Yesterday I read an article from Christianity Today commenting on recent books that promote the masculinizing of churches as a means of drawing men in. Some of these books blame women for feminizing the church, which seems a little surprising if you consider the power structure in most American churches is overwhelmingly male.
I come from a family with a high volume of non-churchgoing men. Though the men in my family would qualify as rebels, it’s not because they’re hyper-masculine. In some cases, these men would qualify as lady’s men. What sets them apart from most Christian men I know isn’t masculinity but birth order. Non-churchgoing men tend to be middle children, second sons, or in Christ’s words, prodigal sons.
I’ve heard sermons in which ministers acknowledged they couldn’t understand the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and why the father forgave his rebellious younger son. While I appreciate this honesty it raises a question: Is it any wonder more men don’t attend church?
I think Jesus had a particular interest in attracting prodigal sons into the church. Because these men are risk-takers, and unconcerned about what others think of them, they tend to be natural prophets.
What turns off men like these toward religion isn’t femininity, but authoritarianism. Tell a prodigal son how he should vote and he’ll be out the door in two minutes.
My family stopped attending church over the past few years. My husband left because he felt the men’s group was too focused on discussing masculinity rather than the Bible. My sons chose to stay home with their father. I left because I realized the God that was preached in my church was less empathetic than my father.
Empathy is generally considered a feminine trait. And yet, Matthew Murray wrote in the letter he wrote before shooting up the New LIfe Church, “Jesus, where are you? Do you even care these days?”
I’d argue American churches aren’t lacking in masculine traits so much as feminine qualities like empathy. As “The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown argued “the sacred feminine” is missing in American churches.
I come from a family with a high volume of non-churchgoing men. Though the men in my family would qualify as rebels, it’s not because they’re hyper-masculine. In some cases, these men would qualify as lady’s men. What sets them apart from most Christian men I know isn’t masculinity but birth order. Non-churchgoing men tend to be middle children, second sons, or in Christ’s words, prodigal sons.
I’ve heard sermons in which ministers acknowledged they couldn’t understand the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and why the father forgave his rebellious younger son. While I appreciate this honesty it raises a question: Is it any wonder more men don’t attend church?
I think Jesus had a particular interest in attracting prodigal sons into the church. Because these men are risk-takers, and unconcerned about what others think of them, they tend to be natural prophets.
What turns off men like these toward religion isn’t femininity, but authoritarianism. Tell a prodigal son how he should vote and he’ll be out the door in two minutes.
My family stopped attending church over the past few years. My husband left because he felt the men’s group was too focused on discussing masculinity rather than the Bible. My sons chose to stay home with their father. I left because I realized the God that was preached in my church was less empathetic than my father.
Empathy is generally considered a feminine trait. And yet, Matthew Murray wrote in the letter he wrote before shooting up the New LIfe Church, “Jesus, where are you? Do you even care these days?”
I’d argue American churches aren’t lacking in masculine traits so much as feminine qualities like empathy. As “The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown argued “the sacred feminine” is missing in American churches.
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