One Good Friday at a Baptist church we used to attend, we were treated to the creepy sight of a mannikin onstage in a wedding dress. [1] The lady speaker (who is not the pastor) told us of a dream she had in which she saw the church as a bride. In the vision, Jesus was brushing the bride’s hair. Ew.
It’s a temptation to water down the Bible to make it palatable for “normal” people (let alone watering it down for ourselves!). Problem is, before we know it, what we are teaching bears little resemblance to the actual Bible. The Bible has odd corners where we think it should be smooth, and it says nothing about many things we moderns deem crucial. So let the hungry eat cake.
Many youth leaders, and even pastors, present the Almighty as being desperate for our company. Although He is not needy, what He desires is more than relationship. He wants “friends,” but His definition of this word is not ours. Even if we don’t go down the track of using the actual phrase “heavenly buddy” in our teaching, we are still further off the biblical mark concerning friendship with God than we might have thought possible.
“When I began to edit the film, something happened. I found I was being educated. And not just with arguments. I was watching a Christian life. I was seeing a Christian man.” —Darren Doane
Just watched The History Boys, a film based on an entertaining but self-indulgent West End play by Alan Bennett. Despite the fact that under Course Language and Sexual References it should also have a “gay theme” warning (but I guess that’s not politically correct), the film is hysterical is places and unwittingly highlights a fatal flaw in our culture.
I heard an analogy of Jesus’ death based on the Allied troops’ D-day invasion. A commanding officer threw himself onto the landmine infested beach. Whether he lived or died, the troops knew that bit of sand was safe. The head was sacrificed for the body, not just for the life of the body, but in order that the body could continue the invasion.
Enduring the cross is not simply to be an example, not simply to say, as True Shepherd, “I will not participate in a government of wolves.” It is throwing oneself down for the sake of the glory set before us—multiplied glory. The cross is many things, but it is also profoundly military.
In the case of Christ, He knew exactly where the landmine was. True masculinity is hungry for glory, the glory of Greater Eve as a mantle.
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.” 2 Timothy 4:6
A recent bestseller mistakenly tells us to be “wild at heart”, which results in passive wimps looking into their dark, little, empty hearts to find selfish, authoritarian rednecks. What men really desire is other men to follow—godly elders who are modelling Christ.
Bread is energising Alpha food (morning); Wine is intoxicating Omega food (evening).1 Young men are bread, ready to be broken. Breaking brings wisdom and maturity. Old men are wisdom-wine, servant kings poured out for the next generation.
The answer to geeky Christianity is not more Alpha Males (or less of them in some circles), but more of the Omega variety: fathers.
At study tonight, someone mentioned attending a Keswick convention where a wise old sage who spoke to the thousands was later not dining with the elite, but behind the counter serving the lunches, apologising for the wait. Now, that’s an Omega male.
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1 I recommend James Jordan’s lecture series, One Life, Many Deaths at www.wordmp3.com
“Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty man who shouts because of wine. And He beat back His enemies; He put them to a perpetual reproach.” Psalm 78:65-66
“I’m a 30 year old boy.” Edward Norton, Fight Club.
Guns are dangerous. They are so offensive in fact, that they should be prohibited altogether. And male leadership has been abused so much, and women exploited for so long, that such headship should also be shamed and even prohibited. And alcohol. Alcohol leads to so much misery that it also should be prohibited. Oh, wait. That’s us.
The western church’s capitulation to feminism is part of the reason it suffers a creeping rigor. Why would there be any life in something that carries its own disaffected head (ie. the disconnected men) around like so much luggage? No wonder the men stay away from this freak.
The church can learn a lot from gangs. Really. Men join gangs for one reason: they want a father figure.
Many troubled men grew up without strong male role models. But these men do not turn to church because the congregations they’ve attended are predominantly female, and the spirit of the place feels so warm, nurturing and gentle. Men need a masculine path to Christ. Young men crave a wilder, more demanding faith, and don’t mind the spur of discipline when it’s administered in love.
What if our churches were structured differently? What if the basic unit of the church were not the committee, but the band of brothers? What if every congregation had men leading other men to maturity in Christ? What if these spiritual fathers were challenging young men, and sending them out on dangerous missions (as a gang leader might send out a young initiate)?
Today, a young single man 18-35 is the person least likely to show up in church. Do you think a church based on spiritual fathering might turn that around?
David Murrow
www.churchformen.com
The solution is to get more men in church. Mark Driscoll’s strategy of specifically targeting men is the way to go.
“A study from Hartford Seminary found that the presence of involved men was statistically correlated with church growth, health, and harmony. Meanwhile, a lack of male participation is strongly associated with congregational decline.”*
Do the words ‘Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, self-control’ make you think of old ladies, tea cups, embroidered Bible bookmarks and homemade jam?
Perhaps if we looked to the Old Testament for examples of godliness instead of 19th century pietism we men would do better and so would our churches.
Think of Abraham’s kindness as he plunders the kings of the plain to rescue his nephew! His self-control as he refuses the riches of Egypt and Sodom! Solomon’s national peace after the destruction of his father’s enemies! His throwing of loud, generous and very alcoholic parties to express his joy! Because of their great love, Paul risking his life to stand and preach publicly, and Jesus using cutting words to tell off the Jews for their neglect of mercy and justice. And of course, the very masculine patience of Job in the face of continuous accusations.
These might seem a bit offbeat, but it would sure help us to think more this way. If these don’t sound very Christian you should read your Bible instead of your embroidered bookmark. Otherwise, go ahead and join the Women’s Guild.
I guess it boils down to active versus passive godliness.
