Why Men Hate Church
I was reading this article called "Why Men Hate Church" by David Murrow. I can see his point and why so many men don't go to church. Here is an excerpt.
"When men need spiritual sustenance, they go to the wilderness, the workplace, the garage, or the corner bar. They watch their heroes in the stadium or on the racetrack. They plunge into a novel or sneak off to a movie. Church is one of the last places men look for God. More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church. Men’s disinterest in Christianity is so consistent around the world, it can’t be explained by pride, father issues, sin, or distraction. Neither can we say, “Well, men are just less religious,” because this is untrue. Male and female participation are roughly equal in Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. In the Islamic world men are publicly and unashamedly religious—often more so than women. Of the world’s great religions, only Christianity has a consistent, nagging shortage of male practitioners. What is it about modern Christianity that is driving men away?"
It’s not just a lack of presence; most of the men who do attend our worship services just aren’t “getting it.” Every week the gospel bounces off their souls like bullets off Superman’s chest. Here are the facts:
• A significant number of churchgoing men attend out of habit, unaffected by what they hear.
• Quite a few men go to church simply to keep their wives/mothers/girlfriends happy.
• The majority of men who attend church do nothing during the week to grow their faith.
• Relatively few churches are able to establish or maintain a vibrant men’s ministry.
(Source: churchformen.com)
Do you think church these days is a sort of women's club? I've been thinking about why I fight hard to stay awake during sermons or why I find services kinda boring. Maybe it's my attitude, I don't know. I'm confused, and I believe the church does in fact need to change. There shouldn't be a men's ministry, but just one ministry involving both men and women called the church.
For the link to the article, click here. Apparently, it's a summary of his actual book under the same title.
Peace.
"When men need spiritual sustenance, they go to the wilderness, the workplace, the garage, or the corner bar. They watch their heroes in the stadium or on the racetrack. They plunge into a novel or sneak off to a movie. Church is one of the last places men look for God. More than 90 percent of American men believe in God, and five out of six call themselves Christians. But only two out of six attend church on a given Sunday. The average man accepts the reality of Jesus Christ, but fails to see any value in going to church. Men’s disinterest in Christianity is so consistent around the world, it can’t be explained by pride, father issues, sin, or distraction. Neither can we say, “Well, men are just less religious,” because this is untrue. Male and female participation are roughly equal in Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. In the Islamic world men are publicly and unashamedly religious—often more so than women. Of the world’s great religions, only Christianity has a consistent, nagging shortage of male practitioners. What is it about modern Christianity that is driving men away?"
It’s not just a lack of presence; most of the men who do attend our worship services just aren’t “getting it.” Every week the gospel bounces off their souls like bullets off Superman’s chest. Here are the facts:
• A significant number of churchgoing men attend out of habit, unaffected by what they hear.
• Quite a few men go to church simply to keep their wives/mothers/girlfriends happy.
• The majority of men who attend church do nothing during the week to grow their faith.
• Relatively few churches are able to establish or maintain a vibrant men’s ministry.
(Source: churchformen.com)
Do you think church these days is a sort of women's club? I've been thinking about why I fight hard to stay awake during sermons or why I find services kinda boring. Maybe it's my attitude, I don't know. I'm confused, and I believe the church does in fact need to change. There shouldn't be a men's ministry, but just one ministry involving both men and women called the church.
For the link to the article, click here. Apparently, it's a summary of his actual book under the same title.
Peace.
posted by Arnold at 2:29 PM
2 Comments:
Hey Arnold, I'm a regular on your blog now :)
I agree with what he says in the article about the religion of masculinity. I'm always wary of preachers who try to promote Jesus as a man's man just to appeal to the big burly men. I mean, that's not the point and what they're preaching is not the gospel. They're just feeding their insecurities about gender.
I also think that the total disinterest, lack of reverence and hunger for God that a lot of Christians have is a STRONGHOLD that can't be fixed by a change of attitude because the problem is a deeply spiritual one. A stronghold is something that binds your spirit. It can be a false mindset, or things from your past, or chronic carnal thoughts/behaviour that the enemy uses against us. They can only be overcome through Jesus.
In the last year Jesus has delivered me from two strongholds that I didn't even realize I had until they were brought to the surface by God's grace, one of them being a paralyzing sense of fear. Not like a fear of the future or anything like that but a very literal sense of FEAR. I had it when I was a kid but sorta buried it real deep and forgot about it until recently. I talked to some counselors and prayer warriors at my church, and totally sought God for deliverance. Eventually the spirit of fear was lifted from me a few months later at a Beth Moore conference back in February when she prayed over us -- thank you Jesus! So that's my testimony :) It's been life-altering to say the least.
I love the church. Unfortunately I find a lot of the strife and condemnation of it comes from within when outside pressures get too hard. But I think that's a deception and it's important to stand by our ministries.
Thanks for your honesty; it's refreshing.
love, Stef
ps - I'm getting baptized at beautiful Buntzen Lake in a month! Woot! :)
One more thing I wanted to mention. In the span of those few months when I was seeking deliverance from this spirit of fear, it's pretty crazy some of the things that the enemy threw my way to intimidate and bind me even more. It became intense enough that I almost wanted to not deal with it. The fight is definitely in the spiritual realm.
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