The Church IS NOT A Chick Flick!

I feel as though women have become the church. I have grown up in church and remember thinking that it was something that women went to, so they could express their feelings and sing songs together. While the men served as ushers or the ones that caught the women as they fainted when experiencing an encounter with Jesus. I have to say that as I grew older I noticed more and more women complaining about their husbands or boyfriends never attending church with them. Hearing that angered me because when I looked around there where few men to be found. But no question seemed to hit me as hard as this one... Where are the mighty men of God that I read about in the scriptures? Why are they not found in church?

Where are the David’s of my generation who one minute fought and killed a thousand Philistines and the next radically praised God until his clothes fell off? Or how about Elijah who got mad and got in a man’s face and said if you mess with me I’ll call down fire from heaven and burn you up! What about Moses who killed a man and buried him in the sand? And lastly what about Peter who was packing a blade and defended his Savior by slicing a guy’s ear off! These were real men. Men that God wanted and used... yes sinners and imperfect men, yet men with never-back-down attitudes who weren't afraid to get into an altercation every now and then. I’m not saying what they did was right or that fighting is acceptable, but I can say it’s part of the male genome. Yet when you study about these men, you can’t help but ask the question where are the radical men of God today in the church? These men were real men. They lead their people to victory, had a true relationship with God, and worshiped like no other.

I began to think and came to the conclusion that most of these men in the bible would not fit in the church today. Here are some staggering statistics to prove my point: 90% of men that live in the United States say they believe in God; 5 out of 6 men in the United States refer to themselves as Christians, yet only 35% of the men that claim to follow Jesus attend church, which means ladies, that only 1 out of 5 women will have their husband attend church with them. Why? Because there is a total disconnect between men and church. Especially in the American culture. Men outnumber women in the Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islamic faith. Only in Christianity do women outnumber men.

Why? How come men shy away from the church? I can tell you why: Check out these words “feelings”, “sharing”, “love”, “communication”, “help”, “support” compared to: “power”, “efficiency”, “achievement”, “skill”, “competition”, “success”. One group of words make women come alive while the other group make men come alive. There was a survey done in which they placed both words side-by-side and said choose which word describes church to you. All the men chose “feelings”, “sharing”, “love”, “support”, “help”. Men, how great does it sound that once you make it to heaven you will have your own cloud to sit on with a couple of fat little babies with angel wings sitting beside you while you play your harp? I know... makes you want to go to church, doesn't it? As a matter of fact, I think the western philosophy is turning men away from salvation. I’m pretty sure the men of the bible didn't think this way. They saw power, righteousness, strength, and knowledge with God.

You have to understand that the first century church was a magnet to men! For example, when Jesus fed the 5,000 people He was just talking about men. In Matthew 14:21 it says, "the number of those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides the women and children." Notice that the emphases is on the number of men with the women and children being secondary. In Acts it says that on the day of Pentecost there were 3,000 men saved besides women and children. He found 12 men as His disciples, not girly or super spiritual men, but real guys with real problems, such as Peter and Paul who got into it with each other. In Galatians 2:11 you can see the way Paul reacts to Peter saying, "I withstood him to his face and there was no small contention." I think it’s pretty clear the type of men Jesus was leading, and the type He wanted following Him. He came to build His church and it was going to be built by men He discipled.

My soul longs for the day that I witness men that will call out for Jesus and worship Him like they do for their sports teams. It seems odd that men sit quietly during service, but when they get home they get rowdy and pumped to watch a couple of fat men tackle each other on a field. I can only imagine what God is thinking when He watches such a thing. Last time I checked, our Dad is the creator of the universe. He spoke and the cosmos was formed. I would be willing to paint my body, scream and chant for Jesus the way we do at sporting events. The feeling of a buzzer beater is the way I feel when I come to the realization that I just witnessed the Lord using my body to save someone or teach the gospel to a lost friend.

Men, we must equate faith with guts. We must stand up and take back our roles and bring back the rawness that was once there. The church is NOT a chick flick fellas and the quicker we understand that the church is a group of warriors the quicker the church will strengthen. Oh and men, just another tid bit of information: In families where just the women serve God, 17% of the time the young ones will follow in that faith, but in the families where men serves God with the women, 93% of the time the children will follow Jesus. You have more of an impact than you realize; therefore, as Joel 3:9 says, "Wake up the mighty men and get ready for battle!"

Russell Gaither