Real Men or Followers of Jesus
Great post by Doug Groothuis…
A new movement is afoot, inspired in part by John Eldridge, author of Wild at Heart. Call it the Christian men’s movement. The thesis is simple and wrong: the church is feminized and, therefore, cannot attract me (or at least cannot attract “real men”). The solution is simple and just as wrong: to masculinize the church and create separate associations where men can beat their chests, spit, scoff at all things “feminine,” and glory in the power of testosterone.
One Brad Stine has formed a group called GodMen (sounds a bit pantheistic), which, according to Christianity Today, “provides a space in which ‘men can be men; raw and uninhibited; completely free to express themselves in a uniquely male way that only men understand’” (Brandon O’Brien, “A Jesus for Real Men,” April, 2008, p. 49). Pastor Mark Driscoll says that men are drawn to Jesus’ “calloused hands and big biceps.” This is, he says, “the Ultimate Fighting Jesus” (p. 49). I have never been drawn to these features of Jesus, if he even had them. They are not the point of the Incarnation. I am drawn to Jesus’ holy personality (perfect love and justice), his truth, his miracles, his death, his resurrection, his ascension—none of which require macho muscles and calloused hands. Those hands were pierced for us; that body was broken for us. That is what counts—for men and for women—for time and eternity.
The problem with the church is not that it is presenting a feminine Jesus, although some of the depictions of Jesus are such (another argument for not making any image of God.) The problem is that the biblical Jesus, in all his uncomfortable glory, has been eclipsed by worldliness. Now Jesus is not the crucified and risen Lord, but an idea to comfort us, inspire us to be who we already want to be. Instead of coming with a whip and driving out the money changers, he helps us make money to spend on stuff. Instead of heaving with paroxysms of grief and outrage over the death of Lazarus, he is saying nice things to get us to distract ourselves from the brutal realities of sin and death in our broken world. One could go on.
The answer is not to create a Jesus that fits the stereotypes of today’s masculinity. That is just more worldliness and should be repented of. Humans, male and female, are equally made in the image of God. The fruit of the Spirit is for both sexes. The gifts of the Spirit are for both sexes. The way of life for both women and men is to deny themselves (and the current worldly views of masculinity and femininity), take up their crosses and follow Christ.
Yes, men and women are different, each tend to have different strengths and different weaknesses in some areas. For example, how many women are addicted to pornography? How many men over idealize romance? But the answer is not to become more masculine or more feminine (unless one has sexual identity problems). The answer is to become more broken before God, more biblical, more filled with the Spirit, more of a sold out agent of the supernatural Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).
Tags: Brad Stine, GodMen, John Eldridge, Mark Driscoll, Worldliness
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March 30, 2008 at 7:13 am
Very good post, but I think it is off a little. God did create us uniquely male and uniquely female! Thank God, but it is also a fact that Jesus was masculine and that currently the statistics show that on any given Sunday there is anywhere from 60-70% females. That means that the men by in large have checked out of Church and spirituality in general. So yes I believe that all men and all women should be broken before God, more Biblical, more filled with the Spirit, and more sold out.
But there is more than that. Much like hispanic, black, or asian churches meet a need within their cultural context so the church must reach out to men and show them that it is ok and Godly to be masculine. This is what Brad Stine, John Eldridge, and others are trying to express.
In the media and even the church men are put down for how God made them and women are glorified and men are told how much more like women that they should be. EVEN the secular media has picked up on the feminization of America. They have ran several stories about it on Foxnews and other media outlets. Time Magazine actually discussed the feminization of America in the context of school education.
Finally…in the book Pornified based on national surveys it is estimated some where between 30-40% of women are addicted to pornography. This is no longer a “male problem”