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Church, Church for Men, Family, Father, Father's Day, Mother, Mother's Day, Parenting
I’m not going to lay claim to the following statement, but it certainly has some similar tones to thoughts I’ve had myself.
The following was taken from the Church for Men Facebook page:
“Have you ever noticed how pastors gush over the moms on Mother’s Day, but on Father’s Day the message is, ‘Straighten up, Bub!’ …”
Church for Men bills itself as a movement aimed “not (at) calling men back to church; (but one that is) calling the church back to men.”
I can certainly agree with that idea; after all, it seems like the church has lost its masculinity. If nothing else, the church sure looks and behaves a lot like secular society when it comes to praising moms and nearly ignoring dads.
Just compare the volume and tone of the television advertisements for Mother’s Day with those in the coming weeks related to Father’s Day. While mom “deserves” candy, flowers, food, nice clothes and the like, there may literally be a handful of commercials that suggest dad might like a cool pair of jeans for Father’s Day.
Christian media and similar organizations have even jumped on the sexist bandwagon. While mom is valued and praised in print and on the Web with things like “Seven Great Quotes in Praise of Mothers,” dad is given a list of “52 Things A Kid Needs From Dad.” Do I have to get this done this week?
Talk about legalism! If I can’t measure up to some impossible standard then I must really be a bad father!
I’m not diminishing the role of a mother. That’s NOT my point! My own mom, when she was alive, sacrificed herself for my sister and I. Moreover, I personally have a soft spot in my heart for single mothers who, through no real or significant fault of their own are left trying to raise their children with little to no help from friends or even the church. My point is, when men in general ARE diminished in society, such as we’ve been for decades now, there should be little wonder why we simply abandon our God-given role in exchange for the toys and other things that seem to give us meaning, or at least don’t repeatedly tell us how bad we are?
It’s certainly not difficult to see this in television sitcoms, where men are emasculated, belittled and essentially destroyed, while women are made to look smarter and the savior of the male dolts they graciously choose to hang out with (unless, of course, your evening television includes those shows that portray housewives as sluts in search of a better man, in which the premise remains the same: husbands are stupid).
We’ve got an uphill battle ahead of us gentlemen. Yes, we can do much to improve our attitudes and behavior, but it’s time we band together as brothers and battle the negative messages that our wives, girlfriends, para church organizations and even our pastors seem to have willingly bought into.
I’m in! Are you?
Related articles
- Clearly, they must be worth triple the love (theage.com.au)
- Churches honor moms on special Sunday (goerie.com)
- Dear Churches, Please Don’t Celebrate Mother’s Day (educatemoore.wordpress.com)






