Patriarchy vs Feminism & Do Churches Push Men Away? Podcast Episode # 15 Testing The Spirits

Hello, in this podcast we're going to be talking about masculine Christianity, over and against the effects feminism has had, because I think this is one of the stumbling blocks of what keeps many men away from the local church.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16 .13, Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, and be strong. Let me point out a few things at the outset. Christianity was founded by a man, Jesus Christ.

All of his apostles were men. The authors of the Bible were all men. God is called God the Father, and every Christian pastor and bishop up until the 20th century, they were all men. Okay, so with that said, I think it's safe to say that biblical Christianity is masculine, or as some people put it, Christianity is patriarchal.

That is, the church is not run and controlled by women. Now obviously, because so many people have been affected by feminism, me just kind of telling you the facts, this will rub some people the wrong way, they'll get angry.

And obviously we recognize all the godly women out there, how much women have contributed and continue to contribute. If not for all the godly women, churches would be in rough shape. They are part of the body of Christ, they have just as much value as men do.

That's all true, so God bless the ladies. But really, with the exception of the Old Testament judge, Deborah, if you read the Bible, in both the Old and New Testament, the leaders of the nation of Israel and the leaders of the Christian church have all been men.

And by the way, this idea that Mary Magdalene was the first preacher of the gospel and that she was sort of like the real leader of the twelve, that's a feminist narrative, it's also Gnostic, it's totally false.

And yet you'll hear some evangelicals saying things like this. But if biblical Christianity is masculine, okay, here's our question. If that's true, then why is it today, and this is certainly true where I live in western Massachusetts, why is it that over half of the churches seem to be run by ladies?

Or even if they do, a church has male leadership, sometimes the men seem really, really soft. Here's the thing, a weak man Jesus was not, neither were the apostles. So these churches are not following the scripture, at least in that regard.

Let me read that verse again from Paul, the Bible says, 1 Corinthians 16, 13, Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, and be strong. Another few verses I'd like to read about John the Baptist, one of the greatest preachers who ever lived.

Jesus said this to the people in Matthew 11, 7 -9, speaking of John, What did you go out to see in the wilderness? A reed shaking in the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments?

In other words, that's not John the Baptist. Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. In other words, John the Baptist wasn't some weak-kneed preacher who changes his message depending on the audience, because someone might get upset.

His words were strong, clear, consistent, and to the point. You knew where he stood. John was not a reed shaking in the wind. He was solid, he was steadfast, and that's what Christianity has been missing to a large degree over the past generation or two.

I have to admit, I listen to some preachers today, and man, they speak so softly, and they just tiptoe around every subject, and they just won't take a stand on anything controversial. One of the reasons why I think many men are turned off, I mean, there's boring preaching, and you know, I'm sure some of the stuff I preach is boring.

It's hard to get up for 40 minutes and talk without some of it being boring. But a lot of the scripture is boring, it's irrelevant because you're not applying it to the modern day, and some of it is just weak, and that is not attractive.

But if you read the sermons in the Bible, it's totally different, completely different. Your average sermon today, by your average evangelical, compared to the sermons in the. So, a lot of pastors today, they avoid taking a stand.

They don't want to catch any flack, is what it is. The Word of God is not this way. It's not, you know, weak. It's not the reed shaking in the wind. Hebrews 4 .12 says, For the Word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Notice that statement. The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. It cuts through all the nonsense. If you're preaching, using the Bible right, and this doesn't just apply to preachers, just a Christian man armed with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, speaking directly, it cuts through the lies of the world, and it can cut straight to the heart so that people understand the message.

That's what we need. And another way you could say it, the Word of God, it's, yeah, it's powerful. It's convicting. It's convicting. So, Christians, especially preachers, need to speak with passion and conviction.

We need to fight today's battles, and not just talk about the things that the world wants. So, Christians, and this video is directed more towards the men, but if a woman is watching, hey, encourage your man, right?

But the men, and Christian preachers, but Christian men in general, we don't want to be like how we are portrayed, right? Ned Flanders, who knows Ned Flanders? Well, those who are my age, you probably know who that is.

He's a character on the TV show, The Simpsons, and the reason I bring this up, this is how TV and Hollywood portrays Christian men, either as nerdy, weak, sometimes effeminate. Even the paintings of Jesus you see, Jesus has long hair, as if he was some sort of hippie who just came from Woodstock.

If you do a Google search of the apostles, and obviously this is not what they look like, but it's the artist's rendition, the apostles, if you look it up, it's like they all have long hair. They look like women.

I mean, what's the deal with that? Leonardo da Vinci, in his famous painting, The Last Supper, he actually painted John, the apostle John, as a woman. John was a rugged fisherman. So just be aware, the mockers and critics of Christianity always do this.

They want to portray Christian men as weak and effeminate, and that turns men off because it's so widespread and it's so prevalent. So this may be one reason, one stumbling block, why there are so few men in churches.

So the men who are in churches oftentimes are either overtly or subtly taught that they should be more like the ladies. In fact, the best-selling Christian author, Max Lucado, has even gone as far as to teach that the Holy Spirit is feminine, and the Holy Spirit is the one who is with us and should be guiding us.

And some people think this, that the Holy Spirit is the female part of God. This is a Gnostic narrative. It's totally untrue because the Bible, when the Bible speaks of the Holy Ghost, it refers to Him as a He, right?

And even the modern translations, many of them are going to gender-neutral pronouns for God, and that's a whole different issue. And again, God bless the women, but this is a common thing, and I don't want to say that all women are soft because there's some pretty tough women out there, but, you know, it's just a fact that this is kind of the way things are portrayed.

And then this is another fact that the percentage of wives who attend church without their husbands is much higher than husbands who attend without their wives. Here's the thing. Usually, if you can get a husband, who is the head of the home, by the way, that's what the Bible says, but if you can get a husband to attend church, you'll get the whole family.

And that's what the Christian church needs. So here's some advice. If you're a young Christian man with a family just starting out, or maybe you're not that young, bring your family to church. That's your God-ordained duty.

Number two, if you're a young man who's single, don't go out and look for women in all the wrong places. Find a woman at church. So there's some free unsolicited advice for you. But the church, if it seems to be going soft, seems to be going feminine, if that's true in the church you're in, go find a different church because I get it.

This is a real thing. Maybe you've never noticed that you're in a good church. You've never seen this. Hey, God bless you, but this is real and especially real. You have to notice how Christian men are portrayed as weak, spineless.

In some cases that may be true, but I don't think it's true like they're saying. But again, it turns many men away. This is just a common thing within evangelical Christianity. There's sort of like a double standard, right?

And this is another thing that kind of pushes people away. Take the Mother's Day sermon, right? A lot of people, pastors will preach a Mother's Day sermon and it's all about, hey, God bless the, God bless mothers.

Mothers are so wonderful. That's the sermon on Mother's Day. And yet the sermon on Father's Day is very different. It's a, you bunch of bums get your act together. Let me list all the ways, you know, you're failing.

And that's not what, that's, that's the difference between a Mother's Day sermon and a Father's Day sermon in a lot of churches. I don't want to do that. I don't want to just pile on. So this video is to encourage men, uh, take those gifts that God has given you those strengths and use them for the Lord, because that other stuff just pushes men away.

Or the Ned Flanders thing. When people think of Christian men, if that's what they think of something like that, no guy wants to be Ned Flanders. So in starting to wrap this up, how do we attract men?

Number one, how do we attract them into the church? It would help if we, number one, stopped feminizing the faith. And number two, encourage the men. Don't beat them down. Let's face it. Here's another thing that the feminists will get upset about, but it's true.

Women were created to be mothers, nurturers, right? Keepers of the home. That's what the Bible says. Men were created to be protectors and providers. Part of being a provider and a protector, certainly in time past, this was true, but it included being a hunter and a warrior.

And you see references to this in scripture about being a soldier for Christ, fighting spiritual warfare, exhortations to be strong, be a man, right? So going back to my main point, Christianity, true biblical Christianity is very masculine.

So hopefully you get the point. But just one last thing. For the preachers, do not be a reed shaking in the wind. We have God's message. Be confident in God's message. Be clear, be direct, don't apologize for the truth.

It doesn't mean go around and be a jerk, obviously, but we should be able to tell it like it is. One-on-one, listen, I can be as diplomatic and gentle as I need to be one-on-one. But our message, and when you're communicating as a man, the message of Christ, we need to be firm.

Don't be that reed shaking in the wind. So let's just close with that verse, 1 Corinthians 16, 13. Be on alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, and be strong.