Daddy’s Home: The Sound of the Voice of Men in the House

The sound of a man’s voice in the church has almost been snuffed out and the few unpolluted that are left are being suffocated by the frowning few who don’t recognise it anymore because it has been absent for such a long time in the house of God. Our politically correct overly feminised society has found its way into the church and polluted and diluted the strength and potency of those called to feed, guard, guide and govern in it. Like the Corinthian Church who had embraced an unclean spirit within its daily life and had to be cast out, so too is the British church drunk on the spirit of its matriarchal feminised popular culture, and ready to be cast out. Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori used similar language in her first sermon as the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop-elect. “Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation – and you and I are his children,” she said. [source] Today the church emphasises feelings and emotions rather than principles and values, it has replaced sin and judgement for post-modern humanism making our Christianity and its Christ weak, soft and effeminate rather than bold, courageous and life-affirming.

A poll conducted in the USA out of 1008 people in weekly church attendance found overall 32% were men and 44% were women; averaged over Catholics: Men = 26%, Women = 49% and Protestants: Men = 42%, Women 50%. [View the source here] The Christian Broadcasting Network publishes articles like, “Why Men Hate Church” [source] It’s reporter writes,

“Cliff is a man’s man. On the job he’s known as a go-getter and a very hard worker. He’s a good provider who loves his wife and kids. He’s well respected by his neighbours. Cliff drives a homogenous four-wheel-drive pickup. He loves the outdoors and takes every opportunity for a little hunting and fishing. He enjoys a cold beer and a dirty joke. He does not go to church. Ask him why he doesn’t go to church, and he’ll offer up words like boring, irrelevant, and hypocrite. But the real reason Cliff doesn’t go to church is that he’s already practising another religion. That religion is masculinity. The ideology of masculinity has replaced Christianity as the true religion of men. We live in a society with a female religion and a male religion: Christianity, of various sorts, for women and non-masculine men; and masculinity . . . for men. Cliff practices his religion with a single-mindedness the Pharisees would envy. His work, his hobbies, his entertainment, his follies, his addictions, everything he does is designed to prove to the world he is a man. His religion also demands that he avoid anything that might call his manhood into question. This includes church, because Cliff believes deep in his heart that church is something for women and children, not men. Cliff is not alone. Men have believed this for centuries. In the 1800s, Charles Spurgeon said, “There has got abroad a notion, somehow, that if you become a Christian you must sink your manliness and turn milksop.” Cliff sees Christianity as incongruous with his manhood. It’s a women’s thing.”

In the UK it is no different. The CathNews laments the decline of the voice of men with a headline that reads, “Men want ‘macho songs’ in church. [source] The 2007 Church Attitudes Survey reports that “there is a gender gap, or disparity, within the UK Church: men now constitute between 35% and 40% of churchgoers.” [source] That makes the church as a whole 60% women on a good day when the men show up. The feminisation of the church is a reflection of the feminisation of our society as a whole. The death of the masculine voice in the church is not a unique thing of its own but is rather a reflection of what is happening in our British society as a whole. “The proportion of all households comprising a mother and father with dependent children fell from 38% in 1961 to 23% in 2001.” [source] Out of the other 75% of our children will be raised by their mothers as a constant while only 2% will be raised by their fathers as a constant. The voice of our children’s daddies has been lost in their homes so no wonder it has been lost in the church.

On the other hand we don’t want a masculine Christianity either. PamBG [source], a female Methodist minister and Dave Warnock, British Methodist minister and Christian blogger warns of such ‘idolatry’ entering into the church. In his article, “Why have men left the Church?” [source], he argues as does CBN, that the pastorate as a whole is almost 95% men. Dave writes, “In many Churches women cannot be elders, priests, ministers, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, popes etc. Even in Churches which have an official position of equality we are nowhere near achieving this in practice. Consider the relative numbers of women ministers, superintendents and district chairs in the British Methodist Church and you will see it lags a long way behind the men. The same is usually the case for lay committees and positions of authority. Those that claim that Churches are feminine have clearly missed the point that if this is the case then it is men who have made it so and hence that this seems an unlikely reason for there to be few men in the church.”

Dave writes in another article, “A church should have a masculine ethos (or not)”, “In short to claim that this simile justifies a masculine ethos for the church is plain ludicrous. It also gives a dangerous edge to the idea of being courageous and one that disenfranchises at a stroke 50% of the worlds population. It is worth remembering that God is NOT male. Becoming masculine does not make us like God. Even the ESV and KJV record that in Genesis 1:27 God created male and female in His image. [source] The problem is of course further frustrated by the fact that ‘masculine’ is interpreted differently in different cultures and in different generations within the same culture.

The answer lies in both male and female becoming Christlike without abandoning our masculinity or femininity. Male must not be feminised, neutered or silenced but be celebrated and take it’s place in the home and in the home and the church each fulfilling their God-given roles and responsibilities. At TRDC we MUST turn the tide back to the Bible and not allow culture dominate and dictate who we are and what we are becoming but allow Kingdom rule to literally rule over our lives. The voice of the men must be heard in the house. We cannot be ashamed to rise up and celebrate who we are. Although your male body is here, you as a man MUST show up!!! What we have done in church life is get men saved but they’re saved men with lost voices. Men I wish you knew how potent your voice is – to your faith, to your family, to your community and to your church. I wish I could explain to you how God has given the male voice prominence and pre-eminence. It is the father that must name his children and speak to their identity as men and women. It was Zacchariah who had to report what Heaven had said, “His name is John.” Lk 1:63 It was Joseph who was told by God, “you shall call his name Jesus.” Matt 1:17 The voice of God in a man’s voice has Heaven behind it!

Over the past weeks whenever I have mentioned HE SAVED THE DAY Pastor Scott has led the men in a spirited Ooh-Rah. It is most commonly used to respond to a verbal greeting or as an expression of enthusiasm. [source] Have the men responded or shown up? One or three at most with the rest cowering in embarrassment and cowardice at this display of brotherhood and comeraderie – even by the so-called ‘real men’ among us. Proof enough that you are a neutralised soldier in the army of God. Proof enough that we have a way to go to find our voice and make it heard. If you do not echo with Scott then what is your problem? We are supposed to be the people of God where the “shout of a King is among them”. For our men we cant even hear our KING whimper. If Jericho was to be taken by us I wonder how afraid it’s inhabitants would have been when they heard God’s instructions to the men in Josh 6:5, “all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.” Not very if they heard us on a Sunday! Men of faith know that there is a shout of faith in faith – it is the shout of victory! There is something that hell cannot tolerate on the earth and it is the sound of the believing men roaring on the earth.

This last two years I have silently changed the face of the church bringing men alongside women and women alongside men in almost every department. From the Children’s Church through to the greeters at the door I have required both men and women to serve alongside each other. Now that we have almost completed the process we must declare war on the silent, absent and feminised voice in our church.

It’s always amazing to me how even though we can sing some of the most awesomely anointed praise and worship songs in our church that any man can really connect, it is still the sound of the women’s voice that drowns out the men’s voice Sunday after Sunday. This is so demonic – the voice of our men gripped by the demonic and silenced because if you think about it, even in the natural a man’s voice is naturally stronger and louder than a woman’s voice. Praise is always audible, visible and vocal and if you look across the worshippers at TRDC on any Sunday it is the women who lead the way in grabbing our attention of their devotion before the Lord. How unlike this was of one of the greatest worshippers of all time – King David – who led the way of the nation without care or concern as to who thought what of him and even declared to his own wife, “And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight.” 2Sam 6:22 This means a public humbling of self in the presence of God amongst the congregation of His people. At TRDC it is not uncommon to see our men during worship with mouths shut, arms folded, eyes glazed and even sitting down. These same men are completely different around their secular music where they will worship with wild abandon. What religious hypocrisy we tolerate in our own lives! Men, we MUST show up during praise and worship and like David, lead the way.

When I teach and preach the Word apart from two of our pastors the voice of the women are heard shouting Amen’s of encouragement to their Pastor and Shepherd. Where are the Amen’s from the men of the House? It’s not that I’m emotionally connecting to the hearers of the Word but the affirmation of the men in the house does three things: 1] it draws on the anointing residing on the preacher and 2] encourages those within the house to connect to the message you are giving approval to and 3] our children rise to the voice of the brothers, sons, fathers and pastors in the House. These same men will sit in front of their favourite sports team and lose their voice for all the shouting at their heroes – albeit whether they’re winning or losing, but are silent neutralised soldiers in the House of God. In the book of Revelation the 24 Elders lead and represent the entire congregation of the redeemed who constantly shout, “Amen! Alleluia!”

From the parking attendant to the greeters to the ushers to the worship team to the preachers, both adult and childrens’, to the prayer the voice of Godly men MUST arise in the House of God; be heard and not be silent. Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Just as the king of the jungle makes his presence known by his mighty roar so must the kings of the King of Kings let heaven, earth and hell know that Daddy’s home.