Last month, I received a copy of The Kind of Man Every Man Should Be: Taking a Stand for True Masculinity, the latest book by my friend and co-host, Kevin McCullough. Kevin pushes back against the forces he sees as undermining men in modern society, describes the damage they do, and offers his recipe for countering both.

No one who knows Kevin will be surprised to see him argue for a Biblical perspective on true masculinity and balance between the genders. He makes no apologies for believing that Scriptural prescriptions for healthy male identity. Books like this can either take an academic or activist approach, and Kevin definitely uses the latter. While he makes passing references to studies and research, he does not rely on them to “prove” his observations. Rather, he allows his observations to give readers context for his advice to men seeking to assert their masculinity in healthy, productive ways that will benefit not just themselves — in fact, not primarily themselves — but their wives, children, and communities. He writes about the differences between equality and sameness, and how the confusion of these two concepts in terms of gender have left two generations of men confused, women dissatisfied, and families in crisis.

Those of us who have read Kevin’s column, blogs, or heard him on my show and his own will not find his perspective surprising. However, The Kind of Man turns out to be a very personal work, and in that sense we get an opportunity to know Kevin much more intimately than I have in four years of friendship. Kevin shares painful lessons from his own life at both failed and successful masculinity. As I read the book, I was surprised at how little I knew about my friend, and how affecting these anecdotes are in underscoring his message.

It’s these passages that communicate best Kevin’s argument for valuing masculinity and celebrating the special gifts given to both genders. At 175 pages, it’s an economical and fast read. Kevin challenges men to assert themselves against popular culture and show that true masculinity is not to be feared or reviled, but valued as an essential quality for our communities to function best.

Addendum: Kevin may not be much of a fan of South Park, but this particular scene kept coming to mind when he described the necessity of masculinity: