One of the travesties of modern feel-good Christianity—and a travesty which alienates a lot of non-Christian men—is the fact that Jesus Christ is routinely portrayed as an individual who is meek, mild, and submissive. Indeed, Churchians often make Christ seem to be some type of go-along-to-get-along hippie who just wanted peace, tolerance, and “love”, man! But nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that Jesus Christ was a tough, red-pilled individual, and his strength and grit manifested itself in several ways that masculine men can learn from and appreciate. And if you don’t believe me, well then, just consider the following three points.

Physical Grit

First, there is the physical form of fortitude, which is a type of toughness that Jesus clearly demonstrated. After all, there are good grounds to believe that Jesus was a builder of some type (Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3) and so he likely had the natural physical strength and hardness that comes from working in manual labor. But there is also another incident that clearly shows Jesus’s physical prowess: namely, the clearing of the temple.

In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. (John 2:14-15, ESV)

So here we have Jesus making himself a weapon and then using that weapon to clear out a temple full of merchants and animals. And although we are not told the exact number of people who were in the temple at the time, it nevertheless takes some serious balls to single-handedly eject a room full of men and chase them away from their money and their livestock.

Indeed, regardless of whether you think that Jesus was right or wrong in what he did, the fact is that there are few men alive today who would have the intestinal fortitude to man-up and clear out a group of degenerates with nothing but their hands, a bit of cord, and some righteous fury.

Intellectual, Emotional, and Social Fortitude

Now, while the above example demonstrates Christ’s physical toughness, the fact is that Jesus was also intellectually, socially, and emotionally masculine and strong. What do I mean by this? I mean that in his words and actions, Christ did not bow to the politically-correct platitudes of his day, nor did he sacrifice the truth for niceness, nor did he care about the approval of his followers if doing so meant sacrificing his integrity or jeopardizing his mission.

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After all, when you (1) call out a group of powerful people as being sons of the Devil (John 8:39-47), and when you (2) boldly preach the truth in a manner that leads to people wanting to kill you afterwards (Luke 4:16-30, John 8:58-59), and when you (3) hold fast to a teaching regardless of the fact that it leads to large numbers of your followers abandoning you (John 6:60-71), you know that Christ had intellectual and emotional strength. In fact, Christ was strong enough to even call out his close friend when it was required (Matthew 16:22-23). And this is not even to mention the iron mental will that it would have taken to fast for forty days and forty nights (Matthew 4:2, Luke 4:1-2).

We see the strength of Christ manifest itself not only physically, but only intellectually and socially. This was a man who had masculine energy and who routinely handled situations in a masculine way. He was emotionally and mentally tough. He had a mission, and he would let no man—neither friend nor foe—stop him from achieving it.

Mission-Oriented Toughness

Finally, we can note that Christ had the type of fortitude that men admire most: a self-sacrificial mission-oriented grit that few men exhibit in their lives. Indeed, in his final days, Christ—in order to fulfill his mission of redemption against the forces of evil that control this Earth (John 12:31, 2 Corinthians 4:4)—allowed himself to be whipped, beaten, and hung on a cross.

Now many people might consider such an outcome to be a sign of weakness. After all, Jesus did nothing to defend himself from his attackers and oppressors, and so his apparent submission to a painful death seems pathetic, not bold or strong. But this has the issue entirely backwards, for true strength and toughness is demonstrated via the endurance of pain and suffering to accomplish a mission, not necessarily through the specific way in which that mission is accomplished.

Think, for example, of the platoon commander whose cowering platoon is pinned down by enemy fire and blocked from advancing due to a barbed wire barrier. In order to save his men and ensure that his mission is completed, the platoon commander charges the wire under heavy enemy fire and throws himself upon it, thereby allowing his platoon to break through and complete their mission. Is this platoon commander a coward? Is he weak? Is the soldier who throws himself on top of a grenade to save his friends and ensure their survival pathetic? Was Arnold Winkelried gutless when, in 1386 at the Battle of Sempach, he sacrificially threw himself against a spear wall in order to make the critical opening for his Swiss comrades to break the Austrian lines and ultimately gain their freedom?

And so, such men as those mentioned above are not weak, but rather, they have the most courage of all, for they willingly and freely take on the pain and suffering from countless foes in order to save their friends and ultimately accomplish their mission by doing so. And the same is true for Christ: he freely and willingly endured unbearable pain to ensure the completion of his mission, which was the salvation of mankind.

When looked at from a theological perspective, Christ’s sacrifice can be seen as being even more incredible. Why? Because a plausible understanding of the crucifixion holds that Christ literally experienced and endured the punishment for all the sins of all mankind during his death. This would be an experience which would create a level of pain that would be utterly unimaginable to us. And yet he took on that pain freely, a deed that few others—if any—would ever do.

While Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, was obviously kind and gentle with many individuals, he was also incredibly tough. Furthermore, his fortitude and red-pilled attitude showed itself in many different ways which masculine men can learn from. Consequently, it always needs to be remembered that Christ was not a weak or feminine man. He was, in fact, one of the toughest men to have ever lived, and we need to remember him as such.

Read More: What A Cult Leader Who Think He’s Jesus Can Teach Us About Humility