TotD: Men of God

I have very recently read a book that has changed the way I see Christianity quite a bit. It's called 'The Map' and is by David Murrow. Do buy it if you can!

Basically Murrow has discovered a map to true manliness in the Gospel of Matthew, he calls it the Three Journeys of Jesus.
When I first began reading the book I thought of Murrow as a bit of an idiot that put too much weight in his manliness. He wrote a book about the Church being too feminine and that was the reason that men attend church less and less.

In 'The Map' he has changed his opinion, and this is because of the three journeys of Jesus.
The first journey is found in Matthew 1-7 and that is the submission journey. Jesus showed this when He left Heaven and was born on this earth, submitted to baptism and was tempted, it is also shown in the teachings of the sermon on the mount.
The second journey is the longest journey and that is Jesus' journey of strength. It is found in Matthew 8-25. This is when Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and his friends, taught about leaving the dead bury themselves and following Him, cast out demons, calmed storms and walked on water, fed thousands with a packed lunch etc. etc.
The third journey is one of sacrifice. This is seen in Matthew 26-28 and is most evident in the fact that Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross.

Murrow says that every man is on a journey like these. We start our lives feminine, in our mother's womb, and from the time we are ten men move towards the masculine (holding hands with boys, crying in public, showing weakness etc. are all out.)
When you become a Christian you submit to Jesus and enter through the narrow door (which is Jesus) and begin walking on the narrow path. On this path you move towards what has traditionally been considered feminine practices like love, turning the other cheek, kindness and humility.

Because churches largely focus on non-Christians (seekers) and new Christians in their Sunday meetings this is the focus of most worship and most sermons. People hear about love, submission, humility, kindness, meakness, turning the other cheek etc. more often than not in Church. This is why, to some men, Church can feel like it is too girly.

Murrow talks about the second stage, strength. He says, and I agree, that God desires His sons to be actively advancing His Kingdom in His power which He provides. Some men try to have this strength without the submission stage and they are men that become over bearing and controlling and are very much not godly, but men who walk in a strength that is submitted to God are different. There are some things Murrow talks about here that I am not sure about. He talks about Jesus rebuking Pharisees and says that we are to do likewise when we walk in strength. I agree with that but he says that the Sermon on the Mount nearly no longer applies when you walk in the strength of God, it is for a different stage of life and being submissive and servant-like and turning the other cheek no longer apply. I'm not fully sure if he is right on these accounts but what I do know is that God wants men to move past submission and move towards advancing the Kingdom of God in power. This stage is seen as moving back towards the masculine characteristics- strength, battle, change, advancing etc.

The final journey is again a more feminine one, sacrifice. Men are much worse at this in their lives than women. Women give up everything, something men are a lot slower to do. Jesus did this on the cross and as a follower of Him we need to be willing to die for Him. More than that though we need to be willing to sacrifice the power we have and the strength we have in God and pass it on to the next generation. We also need to sacrifice our wants to the higher calling of following Jesus and effecting change in this world.

I am now going to type a chunk of the book that spoke to my heart and my thoughts on Church. Please continue to read/ read this later at your leisure it is worth it.

This comes after he has talked about Churches catering to people on the first journey, submission. He talks about the larger Churches in the US who have done surveys of their members and found large turn over is commonplace and that the younger the Christian the more satisfied they are with Church but the more mature they become in the Lord the less they want to be there and the more they stop going.
"I think the place to teach strength is in a small group of men who know and trust each other... Challenges to a person's lifestyle from the pulpit can sound judgemental and narrow-minded, but the same exhortation delivered in a small group of friends will come across as caring. A man will accept challenging doctrine more readily from a friend sitting beside him than from a pastor standing over him.

Now, I'm going to go controversial on you. If Sunday morning worship services are going to target seekers and young Christians, then we need to excuse the mature from attending them. Yes, that's what I said. At some point we need to let people "graduate" from the weekly worship service.
I know this sounds like heresy. But whether we like it or not, this is happening already. I know many committed men (deacons, elders and even pastors) who are abandoning institutional churches, not because they are running from God, but because they want more of Him. John Eldredge has noticed this trend as well:
We've spoken to a number of good people, mature believers who sincerely love God and dearly want to join him in his battle for this world, but who have found church to be an exercise in frustration. The number of these folks continues to grow; it is a very significant trend. These are not simply malcontents, who really just want to sleep in on Sundays. These are sincere followers of Jesus and they want a genuine place of Church; they just don't know where to find it.
These restless men (and women) are simply being honest: church attendance does little to grow their faith. They're no longer searching for a "better" church, because they've realized that a weekly worship service will never deliver what their hearts long for. Instead, these guys are cobbling together a spiritual life based on personal devotions, fellowship with other believers, service and giving. They listen to podcasts from the handfull of pastors who have the courage to teach the second and third journeys. These dudes are more than willing to invest in their faith, but they don't want to sit at base camp, they want to climb."