Men...where are you?

Statistics say that somewhere in between 70 and 75% of all Christian missionaries worldwide are women. Wow...! Good job, women. Today is women's day, and it's truly incredible to look back at the past and see Christian women who have made a massive impact (Mother Teresa, Corrie ten Boom, etc.), but also to look at the present day and age and see how many wonderful, Christian women are changing this world for the Kingdom of God. I'm delighted to see how many women get God's heart for misisons, and choose to forget about social pressure (many female missionaries are single!) in order to serve God and the Body of Christ whole-heartedly.

Enough about the wonderful women. What about us men? Where are we in world missions? Where are the men who are gonna make a difference in the world?


∫We need men


Too few men respond to Christ's calling to GO and make DISCIPLES of all nations. And because of that we don't see as many changes as we could hope for.

The truth is we can't change the world unless men go. It's as simple as that. No matter whether you want to go and evangelize tribal groups in Africa or South America or you have a heart to change lack of justice-laws in Asia or whatever your heart's desire is, we can't do it (at least not good enough!), if no men go.

Many socities are very male-dominated. A woman's voice means practically nothing. That is in itself a huge issue, but it's also a fact that is only changing slowly. The reality is that if we want to reach for example the 1 billion Muslims in the world, we need men! We need men to talk to men. We need men to go and evangelize. We need men to go and model how to run a godly business. We need men to teach men to respect their women. We need men to show and model to young men how to be godly men, husbands and fathers. We need men to show politicians what it is to be a Spirit-led politician.


And where are all the men? Why are there so few men in the church in the first place? And more specifically: why are there so few men involved in missions?

I'm sure there are many reasons. For the sake of simplicity, I'm just gonna suggest a couple of possible reasons. You are free to agree or disagree all you want:-) (see previous blog about comments!)

I think one of the reasons we struggle as a worldwide Church to attract men is that we have de-clawed the Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ! Way too often we encounter a Jesus-figure in contemporary, Western evangelical churches (and make no mistake: whatever we see in Western churches eventually spreads to churches in other parts of the world, for better or for worse) that is more of a woman than a man. It's as if we are so affected by the post-modern cry for equality (which in Western Europe means that it't to be point of being a crime to say that there are differences between men and women!) that we forget that men and women are created differently, and that we can't expect men to be very attracted to a female-looking (check out the majority of the Jesus-films...), kid-friendly Jesus.

Yep, Jesus was and is friend of all sinners, women and children included. But he was and is more than every child's best friend.

It's wonderful that we have all kinds of Scriptures in the Bible that show that God is everything in terms of both what is considered feminine and masculine. He is both caring, nurturing, creative, fighter, warrior, avenger, protector and provider. Praise God!

But we seem to forget to tell about God as a man. We seem to forget to tell men what is required from them as men. The responsibility to be the head of the woman. The head of the family. The one upon whom the Spiritual leadership of the marriage and the family rests. That's the way God has ordained things. It's non-debatable. But too many men only get the impression in church and in their homes that they're expected to be nice. Nice. Just nice. (I can find relevant Scriptures later on, if anybody is interested?)

A man should be nice. But a man is also a warrior. A man is called to protect and defend. A man is called to enter into Spiritual Warfare for his wife and children. A man is called to stand strong with God and in God. The calling on a man is big, exciting, difficult, but rewarding! I have learned more about practical, spiritual warfare in my 18 months of marriage than I did through many lectures on the topic. The calling on a man is very practical!


I also think that we struggle to attract men because of the way we often present the Gospel. The Gospel is a calling to come to Christ, turn to him for forgiveness, walk away from the past sin, take up your cross and follow him as a disciple the rest of eternity. That's the full Gospel. But too often we serve a Gospel Light-version to people that only talks about how happy and clappy and rich you'll be if you become a Christian. First of all it's terrible that we don't preach the Gospel that calls disciples to follow Christ and change the world for God's Kingdom (more about that in a later blog-entry). But second of all the Gospel Light-version is just not very appealing to many men.

Men want, due to the way God has created us, adventure, something to fight for and against. We want to take up our crosses, follow Christ, lead our family, make a difference. But we're also afraid. Too many men are not as secure in themselves as they try to look like. There are many hurt men out there. And many hurt Christian men as well. I'm glad that there is a growing focus on men in many churches today, but the need is still great. We need strong, godly, free men. We need men who are ready to take responsibility and change the world. Not just make a lot of money.

We need men who are strong, yet broken. Powerful, yet humble. Visionary, yet trusting God. Leaders, yet servants. Where are they?

Where are you?

The world needs you. The Church needs you. The families need you. God needs you to help change the world.

Men in missions - come and join us! It's worth it!:-) I have a big heart for young men to help them become the world-changers that they are truly called to be, and I hope and pray that many more men will join the global missions work!

Torben