Here’s the deal. I have been a little hesitant to start on this because I feel that my everyday life does not truly merit a blog, and I’m not big on sharing my feelings. The catch is something occurred to me at training camp that has been eating at me and it can be expressed in the form of a question. Where have the Godly men gone?
Before I delve to deeply into that question I would like to set the scene for you. I spent ten days in the woods of Northern Georgia learning more about God than I will be able to process before I ship out in January. I along with 225+ other 25-35 year olds spent that time living in tents, eating with our hands, hiking up ridiculously long uphill stretches of the Appalachian Trail, and showered 3 times. If I were to continue on from that almost everyone who read this would think this was a men’s retreat. Sadly that’s not even close to true. Of the 225+ people who endured that grueling week of training camp I would say that less than 1/4 were men and I’m being generous.
That’s crazy! This wasn’t a Beth Moore weekend or a sale at the mall. (Yes I know that’s a chauvinistic sentence, but I’m trying to make a point. Let it go.) What has happened to the men of the church? When I look around on Sunday mornings I see bleary-eyed men trying to appease their wives or men checking the first item of the week off the list. We have ceded every position of leadership in the church outside of the pastor to women. Don’t think I’m saying women are incapable of leadership, that’s crazy, but I’d be willing to bet that 9/10 church going women would love to see men return to the positions of leadership the Bible has laid out for them.
What has caused men to take this step back in the church? Some argue that it takes more of a man’s time to work and provide for his family, but that’s a cop out. Women are equally caught up in work and spend more time with children than men, but are still active in the church. Why have the men gone?
Simply put we have watered down the church and the gospel. Men look at the church and see it as a safe place and are turning away in droves. We do not want to be safe. Men want to take risks and push the envelope, but they no longer see that as the domain of the church. Jesus called for us to take the good news of the Gospel to dangerous places and make disciples. In Matthew 10: 16 Jesus says “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” In Acts 14:22 Paul says, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
The Christian life is not an easy one. It is a life of adventure and danger. It is a life of imprisonment and derision. It demands everything. Isn’t that what we want? Don’t we desire a cause that we can give our all to and wish that we had more to give?
If you find yourself yearning for more than the safe passive life the church has bowed to look at the World Race. Fill out an application (after praying of course). The church is desperate for more men who want to recapture the original intent of the great commission and there are few better opportunities than the World Race.
