Effeminate Christianity became real to me a few months ago when I visited a mega-church in my local town in Indiana. The church has two campuses with 6,000 people (approximately) in attendance.
My coworker kindly invited me to attend with her on a Thursday evening when they kicked off their sermon series on movies. The church’s goal was to teach people how to draw biblical lessons from the most popular movies – a worthy goal.
I entered the big building and was immediately surrounded by people of all walks of life – all smiling and chattering as we surged toward the sanctuary doors. Greeters stood by the doors handing out candy from boxes as we walked inside – or so I thought. When I took the candy, I realized it was pre-packaged communion straight from the factory.
Never mind, I told myself. Ever since COVID, these pre-packaged factory communions are used by every church… it’s normal I guess.
We sat down, and the theme song from Titanic was blasting from speakers all around me. It made for a neat environment as we all sat in dim lighting and enjoyed the show on the stage. The worship team came out, and if I’m being honest, they did a fabulous job with the music. Their voices and skills were top-tier. But the songs they sang made me think twice. They sang about God’s most feminine qualities… it almost felt like we were singing love songs to God.
A little backstory on me: I come from a small church that does a good mix of traditional and modern Christian music. I have no problem with modern music, but I do take issue when the music contributes to effeminate Christianity in the church.
Christians are not called to be feminine, weak little babies who call on God to swoop down and save them out of all our problems.
No, Christians are warriors who are fully trained and equipped for battle. We are like David who, when faced with the mighty soldier Goliath, took courage in his former training with his slingshot and proclaimed confidence in the God of Israel saying, “‘You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied’” (1 Samuel 17:45, NKJV).
HOW WE VIEW JESUS – THE EFFEMINATE SAVIOR
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “effeminate” as “having feminine qualities untypical of a man[;] not manly in appearance or manner” and “marked by an unbecoming delicacy or overrefinement.”
I can’t think of a more fitting definition for the modern, Christian church and the way we view Jesus.
Doug Giles, author of Psalms of War: Prayers That Literally Kick Ass, aptly describes how “the misinformed thinks of Jesus nowadays” (Doug Giles).
“An overly ebullient, grinning hick with a curly mullet, a man bag and a quaint southern drawl, who spits out more aphorisms than Joel Osteen on crystal-meth-laced Mountain Dew.
“Or The Nazarene gets painted as some rambling, Rasputin-like mystic who strings together long, illogical stories like an unshorn, Bruce Banner#3 inspired, Matthew McConaughey grad speech.
“Either that or Jesus Christo gets pitched as some unisexual, religious, gluten-free Gucci model who might confuse us in regards to his actual gender, but he’s crystal clear with his message that we should all be tolerant of the ridiculous no matter how much it offends reason.
“Two things are for certain in our culture’s postmodern paranormal messaging regarding Christ and Christians:
- Jesus is not masculine and …
- Christianity is for pansies.”
Jesus was never meant to be a reflection of the culture we live in. We are meant to be reflections of Him, and we can’t do that if we keep remaking Him into the effeminate Christians we see in so many pastors and popular Christian celebrities today. This is not an accurate reflection of Him.
Jesus was a warrior and expects us to be warriors in His wake.
Indeed, “the Church is primarily responsible for the effeminate crap-sicle, which is postmodern America, principally because a lot of ministers are peddling a soft-focused-bearded-lady version of Jesus that has diddly squat to do with the angry young dragonslayer who kicked up dust on the mean streets of the Middle East many moons ago” (Doug Giles).
EFFEMINATE MUSIC IN THE CHURCH
Indeed, now that we have established that Jesus was a masculine warrior Who “did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34, NKJV), we should focus our sights on the music we sing in His church.
Why do we have a glut of women in the church but so few men? As a single girl, I can testify to this – try finding a masculine guy in church, and if you do, there are probably ten other single girls eyeing him in the first place.
Perhaps we can blame part of the manly aversion to church on the effeminate music we sing.
“‘There’s definitely a trend toward a more intimate music style [in the church]’” writes Dr. Barry Leisch.
Mike Erre, director of music ministries at Rock Harbor Church, says, “‘The classic example [of feminization of music] is the worship pose of the eyes shut and the arms raised in this tender embrace, singing a song that says, “I’m desperate for you. You’re the air I breathe.” Guys don’t talk to guys like that.’”
Even though the Church is (biblically) the bride of Jesus Christ, we are not called to be effeminate babies who wet big Christian diapers every time something goes wrong politically or elsewhere. As Paul wrote to his young protege, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3, NKJV).
If the church wants to raise young, godly men to be strong leaders in families, politics, the church, and everyday work, the church must stop advertising music where Jesus is our lover and we long to be in His arms. We must build a masculine foundation in the warrior mindset.
DITCH THE EFFEMINATE SERMONS, AND MAN-UP
As part of the movement to masculinize the church and raise up strong warriors (both men and women) for the Gospel, churches must ditch the effeminate sermons, and pastors must man-up. I say this with all due respect to pastors. I have known several great pastors who had a large influence on my life. However, I have seen my share of effeminate, skinny-jean-wearing pastors or perverts preaching from an undeserved pulpit. Just because a man is a pastor doesn’t mean he’s a good or holy man. Each pastor should be judged by his works and the way he leads (or doesn’t lead) his family.
Nancy Pearcey, Christian author and scholar, says, “‘The more traditionally masculine side of Christianity enjoys crossing swords with hostile secular worldviews. […] We have to recover the notion that christianity is true on all levels, not just for your emotional life or repairing relationships, as important as those things are.”
“Churches should engage men’s intellects to help them see the relevance of Christianity to the ‘real’ world of politics, industry, and business” (Biola).
Churches need to refocus their sermons so that we aren’t just looking at Jesus’s softer teachings but ignoring “the doctrines of sin and hell” (Biola). What if churches taught about martyrdom, perseverance, endurance, and the consequences of sin? It’s dangerous to become a Christian. In America, you are mocked and ridiculed and considered a pansy. In other countries, you are likely to be killed or watch your family be killed in front of you. Christianity is not a joke and is a serious decision that goes far beyond kneeling at the alter and saying a prayer.
Christianity is a war between flesh and spiritual. Sometimes winning those battles isn’t a huge event. Sometimes it’s winning the battle over porn or digital addiction. Sometimes it’s being faithful to your spouse. Sometimes it’s not drinking to the point of drunkenness. Sometimes it’s biting your tongue and building your kid up, not tearing them down.
[link real enemy article]
MASCULINITY IS NOT NEEDED IN AN EFFEMINATE CULTURE OR CHURCH
Because masculinity has come under attack in America’s effeminate culture, the church has also attacked and distanced itself from masculinity. But we need manly men in the church. We need men who are protectors, bold leaders, and warriors for the Gospel. We need men who won’t give up and won’t back down and know what they believe and can lead the women in the church.
We must start building men up and not tearing them down. We don’t need anymore effeminate guys who, when you’re behind them in a pew at church, you can’t tell whether they’re a girl or a guy.
It’s time for the church to man-up and stop reflecting the effeminate culture and start shining forth with Jesus’ warrior mentality and masculine side.
There is a place for emotions and softer teaching. But there is a gaping hole where strong, bold, warrior-type teaching used to abide.