Comment

Comment by Aaron Bjorklund on May 3, 2010 at 12:45pm

I'll set it up and maybe you can copy and past your last comment

Comment by Eric & Megan Houppert on May 3, 2010 at 10:27am

Definitely man, lets forum it up and see if we can more people involved!

Comment by Aaron Bjorklund on May 3, 2010 at 9:15am

I totally agree that when you boil it down it is an issue of pride!! I can see that tendency in myself all the time! The reason I have a hard time stepping up and leading in many ways is an issue of pride, the fear of man, and more.

the element that is so interesting about this problem is the fact that missions and the church was not always this way. In early missions it was almost always men doing missions. The women who were on the field were the wives and followed their husbands to the field. Women did missions but Men were spearheading the movement. What has changed? More pride then usual? Have men been subdued by a feminist movement? Is it a church issue? I don't know but what I do know is that it is not good!

Thanks for your interest in the subject!! Should I make this a Forum so that we can really get others involved in the topic?

Comment by Eric & Megan Houppert on May 3, 2010 at 8:54am

Aaron,

Although there are some ideas that I agree with Lenny's answer, I am not sure I agree that the main paradigm of this problem is the lack of essentially "manly" churches. I agree that the church in our culture needs to make some major changes as a whole, but I do not completely fault IT for the lack of men. In my opinion ( and I am a very straight forward "not super sensitive" type guy :) ) the buck stops with the men. My lack of action, or any other guys lack of action, cannot be blamed solely on the system. Its man's responsibility to take ownership and action which men are failing to do in their spiritual lives.

We should, as Christians, have a ton of respect for the biblical figures mentioned above. However, in the context of their lives, I do not see all of them as super valiant men. God had to show up in a BIG way to scare Moses into stepping up and he still stuttered his way through excuses until he had none. David played the harp and was not man enough to stand face to face with Uriah so had him killed in battle while he snuck around (granted he did kill a giant :) ). And Peter, "the rock", was more wishy washy than most men in the Bible when it came to being a man for Jesus. Don't get me wrong, my intentions here are NOT to be argumentative or pejorative, they are to merely offer a different perspective/opinion.

I just feel that the lack of men stepping up shows more of a cowardice in men than it does a femininity in the church. My view is that, essentially, men don't do missions because of pride and insecurity. So many of us are too prideful to give up the American Dream for Christ. We fear relationships at the thought of being associated with "the church" that stereotypes losers. My wife tells me all the time that women dress up more for other women than they do for men. In the same way, why do men have 60 inch plasmas and grills with more square footage than their houses?... To prove themselves to other men. It's the standard measurement of manliness. I won't lie my grill is my baby, but the truth is missions and the real church (which are one in the same to me) threatens this in men. I don't think that there is anything more manly than a command by God to go therefore to all nations making disciples. However, it compromises the illusion of control we have on our lives. Thats when it gets tough. Mark Driscoll does a pretty amazing sermon on Men and Marriage and I think a lot of the same issues are dealt with. Ultimately by hyper contextualizing the church and missions to appeal to the stereotypical man, we are effectually fostering the innate insecurity and pride that keeps men from being the Christ followers that God wants us to be.

I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, I think it's a great question to promote diverse conversation.

Eric