Men and the Church

Rod Dreher is wringng his hands over the lack of “real men” in many Christian denominations (and pointing out how the Orthodox don’t have these problems). And I’m not sure why. Dreher quotes an article that appears in the Washington Post about this trend in Protestant denominations:

“Every Muslim man knows that he is locked in a great battle between good and evil, and although that was a prevalent teaching in Christianity until about 100 years ago, today it’s primarily about having a relationship with a man who loves you unconditionally,” Murrow said.

“And if that’s the punch line of the Gospel, then you’re going to have a lot more women than men taking you up on your offer because women are interested in a personal relationship with a man who loves you unconditionally. Men, generally, are not.”

But, um, isn’t this what the Gospel is about? Yes, Jesus (and Paul) spoke about spiritual warfare, but He also spoke volumes about love. What are the fruits of the Spirit? Love? Joy? Peace? Not very manly, eh? Dreher continues:

Another thing: I believe one reason so many male Christians responded deeply to Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” was because it depicted a masculine Jesus who chose to endure excruciating pain to rescue those he loved. The Christian faith teaches that this is what Jesus did, but somehow the intense physical courage that that act of love required is easy to overlook. Gibson didn’t overlook it. The Jesus Christ of his film embodied manliness par excellence: a strong, brave man who was willing to suffer and die to save others. After I saw that film in a press preview, then went to Ash Wednesday services and heard the plush priest give a homily about how Lent is really supposed to be about learning to love ourselves more, I wanted to slug the guy.

Certainly Jesus endured terrible suffering. But the night before He prayed to His Father, asking that this burden pass of Him. What is odd about this post is that Dreher and other tradtionalists often beat their breasts over what they perceive as the “therapeutic” Church–we expect our church experiences to speak directly to our needs and problems instead of being worship in the presence of the Almighty. But if make worship more masculine, aren’t we doing the very same thing?