The Men We Need: God’s Purpose for the Manly Man, the Avid Indoorsman, or Any Man Willing to Show Up is by Brant Hansen, published by Baker Books. ISBN 9780801094521.
The idea the book is actually built on
Hansen’s central image is that a man is meant to be a keeper of the garden. It comes from Genesis 2:15, where Adam is put in the garden to work it and keep it. The Hebrew word behind “keep” is shamar, which means to guard, to protect, to watch over.
From that he builds his whole definition: a man is at his best when he is guarding and tending something, making a place where other people can flourish. Not conquering, not performing, not proving anything. Watching over what he has been given.
That single idea is the reason to read the book, and an earlier version of this review managed not to mention it at all.
Why the subtitle matters
“The manly man, the avid indoorsman, or any man willing to show up” is doing real work. Hansen is deliberately writing against the strain of Christian men’s material that equates masculinity with outdoorsmanship, physical courage, and a particular temperament.
His argument is that if biblical manhood requires you to like hunting, then it was never biblical. Showing up and guarding what is yours to guard is available to any man, including the one who would rather be indoors with a book. For a lot of men that is a genuine relief, because they have quietly assumed they failed a test they never actually had to take.
Structure
The second half turns the idea into six decisions a man can actually make. Short chapters, one point each.
Hansen writes with a lot of humour and considerable self-deprecation. He is a radio host by trade and it shows: the prose is conversational and moves fast. He also writes openly about his own limitations, which keeps the book from sounding like instruction from a man who has it sorted.
Strengths and limits
The strength is accessibility. This is the book to give a man who does not read, or who has been put off by the tone of men’s ministry material. It is funny, short, and it lands.
The limit is depth. The humour costs some rigour, and if you want careful theological work on manhood you will find this light. Hansen is making one good argument well rather than surveying the field.
Who it suits
Good for a man who feels he does not fit the standard picture of Christian masculinity. Good for a young man. Good for a men’s group, since the chapters are short and the six decisions give you something concrete to discuss.
Skip it if you want theological weight, or if you already have a settled and thought-through view and want it challenged at a scholarly level.
Bottom line
The best short answer we have seen to the question of what a man is for, built on one strong idea from Genesis 2 and written so that any man can get through it. Light on depth, unusually generous in who it lets in.