Our church.

Because there are no perfect people, and because churches are made up of these imperfect people, it's pretty easy to deduce that there are really no "perfect" churches (On a random political note, I also must similarly argue that since 98% of Americans carry a certain amount of debt, and the majority of those are increasing the amount of debt they carry each month, and since America is made up of Americans, all the talk about reducing America's debt doesn't really make any sense to me if government isn't doing anything to encourage Americans to reduce their personal debt...which they are not and are actually doing quite the opposite. Okay, political rant over.) Back to churches.


So even though our church isn't perfect, I am so thankful that the Lord led our family there several years ago. And one of the things I am learning to really love and appreciate about it is how "men"-focused it is. That probably sounds a little strange, but I have found such peace in knowing that my husband is being strongly challenged and strongly led by the leadership and worship and teaching at our church.

Sure, it's tough some Sundays when most of the worship songs are led in a key that's meant for a man's range; but if you look around, what you will notice is that men are actually singing and women are still singing too - the women are just finding a harmonious part instead. If men can't hit the melody, more times than not they just don't sing. If women can't sing the melody, they harmonize - it's what we naturally do anyway and it's not so odd for us to do it in worship either.

When M gives a challenge from the pulpit, 9 times out of 10 it is directly aimed at the men of our church. And though at first I sometimes had difficulty figuring out what that meant for me, I certainly haven't minded that my husband has stepped up and led our family with a greater sense of "biblical manhood," leaving me with more security in my husband's role and less of a desire to control things in our home.

I know I'm teetering on the edge of offending the feminists in the room. Though a discussion of proper church roles and church function isn't really where I'm headed here, I won't deny that our church is quite "conservative" (to be fair - they would call it "biblical") in their views on this matter. My goal here isn't to outright offend anyone. It's just to say with absolute honesty and conviction that after being in our church for three years now and noticing the man of God that my husband is becoming and realizing (through conversations with him and also just my own observations) that he is being discipled and trained and equipped through the work of our church, I am not personally offended that our church caters to biblical masculinity. I am thankful.

Ephesians 5:25-28 says this:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.

As a man of God, my husband has a huge responsibility on his shoulders: to be Christ to me. Not that I'm off the hook by any means, but the weight of this task is enormous: "gave himself up for her," "sanctify her," "cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word," "present [her]...without spot or wrinkle," "that she might be holy and without blemish." To be Christ to me is to imitate Christ in these things - not as a substitution for Christ's work for me, but as an earthly example for all the days of our lives here on earth. I don't know about you, but I hate the task of daily reminding my husband that he should be doing these things for me (i.e., nagging). So I am thankful that we are in a church (with a pastor, elders, deacons, friends, family and other members) that are in agreeance on these things and all share a common vision of equipping the men in our church to live up - as best as humanly possible - to the task laid out for them in scripture. And thankful for a husband that desires to be like Christ to me. Yes, I am blessed. (But please don't drive by my house this weekend. Apparently Jesus never mowed the lawn ;).