I fear that many of the problems we are facing as a country are because too many men have been silenced

We have let our voice and influence be taken away

Men aren't speaking up and leading the way they should

SILENT MEN ARE INSECURE

• When a man is insecure, he is living his life for the approval of others
• We see this in men who often change their opinion
• We see this in men who will dramatically change who they are based on who they hang around
• When men seek acceptance they never find their own voice
• As men, we must build a foundation of security or our insecurity will doom us to silence

SILENT MEN ARE BUSY

• A busy man lives by the motto: "I don't have time"
• We don't have time to speak up when we stay busy
• These are the excuses that compel many men to stay silent
• Many relationships are superficial for men because they don't have time for them either
• Busy men don't speak up when they see unethical practices at work
• Busy men can justify their own lack of ethics with things because "they deserve it"
• A man's busyness keeps him from becoming influential and impacting others

SILENT MEN ARE DISTRACTED

• We live in a distracted world
• Distractions are not bad in and of themselves, but they can keep us from really developing the way we should as men
• Distractions can be many forms for men
• We have to be careful with how much we indulge our distractions
• Our distractions are too much when we use them to "escape" from reality
• When men live only for their distractions they disengage from the world
• Because they live for their distraction, they are silent in the real world

SILENT MEN ARE SHAMEFUL

• There has to be right and wrong and as men, we are called to stand up for right
• Character and integrity should be the pillars of strength for men
• Dr. Henry Cloud in his book Integrity: "Character is the ability to meet the demands of reality"
• Too many men can't meet the demands of reality because they are caught up in their own shame
• As our society has gotten more sexualized and the use of porn has increased, men have grown more silent
• Many men live in a secret world that demands all their attention so they don't live in reality
• Men are silent because they live with their inner shame, so they don't speak up