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Why Christian Events Fail

By Jeremy Myers
8 Comments

Why Christian Events Fail

church is boringHave you ever been to a Christian event like a party or concert and been bored stiff? Have you ever looked around and thought, “What in the world is going on here?” You recognize all the parts of the event — the food, the music, the people, the activities — but the Christian event just seems… odd?

Why is this?

When the Church Follows Worldly Cues

I think part of it is that we are taking our cues from the world.

We look at the world to see what they do for fun, then we take out everything we perceive as “sinful” and then try to do this stripped down version as a “Christian event.” We hope that if we do things that the world enjoys, maybe they will come join us.

These Christianized versions of worldly events are pitiful attempts to attract unbelievers to Christ.

Of course, what we fail to realize, is that for most unbelievers, the things that make the event “fun” are the sinful things we have stripped out — the alcohol, the sexuality, the secular music, and other such elements.

The world is not fooled by Christian attempts to copy the world. They wonder why we even bother.

The choices then are two, and I actually think we see Jesus doing both.

If the Church Can’t Beat Them…

First, rather than compete with the worldly events, we can just join them.

Rather than have our own party, minus the alcohol, sexuality, dancing, and secular music, why not just go attend theirs?

That’s right: Go to the bar. Go to the club. Go hang out where the smoke is thick and the language is course.

Being there doesn’t mean you have to participate in all the activities, and besides, going to where the people are is more incarnational than asking them to come to where you are.

The Church that Leads the World

Second, any Christian events that we host should be in areas where we don’t have to copy the world, but can lead the world.

Our Christian events should focus on issues of justice, compassion, mercy, generosity, kindness, forgiveness, grace, and sacrifice. The world has these things as well, but there is often an element of greed and power mixed in.

So these are the Christian events the church can host, and show the world how to do it right. Of course, we would then have to give up our aspirations for money and power… but that is another topic.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: christian events, church, Discipleship, evangelism, outreach, Theology of the Church

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Dirtbags…Not for the girly-man

By Jeremy Myers
34 Comments

Dirtbags…Not for the girly-man

Dirtbags Men's Ministry

A while back I was on vacation in Montana and attended a Friday morning men-only Bible study called “The Dirtbags.” As with the Cowboy Church I visited in Plano, The Dirtbags met in a bar.

The study began about 10 years ago with 10 men. Now, they have two meeting times, 6:30 and 8:00 am, with about 60-80 men at each. Most of these men were the rugged, outdoorsy, work with their hands, salt of the earth type men, and here they were, spending 90 minutes with other men, studying the Bible. So don’t tell me men aren’t interested in the Bible! They just need a Bible study without all the frills and “girly-man” stuff.

The Dirtbag Decor

And there was nothing “girly-man” about this study. The bar decorations themselves were…interesting. In the Plano, TX bar church, there were a hundred neon beer signs. This bar had those also, along with about 20 bikini-girl posters. I had to practice Proverbs 4:25, and keep my gaze fixed on the face of the man leading the study.

The Dirtbag Pastor

The leader of the study was quite a character. I was told he is (or was) on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. He began the study with a few announcements, followed by some jokes that were e-mailed to him. The jokes were fairly off color, and would have done more than raise a few eyebrows in most churches. The typical pastor would probably get fired for telling jokes like these. However, I will admit that I laughed along with all the other men.

The Dirtbag Evangelism Strategy

The leader also mentioned that they were going to have a golf tournament, and he wanted every man there to invite a non-Christian friend or co-worker. He begged and pleaded with the men to not invite their “religious” friends since there was probably going to be some bad language and excessive drinking that went on.

He explained that the religious people would be aghast at such behavior taking place at an event sponsored by a men’s Bible study, and would call and complain about how it wasn’t right to hang out with such sinners (cf. Matt 11:19; Luke 7:34). He said he didn’t want to waste his time listening to the complaints of religious people, so the easiest thing was to just not invite them.

The Dirtbag Prayer Requests

He then took prayer requests for about 20 minutes, which surprised me some, since men are notorious for not asking for prayer when they need it. But these men just kept raising one request after another. Maybe men only don’t ask for requests when women are the room…

The Dirtbag Bible Study

His Bible study also lasted about 20 minutes. It was helpful, practical, down to earth, and best of all, Biblical. He didn’t have a main text, but went to several texts throughout Scripture. Personally, I think sticking to one text would have been better, but these men didn’t seem to have too much trouble flipping through the pages of Scripture. He used two mild words of profanity in his talk, and nobody batted an eye.

The Dirt on Dirtbags

All in all, I think this Bible study shows that men are interested in spiritual things, but they feel most comfortable receiving and talking about them in a manly way. If you haven’t read it yet, you must read Why Men Hate Going to Church by David Murrow to see his findings on this.

On a related note, I recently read a book called Preaching That Speaks to Women by Alice Matthews. Maybe I am wrong, but as I look around the average church in America today, I don’t think we need to work on preaching that speaks to women. Our churches reveal that we’ve got that mastered. What we need is preaching that speaks to men.

What are your ideas on how to get more men involved in church?

Are bars, bikini-posters, crude jokes, and profanity the way to reach men, especially if the purpose is evangelistic? Is this taking the “meeting them where they are at” concept too far, or is this redemption in action? Practically, what can you and your church do to better reach men in your community?

God is Redeeming Church Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Study, Discipleship, evangelism, ministry to men, outreach, Preaching

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