Alright, let’s go ahead and offend the entire internet. Today’s subject is what I call Andrew Tate-ism: what is it, what’s wrong with it, where does it come from, and what should the church do about it. Tally ho, lads.
What is Andrew Tate-ism?
Andrew Tate-ism could be summed up as a focus on achievement, hard work, and excellence for no higher end and to the exclusion of all else. When you cut through the machismo, braggadocio, and self-aggrandizement, what Andrew Tate puts forth as virtue is dominance, financial success, and hard work for no higher end than one’s own glory. Tate is not the only one who does this, but he is the most prominent purveyor of it.
What is wrong with Andrew Tate-ism?
The problem with Andrew Tate-ism is not in what he says. While Tate is very blunt, unnecessarily aggressive, grating, and induces extreme pearl-clutching from those who consider themselves polite society, that is not the real problem with him. From what I’ve seen, he actually speaks a lot of truth, albeit in a blunt and tactless way. For example: laziness is bad, diligence is good; see the book of Proverbs. Promiscuous women are bad and not admirable; see Proverbs 5. Pornography is bad and will ruin your life. These are all things Christians can and should agree with, even if we don’t like how Tate says them.
The first problem with Andrew Tate-ism is Tate’s lack of repentance for his past as a creator and distributor of pornography. He has bragged about doing this on camera multiple times. Whether he is innocent or guilty of human trafficking and abuse (and as much as I dislike him, innocent until proven guilty is the Biblical requirement, as demonstrated here), the fact is that in the best case scenario for him, if he’s innocent of everything he’s charged with, he still by his own admission created and distributed pornography, thus making money off of enticing other men into sin. He has not come out and acknowledged that he was wrong to do so, but has openly bragged about it and continues to do it. This is the dirty little secret of where he got all his money, by the way. His past of enticing other men to sin to their detriment and his own gain casts serious doubt on the sincerity of his desire to help other men, and disqualifies him from being any kind of role model.
The second and biggest problem with Andrew Tate-ism is that it teaches young men to treat their God-given masculine strengths and virtues as ends in and of themselves, rather than as gifts from God to be used to glorify Him. This is the most dangerous thing about Andrew Tate-ism, not the rude things that Tate and his emulators say about promiscuous women, not his grating personality, and not even his porn distribution and hypocrisy. Andrew Tate-ism preys on young men in desperate need of masculine role models to lead them down a path of self-idolatry.
Where does Andrew Tate-ism come from?
This is the part where, if I were part of the Evangelical Industrial Complex, I would blame misogyny, toxic masculinity, and the patriarchy for the rise of Andrew Tate-ism. However, that would be factually incorrect, so I’m not going to do that. To understand the appeal of Tate and his imitators, we need to look at the state of young men in the West.
Young men today feel that society has turned against them, and not without cause. The education system shows a clear preference for women over men in issuing scholarships, making it easier for women to go to college than men. Young men are told that masculine traits such as competitiveness, mental fortitude, self-sufficiency, and not wanting to date a dude who says he’s a woman are all ‘toxic masculinity’. Young men grow up hearing feminist propaganda messages such as ‘the future is female’ which strongly imply that men don’t belong in society. Even leftists like those at The Atlantic realize this problem exists, although they claim the answer is… more feminism; a sign of society’s general disinterest in men’s welfare.
To men who grew up in a society that they can see detests them, men like Andrew Tate who say masculinity is a good thing are a welcome relief from the constant drumbeat of man-hatred and feminism (but I repeat myself), simply because they say masculinity is not bad. Of course young men, especially those who had no father figure in their lives, are going to listen to people like Andrew Tate when they being a man isn’t a bad thing. Wouldn’t you?
What’s worse is that the church has been complicit in the culture’s denigration of men. I’ll likely never forget the time I heard a pastor from the pulpit shame husbands for the vicious sin of… asking their wives for a sandwich. No, really. And we all know the joke about how Mothers’ Day sermons are all about celebrating moms while Fathers’ Day sermons are about shaming the men for not being good enough. That joke is funny because it’s true.
The fact is that the church at large has a clear preference for women over men. You can see this in the outrage that is provoked if you offer a biblical critique of women that contravenes the feminist doctrine of empowerment. Some of the hot button issues that will immediately get one in hot water include modesty, women submitting to their husbands, and women as preachers. The Bible speaks clearly in all of these areas and what it says is directly contrary to women’s ‘empowerment’ as promulgated by feminists, and yet many professing Christians will either side with feminists over against the Bible or try to soften the Bible’s teaching so much that feminists will be okay with it. The same is not done when the Bible speaks to men, if anything, there is a pressure to go well beyond what Scripture teaches to ‘put men in their place’.
In such an environment, the rise of Andrew Tate makes perfect sense. Tate’s fundamental message is that men’s masculine instincts are good. He says that men do have a place in society. He pushes men to do better and excel. He offers a thin veneer of respect by speaking his mind bluntly as if the men he’s talking to can handle it. Does he have men’s best interests at heart? I don’t believe so. The only reason that someone like Andrew Tate can be successful is that, as bad as he is, he is vastly better than what men are getting in society and, unfortunately, the church at large.
How Should Christians Respond To Andrew Tate-ism?
Contrary to what the world teaches, the proper response to rampant misandry is not more feminism; feminism is what got us into this problem in the first place. The solution is to submit to Scripture, even when it runs directly counter to the culture. A good place to start is by not committing the sin of partiality in how we treat men and women. This isn’t actually very complicated. Here are some simple principles that will go a long way toward helping the Church minister to men who might be drawn towards Andrew Tate-ism.
First, we need to acknowledge men’s intrinsic worth. As image bearers of God, men have value in and of themselves.
Second, we need to take genuine interest in the lives of men in the church. This is especially true of young, single men; since in many cases the only people who even pretend to care about them are Andrew Tate and his ilk. This is something any man in the church can do.
Third, treat men like adults. A grown man doesn’t want to be treated as a child; God designed him to leave his parents and lead his own household. Simply treating a man as someone who is capable of managing his own affairs, even if he is unemployed and living in his parents’ basement, will show him a level of respect that he doesn’t get anywhere else.
Fourth, encourage men to be masculine. Don’t teach men to be weak, uncompetitive, and submissive; teach them how to channel their God-given masculine drives in the way He created them to be channeled. Teach men how to lead responsibly, how to work diligently, how to control their sexual desire, how to channel their desire to compete and win, the list could go on and on.
Fifth, don’t be afraid of the women. If you’re teaching the Bible exegetically, you will come across a passage that contravenes the presuppositional feminism that has spread throughout the culture and into the church. Topics like modesty and wives submitting to their husbands are just a couple where women often get offended by the plain, unvarnished teaching of scripture. We must resist the temptation to soft-sell these teachings to avoid angering women. Not only does this show men that you don’t prefer women over men, but also it’s good for the women themselves.
Sixth, be patient. Young men today haven’t been taught how to be men. Of course they’re going to struggle with things that may seem obvious to those who are older. Telling a young man to ‘just ask a girl out’ isn’t going to help him at all if he’s used to dealing with women who only care about his money, or get offended that he would dare talk to them when he’s not sufficiently good looking. Likewise, telling him to ‘man up’ is going to be counterproductive at best when he’s grown up without male role-models. We need to be willing to teach young men things that may seem stupidly obvious to us.
Seventh and finally, reach out to men. Mainstream, brand-conscious evangelicalism has done a great job of fitting in with the culture and, as a result, a lot of men assume they aren’t any more welcome in the church than they are in the rest of the culture. As a result, you have to make it clear that men are welcome.
Young men today are, by and large, outcasts who, in the eyes of society, can’t do anything right. They are looked down upon by the world at large no matter what they do, and mainline Protestantism and Big Eva are no better. This is an opportunity for serious Christians to reach out to men who are not just hurting but who society actively persecutes, and show them the love of Christ. It’s not something that can be undertaken by weak, feminized churches that care about the world’s approval (because you won’t get it) but only Christians who are serious about following Christ in the face of the world’s disapproval.
Jesus was condemned by the in-group of His day for preaching the gospel to tax collectors, who were universally despised. We should be willing to face the same in order to preach the gospel to lonely young men who society has labeled as ‘toxic’.
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