Are churches too feminized?

I recently read an article by Robin Russell called Are Churches 'Too Feminized' for Men? It was rather intriguing and made some amazingly excellent points.

To summarize the article...churches are so feminized that men no longer feel comfortable in churches. Here are some of the statistics found within the article:

5 out of 6 men consider themselves Christian but only 2 out of six attend church.

Church attendance is roughly 1/3 men and 2/3 women.

Nearly 1/4 of married women attend church alone while their husbands play golf, sleep in, or mow the lawn.

I could go on listing the statistics of men and church attendance, but I think the stats above paint a clear enough picture. Authior David Murrow says that other religions have little trouble attracting men. His theory is that Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam offer more "uniquely masculine" experiences for men. However, in Christianity, faith is painted as an unconditional love relationship with Jesus. This may be true to a certain extent but this presentation of the gospel will attract more women then men...and it has.

Just think of the terminology that we use to describe our faith. We refer to ourselves as the "Bride of Christ" and speak of God's unconditional love and the commandment to love one another. This sort of language appeals to women (stereotypically) and not as much to men (again...stereotypically).

The way we do church...its structure, organization, presentation, decoration, and its teaching...is geared toward women. I know, I know. As we continue in the push to be gender nutural in our language and in our actions...we leave men behind. As we attempt to avoid sexism against women...we commit sexism against men.

I know, I know. Someone is thinking that I am a sexist pig right now...but allow me to put it this way. Imagine you are driving your car down a snow covered road. The snow is packed down pretty good so it is a little slick. Suddenly, you lose control. You begin to "fish-tail". What do you do? Well...if you have ever lived in these conditions...you simply make a correction by keeping the tires pointed in the direction that you want to go. But...if you steer too far in one direction...you have overcorrected and you will continue to fish-tail.

This is what we tend to do in the church...on many issues. We fish-tail. I am all for women in the ministry and making things more equal. The problem is that, sometimes, we overcorrect and when we do that it sends us into a fish-tail that excludes someone else...in this case...men.

No doubt many of you have heard of people referring to God as "Sophia". This is overcorrection at its finest. Imagine how a man feels when the God that he has known as Father his whole life is now called "Sophia" and referred to as his mother. Of course...I know many women who would struggle with this too.

So, anyway...at some point we must learn how to correct this vehicle we call church the right amount. Overcorrecting has never solved problems...it has only replaced one problem with another.

I am still processing this information and I encourage you to do the same. This article can be found on the following website...

http://www.goodnewsmag.org/magazine/SeptemberOctober/so06feminized.htm

A New Paradigm...For Me Anyway

So...the community debate continues. But now I have a new thought process which is radically different than my previous arguments. I believe that my arguments were wrong. Can you believe that? I admitted that I was wrong. Mark this on your calendars...because as my wife can attest...this never happens. However, I also believe that those things I would argue against were wrong. I think that our mindset must be reoriented in regards to community (I use "reoriente" on purpose).

As my friends on the Worship Development Team decided to make me wake at 5:15 in the morning this past Sunday to celebrate Advent...which is another thing that never happens. Well, I take that back...I will wake that early for golf. Although I did not want to go and the last thing I wanted to do that early was spend time with people (I am not a morning person) it was actually quite good. During our little worship service, we all faced the east where the sun was beginning to wake itself. It is here that God slapped me with a new paradigm...for me anyway.

As we gazed upon the sunrise, it was mentioned that we were orienting ourselves to the east, which is believed to be the direction that Jesus will return from. When we are reorienting ourselves, we are turning our focus to the east (which is what orient means) in expectation for the coming Messiah (see? This is Advent!). As we stood there, for the first time I thought to myself...we are in community! For those of you I have had these debates with...this statement may be shocking to you...so...I will leave you on a cliffhanger.

In class today, we talked about the 17th chapter of John when Christ prays to the Father. It is here that Jesus says, "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21).

We see that it is Jesus' desire for us to be "one". So, we strive to build community. We should spend time with one another, love one another, act in certain ways to one another, etc. What we forget is that in the passage above, Jesus gives us the example of how to be in unity. The example is His relationship with the Father. It was close...that is undeniable. Jesus' ministry was a ministry of prayer and intimacy with the Father. What we do, however, is interprete this to mean that you and I have to be that way with one another. I agree...however...I think we need to reorient ourselves. The meat of this passage is not on my relationship with you.

As we stood in the circle on that chilly Sunday morning, we looked upon one another...we read Scripture...we prayed...we participated in quality liturgy. However, when we turned and all faced to the east, I saw the picture of what community is. We were oriented to the Savior. We were facing to the east and looking for Christ. Our focus was not on one another...it was on God!

When we try to establish community, we spend a lot of time ensuring that there is fruit. In the words of A.W. Tozer, in his book The Root of Righteousness, he states, "the (church) fathers were concerned with the root of the matter, while their present-day descendants seem concerned only with the fruit.” What Tozer is saying is that in order to pursue righteousness, we have to be focused (or oriented) toward Christ rather than the fruit. The fruit will come with a proper relationship with Christ. If we spend all of our time focusing on manufacturing proper fruit than we miss the source of the fruit...and as we know...without the root, the fruit will die.

So...what is community. My paradigm shift is to say that community is formed with a common focus. A common orientation...to the east...to Christ. Let us cast away the idea that we must produce fruit on our own. We do not have to change people into what we think they should be. If you are oriented to the east...and I am oriented to the east...we are in community. Even if you are on the other side of the world...we are in community because we are abiding in Christ and it is within Christ that we find community with the Body of Christ.

Is community the group of five or so people you hang out with? Or, is community the entire Body of Christ?

This is where I am...trying to correct my orientation. Moving my focus from the fruit to the root...of righteousness...of community...of LIFE!!!!!