Number
75
The Future of
Men's Ministry
by Patrick Morley
Roughly a decade has passed
since the kindling wood of the contemporary Christian men's movement first
ignited.
How will history treat this
movement? Will it be added to the long list of "briefly entertaining"
Christian fads that come and go? Will history record it as a "blip"
that soon passed away-a footnote to the 1990s? Or will it prove to have
more substance? And if so, what needs to happen to sustain it? These are
questions I would like to address in this article.
RECENT HISTORY
The secular men's movement-which
lured men into the woods where they painted themselves up like Indians,
talked to trees, and cried out in existential pain-peaked around 1991.
It has long since petered out.
Why did the secular men's movement
fail to produce lasting change? The problem was "Tuesday" -
they didn't have an answer for Tuesday. They could not help when on Tuesday
the harsh realities of life ripped off the scabs of futility. They offered
only superficial solutions.
By contrast, men in the Christian
men's movement came away with new (or renewed) faith, which braced their
re-entry into the workaday world. Instead of war paint, whoops and grunts,
they listened to challenging speakers and read books given to them by
friends, and Jesus Christ got hold of them. Their lives were transformed.
(I've seen over and over again that a man will get hold of a book, and
then God will use that book to get hold of the man).
THE CHRISTIAN MEN'S MOVEMENT
TODAY
We don't hear much about this
Christian men's movement anymore. Is it dead? Unlike the secular men's
movement-DOA in the early 1990s-the Christian men's movement is very much
alive. In truth it was never as big as some suggested, nor is it now as
small as some fear.
The nexus of the Christian
men's movement, however, has moved from publicity-rich large-scale events
into the quiet corridors of the local church.
But there's a problem. While
the movement is alive, it is not flourishing as it can and should in local
churches. It has often been relegated to second tier.
Men's ministry leaders have
been trying to bring men's ministry into the mainstream of church life.
Many experiments have been tried; many have failed. That's okay (remember
Edison didn't find a light bulb filament that worked until his 6,000th
attempt), but we need to admit this, and ask, "Why?," "What
can be done?" and "Where do we go from here?"
Most churches really do want
to solve the problem of the disconnected male. After all, his failure
is bringing down the whole house-he is breaking his wife's heart, his
children are at risk, the church budget is languishing, the ministries
of the church are understaffed, and the man thinks his work has nothing
to do with his faith.
It is also worth noting that
God has already allowed a lot of "vision" and "structure"
to be developed. Most denominations have now committed at least some resources
to men's ministry. True, it is often a token, but some denominations have
made a major commitment to reaching men. Also, numerous servant ministries
have formed to assist local churches (a whole new genre of "church-focused"
para-church ministry).
Meanwhile, the "vision"
component of the equation has grown clearer. For example, the vision of
the National Coalition of Men's Ministries ("NCMM") is "a
disciple-making ministry to men in every church." The vision of Man
in the Mirror is "to engage every man in America with a credible
offer of Christ" and give him the resources to grow. Many other denominational
and servant men's ministries share similar visions.
LOOKING FORWARD: THE NEXT
FEW STEPS
So where do we go from
here?
First, to bring about any lasting
reform we must create a national dialogue among church leaders about making
"reaching men" a higher priority. Wouldn't you agree that any
calculus for awakening in the church that doesn't strategically reach
and build men is doomed to fail? If this is true then the church must
consider a paradigm shift in its thinking. The leadership of the church
must make reaching men a top priority.
Any such visions must begin
"from the top" with a change in thinking and belief among our
nation's denominational CEOs, leading pastors, theologians, and church
growth experts. Shouldn't our denominations be focusing more intellectual
and financial resources on men? Without a change in "thinking"
there will be no change in "behavior."
The first question to
answer is, "Who are the opinion-making leaders of the church?"
Second, there can be no dialogue
without building relationships with key church leaders. In America when
we have a problem we ask, "How do we fix it?" The Chinese ask
a different question. They ask, "What are the relationships we need
to develop to solve this problem?" Let's figure out what relationships
we need in order to achieve our vision and get together.
The second question to
answer is, "What are the relationships we need to develop to solve
this problem?"
Third, we must build a case
statement about why it's important to reach men, how it can benefit the
church, save families, and the risks of not doing so. Unless we provide
compelling evidence, change is not likely.
The third question to
answer is, "Why does the church need to focus more energy on reaching
men?"
Fourth, we must offer "doable"
solutions. Recently I have been rethinking how to approach men's ministry
in the church. Many pastors are already overextended in ministry. The
thought of adding another ministry seems painful. The pastor's personal
priorities are often directed to other areas. Many churches would have
to stop doing something to add a men's ministry.
So what can be done? We need
to have more options. For example, perhaps what's needed in some churches
is not a separate men's ministry but a fully integrated ministry to men.
Instead of a separate organization within the church, why not fully integrate
men into the existing structures? Let's disciple men, then mobilize them
to give backbone to existing ministries.
The fourth question to
answer is, "What is the best way to integrate men into the existing
ministries of the church?"
Fifth, we must offer a meaningful
description of what success looks like. We need to give the church "pictures"
of what constitutes success in reaching and mobilizing men. The church
must answer questions like, ¨ "What is our purpose for reaching
men?" ¨ "What kind of men do we want to produce?" ¨
"How will we measure success?" ¨ "What kind of 'system'
will help us create, capture, and sustain momentum?"
The fifth question to
answer is, "If you knew you would only have a man and his family
for five years, what things are so important that if they left in five
years without them, you would have failed them?" That's success,
and this, then, becomes the agenda of the discipleship program.
Sixth, and finally, we must
be patient. Andre Gide said, "You cannot discover new lands unless
you leave shore for a very long time." It takes a long time to change
the core values, priorities, and thought patterns of one person, much
less the entire body of Christ. It would be wonderful if at the end of
this decade in 2010, the church would be as focused on reaching its men
as it is today on reaching its youth and women.
The sixth question to
answer is, "Are you willing to keep laboring for men's souls, even
if others don't view it with the same urgency?"
CONCLUSION
Let's remind ourselves that
every church in America already has a ministry to men. Sometimes it's
intentional, and occasionally good. The problem is, of course, that it's
often neither. Can we change that? I think so.
In business we have the helpful
idea, "Your system is perfectly designed to produce the result you
are getting." If you are producing men who are disconnected, your
system is perfectly designed to do so. The men we are getting are the
ones our "system" is perfectly designed to produce.
How does the church's system
for men need reforming? If the whole church can change its system to "begin"
with men and train them to be spiritual leaders for the family, church,
workplace, community and world, we can see a genuine reform of the church
in our generation.
Business leader,
author, and speaker, Patrick Morley helps men to think more deeply about
their lives, to be reconciled with Christ, and to be equipped for a larger
impact on the world.
©2000. Patrick
M. Morley. All rights reserved. This may be reproduced with proper attribution
for non-commercial purposes.
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