The Marines said it first; now churches are echoing the need for more men.. I recently read an article titled,
“Where are the men.” It turned out to be talking about this lack of men in our churches. And like the marines,
who make men out of boys, if men will come, God will put the “good” in them.
This article said, “Christ has put up his sword and picked up a daisy…he’s no longer a warrior;
he is a lover. It pointed out that church has songs and subjects, using words like “I love you,“ that no regular
man would dare say to another man. It said “men don’t like to have their manhood called into question…they
don’t want to sing 30 minutes of love songs, and to be told that they need to be sweet to be holy. But in some places,
pretty words seem to work. There’s a TV church that draws literally thousands to every service, by telling them to think
good about themselves and things will work out. The program rarely mentions sin, and that there’s a hell to shun. It’s
a “feel good” church, and men can handle that.
Back to the article. It quotes a book that says “The church is impotent; the feminization of Christianity
has made the church not manly enough, and the writer reminded that sometimes the Holy Spirit works without Kleenex.”
I hate to admit that I personally find it difficult to say “I love you” to a man, even in the
biblical sense. And I hate that I’m that way. I didn’t even use that term when I was young and dating. Those three
little words are not to be thrown about lightly. You know the story of the guy who never tells his wife he loves her, and
his excuse it that “she knows it; it don’t have to tell her.” And I’m afraid men feel the same about
telling Christ that all-important statement. God’s love is wonderful, but men have a problem with coming out in the
open with it. And that still doesn’t seem to be the answer to the lack of men in church.
So what has my talking to you about this accomplished. I don’t know, other than my admitting that I
know the feeling, and I share the hesitancy men have with the words. I do know that we need more men in our churches. Women
normally live longer than men, which makes an imbalance, but the overall problem still stares at us…how to get males
to sit in a church pew for an hour.
It’s to pray about.
