Manifesto -- Part 2: The Church

Most of us are probably here at this blog because we're men, and maybe some of us don't like church as it is.

Issues and contentions:
1. Men typically are asked to change things that are wired to their image.

This can be anything from pastors telling men to "be nice... be a Christian" to "Jesus wouldn't own a gun" or "Jesus wouldn't insult anyone because he was... (wait for it) NIIIIIIICE." Men thrive on challenge... (And by challenge, I don't mean a challenge, something that rewires the programming.) The problem is, we want a bunch of nice guys. Men weren't put here to not cause trouble despite what Christianity Today might have to say about men not being called to imitate our Father's wild side. (Which is the biggest load of horse manure I've heard.) Christ wasn't this meek and mild guy who came to shake hands, kiss babies, smile that winning smile of a Tony Robbins and talk about a God who wanted to say, "Let's make a Deal" or "God is a nice grandfather who wants to be friends."

No, Jesus was more like a General Patton who came and said, "This is the deal. I am the way, the truth, the life... no man comes to the Father but by me. Take it or leave it." He tossed temple tables and challenged complacency.

When was the last time you heard a sermon that called men to be dangerous? Nope. We're called to be kinder, gentler folk. Just be nice to everyone. Don't rock the boat. Don't step out on the water, because, you know... that would offend someone.

Moving on from that dead horse...

2. Men are expected to check his masculinity at the door of the church.

Why? Because generally we get advised by pastors to "imagine yourselves kissing Jesus." (Was advised this once by a Pastor. Not at the current church, but at a different church)

All the women might be thinking "That sounds nice" while the men are probably trying not to throw up. It's a little like telling women "Imagine yourself kissing the woman next to you..." It gets worse. We're expected to sing music that isn't in our range. We're expected to sing stuff like "Jesus I am so in love with you." Huh? I'm sorry I really struggle with the idea of Christ as our lover. And I understand, not every man does. But I don't think I'm holding Christ at arms length by saying I'm not sure I can sing that. I respect Him as King, I have no problem putting Christ in his proper place on the throne. (And let's be honest, we don't have a problem with that idea, but we don't always living this out.) But I think that the "L" word has been so loosely used and has been assigned connotations that most men are going to run into the same issue. There are exceptions and I've met a few. That's completely okay. Perhaps they are further along with their spiritual walk than I. But I'm just not comfortable with that idea.

And we're encouraged to think of ourselves as the bride individually to Christ. (I don't dispute us collectively being God's bride, but individually?) That's an idea that guys are going to struggle with. And again, some of us aren't there.

Meanwhile, where are the songs that discuss Christ's masculinity, his power, his Manhood? I have to go back to the late eighties to early nineties to find that kind of music.

3. Men are expected to treat church like school.

30 minute monologues aren't friendly to the male mind. Neither are repetitive choruses. We don't have the attention span or patience (as the case may be) to deal with it. This is something I'll deal with in the next post from a practical standpoint.

4. Men's ministry is essentially women's ministry lite.

When was the last time you heard some guy say, "Gee Bob... why don't we get together and share our feelings." No? You haven't heard that either? Hmmm... well how about this one: Want to reach men? "Hey Bob, we're heading out to wakeboard. Wanna come?"

I'd rather not harp too much on this. Guys do sit around and talk. But not all of us do. Some of us function better by doing something while we talk. (Gaming, tabletop, etc)

If we're happy with the way things are.. then don't change anything. But if we don't the church will continue to lose men, which in turn will cause the next generation to be absent as well.

If on the other hand you want to see men not only in church, but also on fire then I believe wholesale changes are in order.

1. Stop asking men to be women and start asking them to be men.

This means men should not be asked to sing of the love of God forever... and ever... and ever. Ask him to declare God's glory, his strength, his righteousness; his goodness. And let worship come from there. Furthermore, if you want to show a man God, take him out to the wild, and then watch what happens. That's where he prepares for the other six days of the week. And it's wise to let him prepare properly. Give him every opportunity to soak up the word, preferrably through physical demonstrations, visual aids.

2. Stop asking men to be nice... demand that they prepare for war.

And while we're on the subject, let's not ask for nicer men. Let's ask for more dangerous men. Nicer men get chewed up and spit out. Dangerous men kick rear and take names. It's that simple. War isn't for wimps. War is the trial by fire where we find out what the heck you're made of. It is where you put into practice what you've learned in the training grounds. Church is the training grounds and it's high time that the institutional church understood this.

3. Stop asking men for the mundane and start asking men for their faith.

I suppose there is a little part of me that every time a pastor starts expositioning text that wonders why the pastor is trying to soften the blows of what Christ is calling us to. For example, the most common example, in Luke, there's a passage that essentially says, Any man who loves his wife, his children, his mother, his father more than me is not fit for the kingdom of heaven. This is usually followed by "Now Jesus didn't mean that we should not love our wives." Really? Can we stop philosophising the text? Did Jesus mean what he said? If so, then why are we trying to make excuses? Why are we trying to lower the bar? Stop. Now. I think most of us are intelligent to figure out that Jesus is not endorsing spousal abuse or neglect.

Let's face it though, Jesus always has a table to flip, be it a table to an idol that we've set up and worship in place of him or maybe, it's a radical call. Something that doesn't quite make sense, yet is demanded by God. For example, Christ himself makes the challenge that any man who comes to God with conditions is not fit for the kingdom. No conditions. For some this may mean a potential love interest to forgo, maybe a job, maybe college, maybe it's as simple as getting your priorities straight. Maybe it's something that needs to change in terms of how we're spending our time or something that's in the way of the whole hearted pursuit of God. God's command is if you want to be in my Kingdom, I have to be the King. Period. So why is it that American Christianity insists on programs, buildings, and other stuff that gets in the way?

Why is it that when the scripture calls us to something that seems impossible, we lower the bar into the mundane? The call is high. That's the entire point. If it was so easy we could do it, why would we need a savior

4. Stop asking men to repair the church, and start asking them to build the kingdom.

Repairing the church is necessary and upkeep is required, but sometimes I feel as though we are asked too often to give our money but see no return on the investment. Granted, sometimes we can't always see it, but sometimes I have to ask why we feel it necessary to build a building that costs x millions of dollars instead of using that money to build the kingdom through ministry outside the walls. Space issues, I get. But why so much coin? How does this fix problems in the community? How does this show the love of Christ? What kind of effect does this have in building the kingdom? I'm not saying church building or repair is evil. Men need a cause, not a burden. And yes, again I agree we need to be servants and stewards. I simply question the gaudiness with which we're doing it.

I'll be frank... I don't think God gives a care how much you put in an offering place. Whether it's five cents or five million... Yes, that may have something to do with your spiritual life. That's between you and God. But maybe, God is trying to also get some of us off of our blessed assurance and doing something with our lives. And maybe that means we skip Church on Sunday to take a few other believers and you go do something in terms of Kingdom building and then share a meal afterward. That's not giving up meeting together. That's what Kingdom building is about.

I've often wondered what would happen in churches if we put as a membership requirement that as a member of this church, we will be about the Greater Things that Christ has called us to. We will do And as a member of this church, you'll be asked to do this specific ministry once every so often. Yet, the American church right now has such a phobia of works, we seem to be caught in a mire that says, "Let's keep it intellectual. Let's talk about it over coffee." Anyone else think that's putting God in a nice neat box and shoving him in a corner somewhere? I understand planning… but at the same time, God likes faith. God will eventually say as he said to Moses, “What are you doing on your face? Get the people moving.”

5. Stop asking men to settle for the law, ask them to start doing the greater things of Jesus Christ.

Consider the marks of a transformed life in the Early church. They spoke in tongues, they preached sermons, they ministered to their world, they healed the sick, they raised the dead. And when they were tossed out of the city, they walked back in and continue to proclaim the gospel.

And what do we settle for here in the American church? Gee, let's pray. Oh, and let's have a blanket sermon on Pornography and how it's wrong, and you're a heathen and you need to change. Are you reading your Bible everyday? Are you married? Are you going to a Christian college, listening to Christian Music and sitting in our four walled thing called a church every week.

Anyone see a problem here?

So, how do we deal with this practically? Simply injecting these ideas into main service won't help. That's moving deck chairs around on the Titanic. What needs to happen is we need to look at the concept of church as a whole, a blend of both institution and of organics. And maybe... we need a little bit of electronics to tie this whole thing together. And maybe, just maybe for our institutional branches... we need to dump this thing called "Luther's Mass" that we've had for a few hundred years where a lot of hot air is the high point of the "worship" service. More on that next time.

Illustration: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Introduction: Originally an entry for a writing challenge, I hope that this piece will illustrate just what kind of war we are in and what we are facing. Apologies for the formatting. Blogger doesn't want to cooperate. :-) Oh yeah, one last thing. I'm placing an advisory on this post for somewhat graphic content.

"God has not given us a spirit of fear."

That's what our quartermaster had us recite over and over again. The scattered remnants of a war that people don't want to admit is going on, ignore, pull out of, or worse... condemn. For those people, this letter is for you.

I'm here to remind every able bodied warrior that we are still in a fight. Open warfare is upon us, whether we admit it or not. And this soldier is getting bloody tired of hearing about how we shouldn't be fighting or how we shouldn't be involved. Meanwhile, all of you lethargic pansies dose in the sunlight streaming through your stained glass windows. All while the new regime reigns and your silence votes your consent.

You may consider the resistance well and truly over. I do not. Much as our forefather nailed a paper filled with ninety-five issues with the word of man versus the word of God, I am here to nail the account of one charge to your door. That one charge is cowardice.

I'm not a politician. I'm not a general. I'm a simple soldier. Angry as God's wrath and less merciful than he is. You need not apply a title to my name. Simply Alastair will do. And I'm here to tell you my story, as no doubt by now your wondering why someone who is twenty one years of age can have the audacity to stand up and say such things.

It was our first drop since the resistance died off. Our first test as men. Twelve of us. Each given our assignments and sent out. Not empty handed mind you. We have the armor. Helmets, chestplates, belts, sheathes, shoes, even hand shields. The kind of war we fight is the
one where things get rough, bloody and even violent. This isn't some dress parade. The armor isn't exactly for decoration. Servicable gunmetal grey. Steady, hard bulletproof. They say anyone who wears the armor suffers no damage. Even more say that when the King comes we don't need the armor, nor the weapons.

Our quartermaster showed us our weapons. Swords, a blade wrapped in a chain-blade, something that looks like a cross between a sword and a chainsaw. And a machine pistol called all prayer. 48 round magazines. Bullets lethal to the things you call demons, and what we call scum. And lets not forget our other weapons. "Blood" and "Testimony" One's an armor piercing automatic machine rifle. And the other is an armor piercing single shot round, with a blade attached. Now some of you are probably asking "Is this guy for real? He sounds a little off in the head." Yeah, so what if I do? The Irish don't like anyone telling them what to do, when to do it or when to lay off. We're a bunch of crazies you might say.

So, why'd I join? Maybe it's because I don't like seeing our world decay and die a little more every day. Maybe it's because I fear the wrath to come visit us, a wrath more terrible than anything we see now. I don't want us to be caught in that. And I don't want anyone caught in it. Except for those scum.

This was our first real operation. Not some skirmish or training. Everything's real. The bullets, the darts, the steel. Everything. Since we have so few members remaining, we have to split up. Two men to an assignment. My partner, Thyrion, is also a man's man. Sometimes criticized by bluehairs as too rough around the edges. You know the type. The older females who walk around like their God's gift to creation, and the only voice that matters. Apparently, someone didn't read about that whole griping session that Miriam had with Moses.

We head to what some would call the temple. I call it an abomination. Why? Because it's where they live. After all, we're about to do what we're called to do. Rile up some dark powers and principalities. The kind your mother warned you about except bigger, meaner, uglier. And then, we're going to destroy them. Cast them out. They happen to have my friend. In isolation. That's what our intelligence told us. And now we come to the real heart of it. One of the reasons I wanted this operation. Personal reasons. Perhaps some misguided priorities.

"Any man who doesn't hate his father or mother, his wife, his children, is not fit to be in this army."

At first, I thought it was hyperbole. But the more I began to read the writings, the more it became clear that maybe the King was serious. Deadly serious. Nothing could be higher than he. If you were in, you were all in. Hard as the King is, there are provisions for marriage. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We arrive where they're holding her. Her name is Jess. The thought of anyone putting chains on her and putting her where they could torture her is enough to make any man's blood boil.

This is a small outpost. But we have to start somewhere. Numbers don't matter to us. Lives do. As we approach the gates, we see them. My friend demands their surrender. But surprise of surprises, the scum don't surrender. Good. It's better that way. I have some aggression to work out.

Now I'm sure some of you wonder why I'm about to tell this battle story and demand that it be told to your children and to your children's children. The reason is because we must never forget why we were put here, why we were pulled from the mire, why we have been chosen. Every man, woman and child who signs on for the army must not make this decision lightly. This is war. This is not for the faint, nor the weak, not the double minded, and certainly not for the cowards.

Our all prayer was out first, round after round emptied into the demons from hell. Weakened, yes... but as you all well know, it takes more than that to banish a demon. Their blood was indeed staining the ground, some of them howling in anger and pain. But these foul smelling wretches did not deserve a quick death. And I'm thankful that they are hearty stock. Heartier stock equals more whacks and more bullets.

Next out was the Blood. A few finally went down under its report. Back to back we stood, covering for each other. And sure enough, the darts and the bullets were bouncing off of the armor. Soon came the weapon Testimony. One or two fell. I slit one more open at its throat
out of desperation as we were pressed on every side. But we did not falter. We stood firm.

And now we get to it. The real weapon. The masterwork. The sword. Hand to hand combat. A more personal touch. The bloodletting was getting ugly. Limbs and legs, entrails and heads were lying scattered on the killing floor. It might as well have been an altar of old. Soon, we were down to the last of the sons of hell. I ran him through.

"That... was for my friend."

I turned on the blade with a flick of the switch on the hilt.

"This is a message for your master. Go back to hell and tell him that the armies of God will no longer be held back and we will not surrender one more inch of ground. The Kingdom of heaven suffers violence. But the violent take it by force."

The chain-blade made the body jolt in its death throes and blood stained the ground. I returned the gore soaked blade to its rightful place on my back. I marched into the hall and with the help of all prayer, the captive Jess was freed.

Unfortunately, the myth of the armor protecting against EVERY wound is somewhat exaggerated. There were a few bullets that will at most leave scarring. But this isn't the dog and pony show. This is war. And in war, it's expected that someone bleeds a little for the cause. The
important thing is all of our vital areas are protected. The King, who provides us with the armor, has seen to that.

It has been a year and a half since that battle. And every day, we get a little closer with our small ragtag group. Some of our older soldiers have gone home to be with their King. The rest of us continue on, winning victory after victory because the Great King is with us and he continues to supply our every need.

So now I come to ask the men, women and children of the army reserves. I come to ask them for their help. The King has not created the reserves. That is something of our own doing. I am here
to remind the army that we are not home yet. We are still on this side of the war. And we must continue to press the attack until the King says otherwise.

The fight is hard. Not every battle is won, we are pressed on every side, but we will not falter. We are struck down, but we are not destroyed. But we are getting tired. We cannot hold off the
counterattack by ourselves. Every soldier must do their part. If twelve of us can hold off this fierce resistance, imagine what the rest of us can do. Finally, I would remind the army that when we signed on, our comfort was not guaranteed. For those of you who are fighting, you have my thanks. But I warn you... any man who is not determined to put themselves all in is not fit for service. They are not worthy. Consider your choice. But if you see as I do, and you feel
as I do, then pick up your weapons and put on your armor.

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad... and let the saints rejoice because the King is passing by, with sword and shield, mighty to save, ready to fight in the day of battle. Now until Him who is able be all glory and honor and praise. Because he alone is worthy.

Manifesto -- Part 1

So, why the need for another blog? Haven't we already got enough of these? Maybe. But I know this much. This site wants to be a little different. Rather than just simply discuss all the status quo issues all the time, I also want to go through studies of our training manual. This is a man blog, not just a blog about Men's issues. I want to tackle them from a biblical perspective.

As I said at the beginning of this blog, Spiritual Warfare is a lost art. Pastors are either too naive to tackle it, or too sensational about it. This is a topic that's really been... burning within me as of late. This is something I really want to tackle. However, this is going to require much prayer and study, so forgive me if I don't jump on this topic right away.

As some will note, there are blogs that do worry me. Typically, these are folks who have a theology that:

A. Men have a period of extended adolescence. Said period is wrong/sinful/frowned on.

B. Men aren't committing to marriage, and are therefore sinning. Men should therefore stand in line and get a spouse lest he "deprive a wife of a husband."

C. Men should shoulder all of the responsibility/risk involved with marriage as he is head of house.

D. Men should quit complaining about these issues/"perceived" wrongs and "act like a man."

Marriage is indeed under attack, but I would argue that it suffers as much from its endorsers as it does from its detractors. Now. There's much good arguments for these. Some of these I've made and will repost here soon.

But these are not the only issues that men face. There's others that he faces in his church, such as:

A. Lack of a male rolemodel. I content that Jesus is the ultimate man, the last Adam, the final perfected blueprint of what a man should be. If a man is called to be more like His God, then emasculating him is not only unacceptable, but also crosses into the sacriligious and heretical. As Jada and I have indicated to each other many times, "The Lion of Judah is not tame... but he is good." This Lion roams about the pages of the New Testament as well as the Old, demanding that we step up and follow him. His command follow me, is not an optional, sweet platitude, but a terse command. Follow Me, and I'll make you fishers of men. That is... if you're man enough. If you're a man, you will set aside all other commitments and make them subservient to my will.

B. Lack of instruction in Spiritual Warfare. This again touches on something I've said earlier. There are no warriors to defend the community when the chips are down and the enemy is attacking.

C. The increase of the religion of the nice. War is ugly. Sometimes Jesus isn't that nice, sweet, cosmic boyfriend we sing about. So why in the name of all that is holy, do we profess to be part of a religion of nice? Jesus wouldn't say that. Jesus wouldn't do that. Jesus wouldn't carry a gun. Jesus wouldn't be judgmental. Hogwash. If Jesus showed up on the doorstep of our churches, we'd toss him out for being too unChristlike.

D. The expectation that a man's masculinity is checked at the door. You're going to sing something that sounds like Michael Bolton, hear about feelings and listen to a monologue that you're expected to take notes on, shake hands with people you have no intention of meeting with after service and will probably never see again. And worse, you don't do these things, you're a bad church goers. A bad Christian. Blue Haired ladies will frown and shake their finger at you. I know. I've been there. I've had those glares.

These are the views that the church has typically espoused for the past... say twenty years or so. (There's good scholarship that can show this going back further. For further study, I'm going to give a cheap and shameless plug for "Why Men Hate Going to Church" by David Murrow.)

And then there's society, which tends to espouse the view that men are nothing more than stupid oafs, searching for the next woman to bed, liars, cheaters, manipulators and abusers of all things feminine. Is it any wonder I don't watch TV anymore?

This is what a man faces, day in, day out. He has little hope that things will change. Why? Because society has marred his rightful place of headship, making him little more than a Jester, corporations have become little more than endorsed, legal slavery and his church has all but cast him out of the public square, telling him that he doesn't measure up. Is it any wonder that men are more likely to commit suicide than women?

The fact is, that men have a place given to Him by God as head of House. God has given him a purpose (to subdue the earth) without which a man dies. And God has given to him the one thing that matters more than anything else, something that all men should remember in these dark times. God created Man in the image of God. That image was never revoked, but it was marred. And this image can only be repaired and renewed by the Last Adam, who has given to men the responsibility of Following Christ and to worship him. That act of worship is service.

Man has a noble destiny. A great adventure and journey is set before him. The question is whether or not you will pick up your armor, your sword and begin to train. That's why the training grounds exist. That's why the church should exist.

But perhaps, I'm not making myself clear. For those who relate to stories, then the next post will be for you. I can only hope that I will be clear.