The title probably ruffled feathers already. Let me explain.
Have you noticed the general trend of males taking themselves out of "life" in the last couple of generations? Sociologists have given another 'stage of development' to explain (or at least describe) the recent trends of young people (males in particular) that are taking much longer in maturing. They have given this 'new' stage a name, namely Delayed Adolescence. This is generally ascribed to young people, between the ages of 18 and 30 that are still living and acting like a pubescent teenager, still living off of mommy and daddy, playing video games all hours of the waking day, and having trouble holding a job, a career, a girlfriend, or any of the other attributes we would normally ascribe to adult living. I believe there is a biblical explanation for this.
This issue is infecting the church as well as society in general. As usual, rather than our churches being a light to the culture, our churches have been just as culpable as our society. Here's why.
1) Our fallen nature: Right from the beginning, men have shirked the responsibility of leading the home. Eve sinned first, but Adam was held responsible. Where was Adam when Eve was tempted by the serpent? If he was present, he wasn't protecting his bride. If he was absent, he wasn't protecting his bride. Either way, he failed, and was held responsible for the fall. He wasn't doing the job that God set before him, and in a fallen condition, this situation has become worse.
2) Abuses: As part of the curse, God said that the man would rule over the woman, and that the woman would desire her husband. In the Hebrew, this is a desire to rule over her husband. As men are physically stronger and bigger than females, this ruling over the 'weaker' sex was generally easy. However, because of this inherent desire of the woman to rule over the man, she hasn't been the easiest to convince to fall in line. Therefore, men have taken it upon themselves to be tyrants in order to maintain their position of authority. For a few millennia, in most cultures, men have generally dominated over women. This is ungodly behaviour and needed correction (and still does need correction in many cultures in the world today).
3) Rise of Feminist Movement: Man has shown for a long time the proclivity we have for shirking our responsibilities in the home and in life. With the rise of feminism since the 60's, women, in the name of equality, have pushed for an egalitarian society, where gender roles are obliviated. This rise of women in the workforce, in the home, and in the church, has given men every reason to step back and hand over as much responsibility to the women as they want...and more. There is a serious lack of MEN in the western world today, and women, while claiming victory in equality, are bearing the brunt of the victory. Women today are starving for a biblical man, but generally our society is unwilling to recognize the importance of the biblical roles given to us since the fall. Women have taken over the workforce, the education system, and the church.
Most churches today have an attendance record of somewhere between 60-75% women. Men have generally little interest in attending church because the worship, message and 'feel' of the church has become feminized. Today's Jesus is a metro-sexual, golden-haired hippie-boy that most men feel they can beat up. Why would men want to join a church and worship a God that they could 'ground and pound'? They wouldn't, and that's why they don't go.
The most unfortunate aspect of this is that while men are more than happy to step back and let the women run the show, they are most resentful because of it.
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