Church for Men: A Lesson in Modernity and False Advertising

I recently read a blurb in World magazine that sparked my interest—or at least made me cringe. I then turned to look more into it on a couple of websites. While the websites helped me to see that some good could come from this, the so-called “Church for Men” in Daytona Beach, Florida, may completely miss the point.

While the “church” boasts benefits, such as helping men who would not normally attend church (red flags arise just from the idea of ‘attending’ church) to come, and teaching men practical lessons to encourage them to be more loving husbands and fathers, it falls into the seductive traps of our Modernistic society. Seeing that men are often lacking from the membership of congregations, the idea of this group is to market to men. Hymnals, steeples, (probably a pulpit), pews…it’s all gone. Instead, the congregation meets in a gymnasium with a shot clock to time the preacher’s message. Since men are supposedly “bored stiff,” say organizers of the church, this group is going to make it interesting for them.

However, it seems that reverence probably is cast out to make room for relevance—as is usually the case in seeker-sensitive congregations. In fact, in the dividing of the body in this way, reverence is certainly cast out. When congregations attempt to be seeker-oriented like this, they are actually catering to modernity, not to God’s design. Shortening sermons and making them topical actually points to our lack of dependence upon, and trust in God’s Word. The key to short attention spans in men is not to cater to them with shortened sermons—rather, it’s to get them away from the television that continues to deteriorate their attention spans. There is also a need for preachers who have truly encountered the living God and who are now bringing His Word to them—which can only come with passion and conviction if God is at work.

Has the church really become feminized? If so, then the problem lies not with the music and the long-winded sermons, but rather with the absence of either God or male leadership. It is said that public shows of affection, such as hugs and hand holding, our for women. What about a ‘holy kiss?’ If men are uneasy in such situations, or if they feel inadequate, maybe the real issue needs to be addressed: sin, and God’s grace in Christ. Catering to felt-needs is not what men need—they need to see God’s holiness, their total depravity, God’s offer of grace in the cross and resurrection of Christ, and that God can use them (cf. Isaiah 6).

When God’s people (the church) gather together, we are to encounter and worship the living God in Christ by the Holy Spirit, not to experience this week’s pep-rally. We need shepherds, not coaches!

Yet the most disturbing facet of this “Church for Men” is the fact that no women are allowed. I’m no feminist, and if I was I don’t know that I would have a problem with this. The issue is that a church is not to be a selected, or selective group of people (except on the basis of God’s choosing and God’s standards). A church of all men—and that only allows men—is an oxymoron. At best this group should call itself a Promise Keepers convention, or something along those lines. We need to reach out to men, but we need to reevaluate our methods by God’s Word, not the latest polls.

This is because the church is a people of all peoples—there is no distinction in Christ between male and female, slave and free, Jew and Gentile, etc (Galatians 3:28). Seeker-sensitive churches, in their attempts to reach only Gen-Xers, or Baby Boomers, etc, have failed to model or seek after the Biblical model of all different types of people being able to come together in Christ, as Lord, and being a unified body. Such “seeker” churches, however, do not bar a certain people group from coming—but rather say, “if you are like us, then we want you.” This group, however, has gone further, and has divided the Body of Christ—which Paul clearly warns against in 1 Corinthians 11-12, and elsewhere. There are really only two options for this ministry: either accept women into membership, or stop calling yourself a church!