Jesus and Men

Over at Christianity Today online, Brandon O'Brien (assistant editor for Leadership Magazine) has an article on the new men's ministries that are making the rounds in evangelical Christianity (read it here). The ministries were spawned in response to several books written about the dearth of men in churches. Most of the books seem to agree that men are not attracted to Jesus or the church because both have been overrun by feminine thinking. O'Brien is somewhat critical of the men's ministries because they separate men from women and they tend to be a little over the top. Here's my response.

These men's ministries (IMHO) make two mistakes. One is that they allow current sinful testosterone to take over. Instead of asking what God wants in a spiritual man, they tend to let go with how men are currently. Listening to some of the clips that introduce these ministries or churches will quickly educate you. A quick run through the Bible will indicate how God wants men to act as his children. Allowing male testosterone to be the guide is what got many men into trouble.

The second mistake is in not looking more carefully at the masculinity of Jesus. I don't see Jesus as a chest-thumping, loud, overly-aggressive, out-of-control male. Instead he delineates what a true man is all about by showing what true spirituality is all about.

David Murrow's book (Why Men Hate Going to Church ) seems to have launched much of the literature and ministries aimed at men. However, his book wasn't a call to separate men from women, to have separate ministries for men, nor to let male desires run wild. Instead he recommends that the church create ministries that allow men to work together to help others (e.g. Saturday morning auto repair for single moms, widows, and other ladies without men). Ministries that allow men to work together as a team keep the focus off of the men themselves and on others. Men as sons of God should be other-centered and not self-centered or male-centered.

Churches do need to rethink how to appeal to men in order to get men back in the body of Christ. But churches need to make sure that it is God who runs the show and not imperfect males.