A new season is starting at Jesus Revolution’s base in Oslo. Tomorrow our new missionaries are coming from all over Europe. Three of my heroes, Vidar, Kristine and Guro will lead the mission training school.
An interesting question is raised up every year when I see that there are many more young women than boys coming. This is reflected in every other mission’s organization that I know.
Here are some of my questions on the subject (*updated from the comments):
Girls are more sensitive to God’s calling?- The evangelism methods used by our organizations tend to be artistic in a way that appeals more to young women than young men?
- This is simply a reflection of a more general trend in the church today where women are much more involved than men?
- Young men love Mama’s cooking too much?
- A lack of masculine examples?
- Queen Victoria’s influence over the church of England and methodism in the 19th century.(*updated from Joshua’s comment)
- The increasing depreciation of men in society which has come into the church (*updated from Magnus’ comment)
In my culture, men are expected to live with and care for their aged parents even after they are married, so it could also be due to family obligations.
@ Hillary:
Hey Hillary, thanks for your comment, and nice website of yours! Did you design it yourself?
I would agree with all the posibilities except the first one. It has not always been this way in the Protestant world. The reformation was a very masculine movement. The Bible is a very masculine book (God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). Our songs and terminology (“ask Jesus into your heart”) definetly are more feminine geared.
I blame some of it on Queen Victoria’s influence over the church of England and methodism in the 19th century. Whatever the cause, we the church needs to find its testosterone again.
John Eldrege’s Wild At Heart speaks to this issue with gravity. I would also say that this changes when we see a wealth of masculine examples. Young men are looking for older men to look up to. I think that shows us how to change this issue, no?
@ Joshua:
Yeah I see what you mean, men have responded to God’s call throughout history, so that is maybe not the biggest problem…
@ M.joshua:
Hey there! Thanks for your comment. I read Wild at Heart a while ago, but I think I should read it again, to see how we can change the actual trend. Like you say, it is also up to us to provide examples of men in missions 🙂
Be blessed!
Hi Paul, I am enjoying your site too. Do write more often.
Hope you don’t find mine too frivolous haha!
In addition to “wild at heart” you would probably like, “Why men hate going to church” by david murrow
@ Hillary
Paul mentioned your website so i thought i’d glance at it. i see the post about Jason Mraz. We actually went to high school and did drama together as teenagers.
Haha, hope you enjoy the blog. For some reason I feel embarrassed that you’re reading it but do come back, visit and comment when you are free. 🙂
I think I have to say something about this, since I was the first one to complain about this issue in Jesus Revolution (to my limited knowledge):). I really agree with Joshua on the fact that there are many feminin tendencies in contemporary Christianity. The word “feel” is an important keyword here. Much is focused on this both in worship, in preaching and also in sensing God’s calling (maybe that’s why you have more women who “feel” the calling). I notice that many jugde a sermon by what they felt, not to mention a worship session. Me for one tend to get a bit uneasy with too much emotion. I can stand it, but I have often wished I were somewhere else. When I, a very godly man (9/10), experience this, what then about a lukewarm Christian or a pagan?
Another issue I think is the increasing depreciation of men in general which has come into the church. In ye good old days, when people tended to read the Bible more literally, all acknowledged that men where indispensable as head of family and to certain ministerial roles. Funny thing is, as soon as men start to feel they are not needed anymore, they somehow loose interest. When the feminist movement led women into the workforce, making them finacially independent of men, the message was clear: Men, we don’t need you anymore. Sure enough, the men got the message and ironically the same women who wanted to be liberated from them now complain about their absence and failure to take responsibility. Same thing in the church. I heard that the Danish Lutheran Church were making special efforts to attract more men into the priesthood as the women were taking over. They feared it would become a womens profession and so remove any hope of having male priests in the future. Because of these things we’ve now come to a point where there are fewer and fewer examples of what it is to be a Godly and responsible man who takes spiritual care of family and church. This of course affects the next generation of young men.
Who’s fault is it? The women? I think that it is our fault as the Church for having moved away from the teaching of scripture to accomodate to the spirit of this age, to use good old Christian terminology. This is of course a sore issue, and discussing this does have a tendency to stir quite some emotions in some of our female counterparts, but one I really think we need to take up in order to get men back to where God intended them in our families and churches.
@ Magnus:
Hey Magnus! Great comment, thanks for the insight!
Magnus, isn’t it strange that the church has so much feminine tendencies considering most church leaders are male? Perhaps that is the way God intended.
Some of my male friends commented that they find it challenging to think of themselves as the Bride of Christ.
Well, Hillary, I am fairly sure God did not intend the church to be neither feminine nor masculine, but to be a true reflection of Himself. That the church is the bride of Christ, has nothing to do with gender, but is rather an expression of the oneness and intimacy of the relationship between Christ and his people. This oneness will be fully accomplished when Jesus and the church is truly united in Heaven. Just tell your male friends not to worry: They won’t have to wear the white dress:)