Apr
10
2009
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
Comments Off | tags: David Murrow, Fatherhood, Masculinity, Mission | posted in Christian Life, Ethics
Apr
10
2009
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.”*
Continue reading
Comments Off | tags: David Murrow, Ecclesiology, Mark Driscoll, Masculinity, Mission | posted in Christian Life
Apr
10
2009
It’s time to reacquaint ourselves with Christ the man. Read your Bible. He’s there! Think of His physical power – a carpenter who worked long days with physical tools. He had “the voice and manner of a leader – the personal magnetism that begets loyalty and commands respect.” Christ plows through the gospels like a wrecking ball, smashing tables, driving people with a whip, devastating the Pharisees with a word, taming the winds with an uplifted hand, toppling a detachment of armed soldiers simply by speaking His name. He never cajoles; He commands! Christ is powerful, dangerous and unpredictable. Teachers, present Christ the man. Men will follow.
David Murrow, Why Men Hate Going to Church, p. 183
Comments Off | tags: David Murrow, Masculinity | posted in Christian Life, Ethics
