If not for a better reason than "just because". Do you really have so much to prove that you cannot let him open a door or two? So rather than scolding Jack to the car I hurried up inside, grabbed my phone, rushed out so the cat didn't escape (that too is a story that I will tell when I post my photos) and thanked him for waiting. Far be it for me to be the one that ruins him for some lady in the future.

All hope is obviously not lost, but unless something changes I think that those situations are going to be few and far between for most women as time goes on. Men really do need to wear the pants and ladies we need to let them. Here's the website to go out and get him some 501's.