Three Revolutions, a Fourfold Crisis: Zachary Wagner on Men of Virtue, the Fruit of the Spirit, and the Aspirational Vision of Manhood

<p>What if the crisis facing boys and men isn't a lack of rules, but a missing aspiration? A vision not just of what to avoid, but of who to become?</p><p>In this episode of Complex Creatures, Rev. Dr. Jarrod Longbons sits down with author, ordained minister, and New Testament scholar Zachary Wagner ( Director of Programs at the Center for Pastor Theologians, DPhil graduate of the University of Oxford, and co-host of the Pastor Theologians Podcast) to talk about his forthcoming book <em>Men of Virtue: How the Fruit of the Spirit Forms Male Character in the Modern World</em> (Brazos Press, May 26, 2026), the follow-up to his 2023 <em>Non-Toxic Masculinity: Recovering Healthy Male Sexuality</em> (InterVarsity Press).</p><p>Zach lays out a framework he calls <em>three revolutions leading to a fourfold crisis</em>: the Industrial Revolution, which untethered male embodiment from meaning-making; the Sexual Revolution, which reshaped gender roles and intimacy; and the ongoing Technological Revolution, which is accelerating the displacement faster than we can metabolize it. The result is a generation of boys and men casting around for something, anything, to fill the void: parasitic masculinity influencers, martial arts as identity, deaths of despair. What if the answer the Church has been holding all along is the fruit of the Spirit?</p><p>Together, Jarrod and Zach explore:</p><ul><li>Why "don't misbehave" is the lowest possible bar, and what an aspirational, virtue-rooted vision of manhood actually looks like</li><li>The legacy of <em>Wild at Heart</em>, purity culture, and Joshua Harris, the good, the bad, and the wreckage left behind</li><li>Richard Reeves's <em>Of Boys and Men</em> and why both left and right finally agree something is wrong</li><li>The fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control — as a Christian alternative to neo-Stoic "bro-icism"</li><li>Why organized sports, martial arts, and even fraternities historically emerged as responses to industrial displacement</li><li>The theological scandal of male embodiment, and why disdain for our own bodies isn't piety, it's pathology</li><li>The three things boys and men need from older men: <em>acceptance</em>, <em>aspiration</em>, and <em>delight</em> , including the simple, unfashionable words <strong>"I like you."</strong></li></ul><p>Zach's hope is straightforward but rare: a vision of masculinity that is distinctly Christian, biblically grounded, embodied, and aspirational, not a culture-war flag, not a list of prohibitions, but participation in the divine nature itself.</p><p>#ComplexCreaturesPodcast #ZacharyWagner #MenOfVirtue #NonToxicMasculinity #BrazosPress #InterVarsityPress #FruitOfTheSpirit #ChristianMasculinity #BiblicalMasculinity #VirtueEthics #CenterForPastorTheologians #PastorTheologiansPodcast #JarrodLongbons #PeachtreeChristianChurch #RichardReeves #OfBoysAndMen #WildAtHeart #JohnEldredge #PurityCulture #MensMinistry #MaleFormation #SpiritualFormation #Discipleship #ChristianStoicism #FaithAndCulture #TheologyAndCulture #ChristianPodcast #SpiritualPracticesForTheCommonGood</p><p><br /></p>