I’m not sure where the mindset comes from or who began painting the faith of men “pink”, but we’ve all been duped.  Somehow, we’ve turned this gritty, gut wrenching, intentional statement of faith into a blue-blazer-white shirt-tie-khaki-hurry-up-preacher-it’s-almost-noon-ceremony.

I stood up among my peers, said “I believe in Jesus Christ”.  And I realize that the nails driven in His hands were meant for me, and that He ignored death and was resurrected to show me that He’s in charge of literally – everything.

After I joined the “club”, it seems that I’m told that as a Christian Man I should sit down, be quiet, be nice, turn the other cheek, smile when I get smacked, don’t raise my voice, and let everyone have their “way” with me because as a Christian Man I am supposed to be a servant.  Wrong.  It takes guts to serve… but it doesn’t mean that we are doormats. Go read my friend Paul Coughlin’s book:  “No More Christian Nice Guy”. He nailed it.

Jesus did not paint a picture for us to live as a doormats, nor did His time with us come close to resembling that of a doormat!  If you want a gritty and gutsy look at Christ, go read the book of Mark and get back to me on what you find.  I appreciate stuff like the WWJD bracelets, but if you don’t know how Jesus lived, then you aren’t qualified to wear it…because you don’t know what Jesus would do.

Jesus walked with a swagger.  Guys, we can appreciate an “all or nothing” mentality that requires guts, grit, determination, strategy, and winning.  Faith in God requires a lot more than putting on your Sunday clothes and “talking about your feelings”.  God demands our best and a willingness to lead others to His son… not run them off.  Based on the declining number of men in the pews… somebody is running someone off.  Why is that?

You can have your average once a week gathering that equals that of a pre-season football game — It’s intriguing enough to watch, but not exciting enough to keep you tuned in.  As men of faith, waiting on a pancake breakfast to swing around once per month isn’t the answer either.  And a note of caution… age is irrelevant when it comes to serving God – so do give me an excuse that you’ve “had your day”.  I refuse to accept faith advice from a man just because he’s over 70 when his life has no fruit.  Go read about Abraham and Sarah  in Genesis and pray about that.  I love my elders and respect their life journey… but giving faith advice when you’re not pouring yourself into others and living like Christ is “wet wood”.  But show me a servant of God who’s pushing to know Him more… and I am blown away ( Love you Gordon F. – you are amazing and inspire me!).

Show me a couple of guys with sweat on their brow, dirt under their fingernails, and the Word of God in action… and I’m there.  Christ Jesus’ ministry is compelling because it’s a challenge and you can’t go at it with half a heart.  It’s all in or all out… I dig that.

I challenge every denomination and non-denominational church with a men’s ministry to throw away the tired, old material and actually offer something with substance.  Based on what I’ve seen, what you’re doing now isn’t working and you have no proof that it is.  Don’t brag to me that you’re attendance is up by 30%.  Brag when your entire community of men are clawing at your door to be a part of your faithful group of men.  In the book of Acts, we read the formula that makes this possible: The men prayed, the foundations were shaken, the Holy Spirit was indwelling, and the men stood and spoke about God and Christ Jesus with boldness (Acts 4:31).  So we therefore… Live Bold!

I’m encouraged, however, to see men taking action.  Engaging others in the work of faith.  I’m hunting them out because we need an overhaul… and the time is so short it’s ridiculous.

I am on the journey…i’m in.  What are you going to do about this?  Why don’t you start with a gut check on your faith.  God isn’t playing games here, and neither should you.
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