Religion Isn't Masculine?

Focus on the Family's Boundless Line blog had an interesting post on why men dislike attending church. The post featured an except of an interview with author David Murrow, author of the book How Women Help Men Find God.

To appeal to men, Murrow suggested the church should make preaching short, make services more God- and mission-focused, and avoid "Jesus is my boyfriend" type music.

Although Murrow may be right in some ways, I think there's a deeper reason why fewer men go to church. Could it be that there's an underlying myth that many believe that real men don't need religion? That religion is only for women, children, elderly and for the weak? If so, the myth only exists in the modern Western culture, because the last time I traveled around the world (via Discovery and National Geographic Channel), I noticed that men are naturally and deeply religious, and that men are actually the dominant gender in other religions in the world. Who could ignore the throngs of Buddhist monks in Tibet, or the crowd of Jewish men praying at the Western Wall, or the sea of Hindu and Muslim men making their annual pilgrimages in India and Mecca respectively?

The problem is modern culture does little to remind men in the West of their spiritual nature and their need for a relationship with someone greater and more powerful than them. Stephen Arterburn once said in his podcast that all men were created by God to worship God for the glory of God. When men do so, they are expressing their true humanity and their true masculinity. So who says religion isn't masculine?

What do you think dads? Do you teach or model religiosity or faith to a higher god to your children?

(Image by Stephen Sawyer)