BY : Leah MarieAnn Klett, Entertainment Editor
About three years ago, Seth Troutt received an unusual invitation. A church with a large college population was grappling with a growing problem: young Christian men were embracing messages about power and masculinity from influencers like Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes.
“The pastor there said, ‘We’re having this Andrew Tate, Nick Fuentes infiltration problem within our church. Could you come do a talk on basically why Andrew Tate sucks?'” Troutt recalled. “That was the prompt he gave me.”
The experience eventually led Troutt, the teaching pastor at Ironwood Church in Arizona, to write his first book, Authentic Masculinity: Leaving Behind the Counterfeits for God’s Design,released by Moody Publishers.
According to Troutt, a 35-year-old pastor who holds a doctorate focused on digital technology, Generation Z and gender identity, young men are searching for something deeper than the hyper-masculine bravado online.
The popularity of the “manosphere” — podcasts, influencers and social media personalities promoting everything from self-improvement to male dominance — reflects a genuine hunger for purpose, he said, even if many of its answers are problematic.
Part of their appeal, Troutt explained, is that many young men are reacting against years of cultural messaging that blurred distinctions between men and women. Manosphere influencers, he said, have gained traction, in part, because they acknowledge legitimate differences between the sexes.
“I think you have a whole generation of young men who are like, ‘We know that’s not true. Men and women are different,'” Troutt said. “The question is, how are they different?”
Online personalities have capitalized on that uncertainty by presenting distorted visions of masculinity centered on power, status, money and sexual conquest rather than biblical character.
“What men are looking for when they go to YouTube is motivation, meaning and purpose,” Troutt said. “Someone comes around and says, ‘Here’s what you’ve got to do. Take that hill. Start that company. Make that money. Pursue that woman.’ I think men are looking for inspiration.”
The challenge, he says, is that many influencers package legitimate concerns, and even some biblical truths, alongside destructive ideas.
“The first thing I saw from Andrew Tate, I kind of thought, what’s the problem with this guy?” Troutt said. “He was saying, ‘Quit being a loser, don’t smoke weed, stop watching porn, work really hard, get out of your mom’s basement.'”
“The next thing I see is him saying, ‘Have kids with as many women as possible, spread your genes, women are intellectually inferior to men,'” Troutt said. “That took quite a turn.”
The husband and father of two said the problem isn’t that young men want a vision of masculinity; it’s that too few positive visions of manhood rooted in Scripture are being offered.
According to Barna Group’s latest research, Gen Z, particularly Gen Z men, are showing a sharp rise in spiritual interest, with a hunger for biblical truth, clarity and purpose.
“I wanted something you could give to a 19-year-old, something a father could go through with his teenage son,” he said. “Not just tell them what not to be, but tell them what to be.”
In his book, Troutt outlines four foundational virtues he believes characterize authentic masculinity: humility, discipline, responsibility and chivalry. Humility, in particular, he lamented, is often absent from popular discussions about manhood.
“I think the point at which the manosphere is most incompatible with Christianity is humility,” he said, adding that he rejects the idea of a “self-made man.” Every person’s strengths and opportunities are ultimately gifts shaped by family, community and God.
“Anything that’s good in me was given to me by other people,” he said. “Those other people were placed in my life by God.”
The pastor encouraged churches to do a better job of providing young men with a compelling vision for their lives. Many, he said, are battling feelings of purposelessness while turning to social media for guidance.
“When you are conditioned from a young age to doom scroll, with pornography offering fake sex, video games offering fake wins and gambling offering fake income, someone comes along and tells you to get off the couch and make something of yourself,” Troutt said. “A lot of young men respond to that.”
Troutt also emphasized the role parents play in shaping boys into mature men. He regularly teaches his children lessons about wisdom and foolishness through stories, reflecting how Jesus taught His followers through parables.
“I think story is one of the primary ways that people learn,” he said.
Troutt also addressed criticisms of some teachings associated with the purity culture movement of the 1990s and early 2000s. While he said he maintains a “a very conservative traditional Christian sexual ethic,” he said some messages directed at young women failed to properly emphasize male responsibility.
“In the name of protecting women, you’re actually dehumanizing them,” he said, pointing to teachings that suggested women were responsible for preventing men from lusting. “We want to teach men responsibility.”
In his book, the pastor challenges popular stereotypes about male leadership in marriage.
Drawing on passages including Ephesians 5 and 1 Peter 3, he encourages husbands to become “students of their wives,” learning to understand, serve and honor them.
“Men get pretty good at researching hobbies,” he said. “I think men should understand that their wife is more than a hobby.”
For young men struggling with feelings of inadequacy or failure, Troutt said the Christian message begins with grace. Contrary to much of the messaging circulating on social media, the pastor said he hopes readers come to view masculinity as a lifelong process of becoming more like Christ.
“If you’re feeling inadequate, you’re actually in a great position,” he said. “That’s an excellent starting point.”
“If you’re 22 and reading this book, don’t ask who you want to be when you’re 22-and-a-half,” he said. “Ask what your life might look like when you’re 42 or 52. Begin to paint a vision of the kind of man God is calling you to become.”
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