Recent statistics show that more women than men attend church services, prompting many religious leaders to promote Jesus as a tougher, more masculine figure. The numbers indicate that more than 60% of adults at typical worship services are women. That amounts to 13 million more women than men at church on Sunday, according to David Murrow, author of "Why Men Hate Going to Church." The Barns Group, a Christian polling firm, concluded that women are also more likely to go to Sunday school, read the Bible and regularly pray. Have you experienced this trend among your flock, and would you view this approach as an effective one to solve the problem?
Given that women have "invaded" the sacrosanct male clubs known as houses of worship, sparking an exodus rivaling that of the Jews from Egypt, preachers are jettisoning the gentle Jesus in favor of a Jesus whose pecs are rippled, visage is chiseled, and abs are washboard flat — a high-fiving, drum-beating, promise-keeping Jesus. A testosterone-deprived Jesus will not play in what should be restored as a bastion of muscularity! Alpha-males will be attracted by a Jesus brimming with machismo. Give them the brawny Jesus who drove out the money changers, not the Jesus who spouted that "blessed be the meek" pap. Give them that carpenter who wields hammer and tong as the sparks fly, not that caterer serving loaves and fishes to wedding guests. Revive the Teddy Roosevelt era "manly redeemer."
