Jesus - the man's man?

What? You sent my camel's hair coat to the cleaners!  How could you, I was planning on wearing that to church Sunday!

In the April '08 edition of Christianity Today there is an article by Brandon O'Brien entitled "A Jesus for Real Men - What the new masculinity movement gets right and wrong."  It is a fascinating read. Not because I consider myself over-flowing with testosterone, rather because it points to a movement - however engaging - that really is ridiculous. It reminds me of those bumper stickers that you see, "Real Men Love Jesus" or "Real Men Love Their Wives." "Real men" as opposed to what - not real men?

The article quotes a couple popular books and highlights two movements that are apparently alive and well either in the community at large or the local church; "Church for Men" and "GodMen." The premise of this movement is fairly simple - woman have taken over the church and neutered the real Jesus making him a sissy. Creating an effeminate Christ - one that no "real man" would ever or could ever identify with. Hence, "real men" are not found, in any significant numbers, in the local church. Therefore it is the intent of these groups to "Re-Masculate Jesus."

I'll not walk through the article, it's best you read it for yourself. However, I will say it is a sure sign of how desperate many churches might be to present a Christ or gospel that reaches the heart of men - "real men" of course.  Let me explain.

This Sunday, scan your worship service and compare numbers - men to women. After you have done that, attempt to determine, by body language if nothing else, whether it appears those men are there because they desire to be there as followers of Christ, or they are there because their wife desires that they be there.

Naturally the above exercise will not qualify as an official survey, but it may turn a cog or two in the brain. Then think about the ministries in your church that are directed toward men. Usually you will find a "men's group" - if you're like our church it's an early morning group because real men get up early to face the day. No real man wants to study the scripture with other men in the afternoon or evening. Beyond that you may have to search hard to find anything else beyond the Building and Grounds committee.

There is something odd about this whole thing, a re-masculated Christ. I consider myself a real man, a follower of Christ, and yes, I am not opposed to punching your lights out if that is what is necessary. But does that make me a real man or merely a man in the process of being transformed into the image of the real Christ?

Let me end by sharing a quote from Mr. O'Brien

The way to recover the biblical image of Jesus is to submit ourselves to the Scriptures and let them discipline our preconceptions. In the process, we must remember that the purpose of discipleship is not primarily to become fulfilled men and women, but rather to be transformed into the image of Christ. (CT April 2008, 52)