Doug Giles make an argument that at first seems good if you come from an anti-PC take no prisoners perspective:
More and more, we are seeing fewer and fewer mature and responsible, evil-challenging tripods who love leadership, the struggle and aren’t afraid to boldly face an increasingly godless environment with conviction, power and the love of God.
So why do most men avoid church? Here’s the veneer stripped-away answer: going to church for the majority of men is an exercise in unwanted effeminacy. Church, for most men, has not only become irrelevant; it has also become effeminate. Hanging out in church for most extra-Y chromosomes seems unmanly and most men more than anything want to be masculine.
He then goes on to enumerate a list of ways that the church became more macho-friendly such as, “Put an end to preaching by cheesy, whiny, quiche eating, preening Nancy Boys … right now! It freaks us meat eaters out. Get it? Hire a pastor who throws off a good John Wayne vibe instead of that Boy George feeling.”
Good enough, but if we look at Giles’ argument closer, at its core is a simple church marketing plea: 1) Churches need to attract the male demographic and 2) To attract the demographic go Rambo in the Pulpit.
One has to wonder what the early church would be like if the Apostles sat down and said, “We need to attract men in their early 20s who like coliseum games.” Apparently, without marketing gurus they had to do something quaint…rely on the Holy Spirit.
This isn’t to say Giles doesn’t raise some points. We do need more men in the church. There are some churches that are indistinguishable from episodes of Oprah. There are also bad churches out there that are abusive, no doubt about any of that.
However, the idea that the church will be saved by the infusion of men who won’t darken its door unless they feel the church is macho enough for them is ludicrous. It’s a flesh-driven approach to solving a deep spiritual problem. What’s keeping men from church doors are the things that have always kept us away: spiritual woundedness, guilt, pain, worldliness, selfishness, fear, and doubt. God can do so something about these issues-if we’re man enough to admit them.
