Where Are The Men?

In one of his powerful tapes on raising a Godly family, Denny Kenaston asks one short but very powerful question: Where are the men?

It's a question we should ask not only about families but about Christendom in general. As churches and seminaries and Christian media become more and more feminized, as manhood vanishes rapidly not only from the home but from the pulpit, we need to ask ourselves where the men have gone. Two thousand years ago, Christianity was exclusively driven by men, men seized by a love more powerful than they had ever thought possible in this world, and those men--those Peters, Pauls, and Johns--went on to tame an entire continent for Jesus Christ, through the power of His Resurrection.

Their descendants--generation after generation--fought to keep the church alive and strong, through persecution, fire, and sword, and ultimately, through some of the worst acts of rebellion that mankind has ever committed against His Creator. The Saint Valentines, the William Tyndales, the Saint Patricks of the medieval and early modern period in Europe were willing to sacrifice everything for their God, and they faced down popes and rulers and men with vicious faces and drawn swords ready to strike. Through their actions, believers spread the Word of God throughout the world to countries which had never heard of Jesus or the Bible, until every nation and government of the Earth had been exposed to the love that set those first apostles free two thousand years ago.

And now, in our era, what can Western Christianity boast?

That it is confused about its identity and role in the twenty-first century?

That it is deadlocked on issues that would have been no-brainers to our ancestors only 3 or 4 generations ago?

That it cannot even, with one voice, uphold the truth of the Bible, of Jesus, of the Resurrection of the dead?

Real power, eh?

Where are the men, ladies and gentlemen? Where are the men who are going to stand up and DO what the Bible says and TRAIN other young men to be Christian leaders and elders in their homes and in their communities? Where are the men who are going to show LOVE in their homes and in their communities?

You see, ladies and gentlemen, there is a big difference between having testicles and being a man. Being a man involves something completely different than having the ability to produce semen--it involves having a backbone. Standing up for what's right is hard, especially when everyone else seems to be siding against you, but that's what Peter, Paul, John, and so many other men did without regret or complaint, knowing that the LOVE of Jesus was more important than their reputations, their freedom, and even their lives.

Three entire generations stand at the brink of spiritual ruin today--and it seems that no one is willing to demonstrate the kind of love, the kind of backbone, that it will take to bring those three generations back from the edge.

Where are the men?

Manifestations of the Glory and the Power of God

When you look at the postmodern church scene, it seems lifeless, cold, barren--almost as if someone is trying to be something he or she not only isn't but doesn't want to be. There's no power. There's no gut-wrenching, soul-splitting REASON to believe in the church's doctrine about Jesus, or salvation, or living as the body of Christ.

It

all

seems

hollow.

Ladies and gentlemen, we live in an era when the church in America, and the church in the West as a whole, is weak, unfocused, and self-centered. Its denizens are worldly, its institutions are in rapid spiritual (and even physical) decay, and its power and legacy have been lost to an entire generation of young people who, educated in the schools of atheistic knowledge, see no reason to believe in the existence of a God Who cannot seem to make His representatives more attention-getting than the average neon sign.

Strong words?

Yes.

But strong words are what is needed now. For too long, Christians have sat on their hands, watching the erosion of everything their lives represent, and their response has simply been to either go along with what has been happening or to simply cower in their bedchambers, unable to gather the courage to take a stand that may mean social persecution for their families and themselves.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is not more schools or churches or Bible study groups that the X, Y, and Z generations need--it is LOVE. If we can't be man or woman enough to give the soul-sick children of our era the bread of love, if we can't find it within ourselves to step out and disciple young believers so that they become elders and soul-winners for Jesus, we will see 3 generations fade away into darkness--and WE, not they, will be held to account.