What you're wise to point out here is that there are many things to rather easily say 'no' to, but we also need things to say 'yes' to. It isn't enough to say what is wrong. We have to be able to articulate, model, expect what is right.
I would submit, and I'm not sure you agree with me, that whatever we say yes to, it has to be something different from what we expect of women. I think a lot of harm has been done by making men and women interchangeable. When the best a man can be is exactly the same as an ideal woman, then there is a sort of androgyny that becomes a dominant mode of being within the body of Christ. I honestly think this is what many people desire. They want to baptize and make normative androgyny within the body of Christ. This is fated to alienate all but a minute portion of the population.
But the problem is that men and women are actually quite different. When we put them together expecting sameness, we find great abuse. I think many expect for the sameness in Christ to overrule the gendered differences that we have. I'm not sure that is the biblical vision, especially in light of the household codes.
The problem then is that we go to this sorta gross place of adopting cultural stereotypes of masculinity and baptizing them. Monster trucks, sports, and torches are cool, but they are also completely vain. We must be able to articulate something of substance for men to grab onto. I think it has something to do with being unbending, unflinching, immovable, uncompromising. It has to do with brute strength and being resolute. Yes, it must rebuke those worldly forms of masculinity that corrode truth and beauty, but it most offer a counterproposal that is also not feminine. Yet, it submits, but it also leads. Yes, it obeys, but it also commands.
What possible portrait can be realistically painted after the destruction of the notion of complementarity of the sexes? I'm not sure anything very solid can be offered...
It seems to me that everything that was listed here, with the exception of the hornet incident, is just more evidence that the institutional church in America has given up on the lost art of discipleship, and replaced it with gaining attendees through attractional entertainment.
Affirmational entertainment. Definitely a subset of the attractional :-) But indeed, we have the growing visibility of people choosing churches by what it is that they affirm. It's not a new trend, but it's extremely visible now, as people go to be 'affirmed' in their devotion to various sexual and gender-related sins, in their devotion to money, in their devotion to flags...
The situation is not new, but it is newly diverse and newly blatantly visible in the USA. Not sure it is so much elsewhere, I would like to know. But when Christ made me aware of His presence, in 1996, I could not find a single church (I tried very hard by early Internet) in which the primary purpose was Christ. The reality, to greater and lesser extents, was always pasting quasichristian crosses on purposes and things of this world, often using flags. I think that since then, the cross-pasters have devoted themselves to so much visible evil for power, privilege, and self-glorification, that other cross-pasters have infiltrated and dominated in patches, exposing the larger situation for those that truly care about Christ the Lord, more and more.
Jonathan, I’m not surprised that your search for a Christ-centered church came to naught. I believe that these types of churches are more prevalent in certain geographical areas of America, and tend not to be the big celebrity pastor types. Over the last couple of decades, I’ve noticed the increase of circus atmosphere tactics within some of the larger mega churches seems to be on the increase while simultaneously church attendance overall is in decline. This article demonstrated the lengths some churches are willing to go to get men active back in church. There’s a perception that Christianity has become feminized so the tactics are to bring back masculinity, through guy stuff. I believe that if more preaching was about how as believers, we’re in a fierce spiritual battle with Satan and his hoard, this might dispel the myth that men have to be emasculated to be active in Christ’s church. Christ went head to head against Satan and prevailed, but this required spiritual weaponry not the weapons of the flesh.
I'll have to opine, that I don't know about any fierce spiritual battle that I'm in with Satan and his hoard. I also don't know about any fierce spiritual battle in which Christ the Lord went head to head against Satan. Satan is a puny, powerless, fleeing rat in the face of Christ the Lord, and when we do sit, stand, and speak truly in the name of Christ the Lord, the same result obtains. When we suffer, it is not part of some fierce spiritual battle; it is because we must suffer in order to be humbled, in order to learn repentance that God has determined is necessary.
Christ the Lord chose to suffer, and His Father in Heaven chose for Him to suffer, and They with the Comforter choose for us to suffer, as we must, in order that we will deny ourselves, take up our burdens, and follow Him. There is no "fierce spiritual battle". There is no glorification of strife, of violence, either spiritual violence or physical violence. This is why many proud men and women, lovers of strife and violence and their words and tools of violence, hate faithfulness when they find it in churches, and avoid it. And it is the other side of that coin who are the effeminate and such; these are proud men and women who are lovers of sexual sin. Neither desire to deny themselves, take up the burdens the Father has given them, and follow Him.
I think we have both witnessed church-behavior in which a fierce spiritual battle is preached, and terms of desperation and struggle of the battlefield used. But this is not Christ the Lord. This is the glorification of human effort. "If we don't do this, who will??!?" has been the plaintive call -- and this very question is a denial of the presence, will, power, and truth of God. Christ the Lord is in us, and if we are true, there is no plaintive, there is no desperation, there is no struggle, there is no challenge; there is just a word, and the evil one runs and runs.
The spiritual battle that both we are, and Christ was fighting when he was led into the wilderness for forty days, is the temptation to be diverted from our mission to fulfill our calling to be used in the expansion of the Kingdom of God. Satan attempted to have Jesus take the easy way out in inaugurating the Kingdom of God here on earth. Satan’s temptation for us is to war with flesh and blood instead of the demonic forces behind evil persons. Spiritual warfare is mostly fought within one’s own mind, using the weapons of the Spirit listed in Ephesians 6:10-18. This has nothing to do with physical violence or the hunt to find demons to cast out. Satan wins when he can tempt the Church to act more like the unbelieving world.
Let's put it a different way. Let's consider what will happen in that great and terrible Day of the Lord that He has spoken of. In that day, many of pretense of devotion to Christ, will wail. And many who will wail, will wail about Satan winning. But in the first few chapters of Revelation, we have arms of the Church acting very much like the unbelieving world, and we have the Lord Himself promising to kill many of them. This is God being victorious. This is not Satan winning. We have not the slightest scrap of thought within that which God has said, in which it is either stated or implied that Satan wins anything. No matter how unpleasant things get, God is winning, does win, shall win, and there are no exceptions ever, on heaven or earth.
There is a very strong thread within today's churches, where "good" and "God winning" are defined as "that which is pleasant and comfortable for people of Christ in this world". My suggestion to this: balderdash...
I'll opine, that the "crisis of masculinity" is simply a matter among men, wondering about how to justify evil within them. One hundred years ago, there was a large brothel prominently in full view of both the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, and similar was common elsewhere. And one hundred seventy-five years ago, mothers with children had picnics to cheer on the men doing their war, there are multiple surviving paintings to this effect. Now most men and women treat those kinds of "masculinity" as not worthwhile...and yet there is no alternative today for their devotees, save video games. And video games are a bit easier for many to see through to the vanity, than live flesh. Not others, of course; but the "opiate of the people" is now clearly the Machines.
As in every age, there are those that demand of their religion that which God has denied them. Suicide bombers are an extreme example, but among many enemies of suicide bombers, there have been people that painted despicable quasichristian crosses on gun barrels and proudly told everyone variations on "we'll shoot them, and God will decide what to do with them". Absolutely none of the above, is care about what the Lord has said:
Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
What you're wise to point out here is that there are many things to rather easily say 'no' to, but we also need things to say 'yes' to. It isn't enough to say what is wrong. We have to be able to articulate, model, expect what is right.
I would submit, and I'm not sure you agree with me, that whatever we say yes to, it has to be something different from what we expect of women. I think a lot of harm has been done by making men and women interchangeable. When the best a man can be is exactly the same as an ideal woman, then there is a sort of androgyny that becomes a dominant mode of being within the body of Christ. I honestly think this is what many people desire. They want to baptize and make normative androgyny within the body of Christ. This is fated to alienate all but a minute portion of the population.
But the problem is that men and women are actually quite different. When we put them together expecting sameness, we find great abuse. I think many expect for the sameness in Christ to overrule the gendered differences that we have. I'm not sure that is the biblical vision, especially in light of the household codes.
The problem then is that we go to this sorta gross place of adopting cultural stereotypes of masculinity and baptizing them. Monster trucks, sports, and torches are cool, but they are also completely vain. We must be able to articulate something of substance for men to grab onto. I think it has something to do with being unbending, unflinching, immovable, uncompromising. It has to do with brute strength and being resolute. Yes, it must rebuke those worldly forms of masculinity that corrode truth and beauty, but it most offer a counterproposal that is also not feminine. Yet, it submits, but it also leads. Yes, it obeys, but it also commands.
What possible portrait can be realistically painted after the destruction of the notion of complementarity of the sexes? I'm not sure anything very solid can be offered...
It seems to me that everything that was listed here, with the exception of the hornet incident, is just more evidence that the institutional church in America has given up on the lost art of discipleship, and replaced it with gaining attendees through attractional entertainment.
Affirmational entertainment. Definitely a subset of the attractional :-) But indeed, we have the growing visibility of people choosing churches by what it is that they affirm. It's not a new trend, but it's extremely visible now, as people go to be 'affirmed' in their devotion to various sexual and gender-related sins, in their devotion to money, in their devotion to flags...
The situation is not new, but it is newly diverse and newly blatantly visible in the USA. Not sure it is so much elsewhere, I would like to know. But when Christ made me aware of His presence, in 1996, I could not find a single church (I tried very hard by early Internet) in which the primary purpose was Christ. The reality, to greater and lesser extents, was always pasting quasichristian crosses on purposes and things of this world, often using flags. I think that since then, the cross-pasters have devoted themselves to so much visible evil for power, privilege, and self-glorification, that other cross-pasters have infiltrated and dominated in patches, exposing the larger situation for those that truly care about Christ the Lord, more and more.
Jonathan, I’m not surprised that your search for a Christ-centered church came to naught. I believe that these types of churches are more prevalent in certain geographical areas of America, and tend not to be the big celebrity pastor types. Over the last couple of decades, I’ve noticed the increase of circus atmosphere tactics within some of the larger mega churches seems to be on the increase while simultaneously church attendance overall is in decline. This article demonstrated the lengths some churches are willing to go to get men active back in church. There’s a perception that Christianity has become feminized so the tactics are to bring back masculinity, through guy stuff. I believe that if more preaching was about how as believers, we’re in a fierce spiritual battle with Satan and his hoard, this might dispel the myth that men have to be emasculated to be active in Christ’s church. Christ went head to head against Satan and prevailed, but this required spiritual weaponry not the weapons of the flesh.
I'll have to opine, that I don't know about any fierce spiritual battle that I'm in with Satan and his hoard. I also don't know about any fierce spiritual battle in which Christ the Lord went head to head against Satan. Satan is a puny, powerless, fleeing rat in the face of Christ the Lord, and when we do sit, stand, and speak truly in the name of Christ the Lord, the same result obtains. When we suffer, it is not part of some fierce spiritual battle; it is because we must suffer in order to be humbled, in order to learn repentance that God has determined is necessary.
Christ the Lord chose to suffer, and His Father in Heaven chose for Him to suffer, and They with the Comforter choose for us to suffer, as we must, in order that we will deny ourselves, take up our burdens, and follow Him. There is no "fierce spiritual battle". There is no glorification of strife, of violence, either spiritual violence or physical violence. This is why many proud men and women, lovers of strife and violence and their words and tools of violence, hate faithfulness when they find it in churches, and avoid it. And it is the other side of that coin who are the effeminate and such; these are proud men and women who are lovers of sexual sin. Neither desire to deny themselves, take up the burdens the Father has given them, and follow Him.
I think we have both witnessed church-behavior in which a fierce spiritual battle is preached, and terms of desperation and struggle of the battlefield used. But this is not Christ the Lord. This is the glorification of human effort. "If we don't do this, who will??!?" has been the plaintive call -- and this very question is a denial of the presence, will, power, and truth of God. Christ the Lord is in us, and if we are true, there is no plaintive, there is no desperation, there is no struggle, there is no challenge; there is just a word, and the evil one runs and runs.
The spiritual battle that both we are, and Christ was fighting when he was led into the wilderness for forty days, is the temptation to be diverted from our mission to fulfill our calling to be used in the expansion of the Kingdom of God. Satan attempted to have Jesus take the easy way out in inaugurating the Kingdom of God here on earth. Satan’s temptation for us is to war with flesh and blood instead of the demonic forces behind evil persons. Spiritual warfare is mostly fought within one’s own mind, using the weapons of the Spirit listed in Ephesians 6:10-18. This has nothing to do with physical violence or the hunt to find demons to cast out. Satan wins when he can tempt the Church to act more like the unbelieving world.
Let's put it a different way. Let's consider what will happen in that great and terrible Day of the Lord that He has spoken of. In that day, many of pretense of devotion to Christ, will wail. And many who will wail, will wail about Satan winning. But in the first few chapters of Revelation, we have arms of the Church acting very much like the unbelieving world, and we have the Lord Himself promising to kill many of them. This is God being victorious. This is not Satan winning. We have not the slightest scrap of thought within that which God has said, in which it is either stated or implied that Satan wins anything. No matter how unpleasant things get, God is winning, does win, shall win, and there are no exceptions ever, on heaven or earth.
There is a very strong thread within today's churches, where "good" and "God winning" are defined as "that which is pleasant and comfortable for people of Christ in this world". My suggestion to this: balderdash...
Satan does not win at all, ever. Satan can do nothing at all, except that the Father in Heaven knowingly and deliberately permit and grant.
I'll opine, that the "crisis of masculinity" is simply a matter among men, wondering about how to justify evil within them. One hundred years ago, there was a large brothel prominently in full view of both the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, and similar was common elsewhere. And one hundred seventy-five years ago, mothers with children had picnics to cheer on the men doing their war, there are multiple surviving paintings to this effect. Now most men and women treat those kinds of "masculinity" as not worthwhile...and yet there is no alternative today for their devotees, save video games. And video games are a bit easier for many to see through to the vanity, than live flesh. Not others, of course; but the "opiate of the people" is now clearly the Machines.
As in every age, there are those that demand of their religion that which God has denied them. Suicide bombers are an extreme example, but among many enemies of suicide bombers, there have been people that painted despicable quasichristian crosses on gun barrels and proudly told everyone variations on "we'll shoot them, and God will decide what to do with them". Absolutely none of the above, is care about what the Lord has said:
Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.