The speech Butker didn’t give – what were you born to do?

Congratulations, Class of 2024!

You have all worked very hard to get to this point, and your hard work has paid off!

A world of opportunities awaits you…. Some of you will join the workforce, others will go on to

graduate school and some may become homemakers. Each is a valid option, and the decision is

yours to make!

To the men in the audience

I would like to address the men in the audience, since you have been told diabolical lies by society.

You’ve been told that being masculine means always being the “tough guy,” never showing

emotions, never shedding a tear, or showing any sign of weakness. I’m here to remind you that

the ability to show emotion is an essential part of being human. It doesn’t make you a “sissy;” it

makes you human. Even Jesus wept.

Toxic Masculinity

Despite what society has told you, toxic masculinity is not the way of Christ.

So, if your life circumstances are such that you find yourself being a stay-at-home dad, know that

it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Your children need you as much as they need their mother.

To address the issue of toxic masculinity, let’s take a look at examples from the New Testament.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”

Matthew 23: 37 (NIV)

This was Jesus – comparing himself to a female! Imagine that! He applied female imagery to himself in

the above verse, as did Paul in writing to the Thessalonians.

 ^“Instead, we were like young children among you.

Just as a nursing mother cares for her children.”

1 Thessalonians 2:7 (NIV)

The use of female imagery by Jesus Christ and Paul run contrary to the toxic masculinity that is so

prevalent in today’s church. Christ and Paul were not concerned about protecting their male egos; they

were secure in who they were. Using female imagery did not make them any less male.

To the women in the audience

For the women in the audience, if anyone tells you that your life will start when you get married

and start having babies, please remind them that your life started the day you were born.

Marriage and childbirth are major milestones, but

not the beginning of life and should not define you. God created you with a unique identity and

personality, not so that you would have your identity subsumed by someone else. Society works

best when all of us, regardless of gender, lean into our individual vocations and do what we are

called to do.

If anyone has told you can’t pursue a certain profession because you are a woman, I hope you

will be inspired by the story of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, America’s first female physician.

She was admitted to Geneva Medical College in New York, after being rejected by other schools. The

Dean had asked the medical students (150 males) to vote on whether Elizabeth should be accepted.

Elizabeth would have been barred from admission, if even one student had voted against her admission.

The students must have thought it was a joke – they voted unanimously to accept her, and ended up being

surprised when she arrived at the school! Elizabeth Blackwell graduated in 1949 and her younger sister

Emily, also became a physician. They both went on to support medical education for other women.

To the members of racial minority groups

If anyone tells you can’t pursue a certain career because of your race, you can tell them about Dr.

Rebecca Crumpler.  Did you know that America had a black female physician as early as 1864? It was Dr.

Crumpler. If she could attend medical school in the 1800s, you can pursue your dreams in 2024! (Can I

hear an Amen?)

Go, be free

Class of 2024, I congratulate you again. I hope you have been inspired. I hope you will be

motivated to pursue your God-given passions and to develop your gifts and talents in the service

of humanity. I wish you all the very best, regardless of which path you choose, whether that is

pursuing a career, being a homemaker, or both. Your calling is unique to you – it is yours to

determine and yours to fulfill.

I leave you with the words of Beth Allison Barr, PhD and Rick Pidcock (Provoke Wonder):

 Go, be free!

 Don’t fear the lies told over you.

 Go, be free!

 And then do what you were born to do.

Author’s Note: This essay was written as a reaction to the graduation speech given by Kansas

City Chiefs kicker, Harrison Butker at Benedictine College (a Catholic institution) on May 11, 2024.

In her book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood, Beth Allison Barr writes that she dismisses

her students from class with these words: “Go, be free.” She ends her book with the same

admonition. Rick Pidcock’s (Provoke Wonder) song, Go be free which includes the lyrics above,

was inspired by Beth Allison Barr’s book.