Part of me doesn't even like to write down the phrase men's ministry because of some of the ridonkulous expressions of ministry as men that I've been around. I will say this - there is a desperate, critical need for a gospel, kingdom movement among men. From a human perspective, there is no greater present impediment at Christ Church than the absence of a culture of masculine kingdom engagement for the glory of God and the good of His world.
So alot of my time has been spent thinking about how we help men discover what it means to be a man and to live that out where they live, work, and play - as well as within the ministry environments of the local church. I'd love to get your thoughts on what this looks like - and here's a post from AB on what this looks like for him.
I've thought a lot about this too. Unfortunately I haven't come up with much. One thing that I have thought of is going into the workplace with individuals and walking through how to truly love those around them (something like applying the principles of Barrs' Heart of Evangelism). Men spend so much time and energy at work but it seems that they mostly assume a role once they get there to carry them through the day. Relationships with those around them are predictable and superficial. We don't know how to relate to people in any meaningful ways. Walking through it with them, in their environment, setting an example, challenging them to risk the baby steps toward maturity, could go a lot further than trying to get Sunday principles to penetrate Monday practice through the pulpit alone.
Another area where kingdom living is subverted is the capitalist mindset. We need to be challenged about how we view exchange and why we do it. The model we assume as "good" business may not be enough.
One other area that just popped in my head would be to somehow encourage extra-job acts of world redemption. Push them in their gifts to run for local office, join clubs, societies, committees. We don't do that enough. Christian men have pulled out of the "public" sphere.
Posted by: george | October 26, 2006 at 05:52 PM
George,
Your last comment was great. "Encouraging extra-job acts of world redemption" - awesome.
Posted by: Jason G. | October 26, 2006 at 06:02 PM