Men believe themselves to be self-sufficient, all-capable and in no need of a crutch, so why be a Christian? That’s for wimps and women isn’t it? And nothing at all happens in church that is of any relevance to men, does it? And lets face it, frankly a church meeting on a Sunday is just boring and filled with romantic sentimentalism isn’t it?
By now, after just a few lines you are either outraged and want to email me to complain or you are starting to get excited.
We need to face hard facts and ask tough questions! We have all seen the statistics and we know there is a problem. We are quite simply haemorrhaging men from the UK church at an alarming rate. In fact, according to Tear Fund research, 75% of men in the UK are either antagonistic or apathetic towards the Christian faith. It’s those men I have in mind as I write – the men who are way outside of our churches and don’t even have it on their radar.
In 2006, further Tear Fund research showed that the profile of most churches is typically about 35% male (after polling 7,000 British adults). Anecdotally our own less scientific research backs that up. We find that the percentage is often 30-35% male. If you have more than 40% men in your church you are doing quite well.
Most men completely by-pass church. They see it as a place that according to a BBC radio survey is for wimps, women and irrelevant! Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that when the “wheels come off” in a man’s life they look to the church. A small minority might, but for the most part their perception of what/who Jesus is and stands for will be quite the opposite of what they feel they need in a crisis. So what are we going to do to put hairs back on the chest of the Gospel?
Part Two will be published Monday 10th August.
challenging stuff Carl – keep it coming we need to think out the box!
My thoughts on men in the church are here: http://www.theporpoisedivinglife.com/porpoise-diving-life.asp?pageID=478
What’s needed is a complete change in church culture to allow men to be men. We will be prickly at times; we will be assertive, opinionated and occasionally aggressive. We don’t take kindly to being told to sit down, shut up and obey/believe without question. We don’t want to have to hide or suppress some part of our lives because it’s not acceptable in “polite” church culture. We want and need to be accepted for who we are, not told we must change to fit in with the evangelical subculture.
Realistically, will that ever happen? In my experience, churches don’t like it when people rock the boat.
IMO it’s not about putting the hairs back on the chest of the *gospel*, but about making *church* more acceptable to men.
With differing ideas on men’s role in the family and society today, churches have an opportunity to reassert men them as men. Bible accounts I have read about our Lord Jesus reveal Him as, what every man would want to be and who every woman would have fallen in love with. He was strong, and it does infuriate me when the impression of Jesus is that of a wimp. Churches need to help men identify more with our Lord Jesus, touching on todays issues that affect men.