For the Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University. Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

Theology, Worship, and Gender.

This is something that has been stirring in my heart and mind for quite sometime. And while reading NT Wrights chapter on Relationships/Gender, in his book Simply Christian, made me think rethink through some of my ideas on this subject.

Where are the men of God? Has our theology and worship experiences overlooked the men in our culture? I like the fact that there are so many great women of God who pray and study their Bibles, and teach their kids. But it’s sad to see the men take a back seat to them. I dont think its because we live in a feminist society, it’s not that we have elevated women. Has the Church, in an effort to package and sell the Gospel to the masses, neutered both theology and worship?

I’m sure that many of you have had, at one time or another, some sort of experience in the construction field. If not then perhaps you have a family member, or a friend, or even a church member, who is involved in construction. Inevitably the subject of God or Church comes up when you work with people closely for 8 hours, 5 days a week, and usually the response is the same. Something along the lines of, “Yeah, my wife goes to Church…. My kids?… they love it!” Its almost as if they are trying to tell me that they don’t really fit in there. They seem to say that Christianity is for women and children, for people who like to stay clean, and have stopped cursing (or ‘cussing’ as we say here in the South). Sundays, for them is either another work day, or a good day to go hunting and fishing.

The opposite seems to be true in Rock music, especially punk/hardcore, with which I am familiar. I’ve read many articles in MaximumRock’nRoll stating in various ways, by various columnists, their observations that the punk movement is mainly relegated to heterosexual white males. In an interview with Henry Rollins, the singer from Black Flag (one of the pioneer punk/hardcore bands), he states how their shows were dominated by testosterone, and that is was mostly guys, with their shirts off, sweaty, angry, and flexing… and “it was very homo-erotic”, he adds jokingly.

The Bible is full of images of an [at least 2 part male] trinitarian God in his awesome power; holy and righteous, as a warrior (in Isaiah 63) whose robe is so full of the blood of his enemies that it looks like it’s been dipped. The New Testament is not much different; we see in Acts that the Holy Spirit actually killed two people for lying; and in The Revelation, the images of Jesus are nothing short of great and terrible. These concepts of strength, power, and even violence, are mainly a male preoccupation.

However I wholeheartedly agree with Tom Wright’s statements in Simply Christian about gender not being an easy issue in which to define the distinct differences between men and women (other than physically). I’ve certainly known women who watch and enjoy action, sci-fi, and martial arts movies. Sports would seem to be more of a guy’s thing, especially sports like UFC, however I know women who are UFC enthusiast, and one lady in particular that goes to my church is a member of a local jujitsu team. The secretary for my employer is a widow who, while in her late 60’s, goes out of town to her camp almost every weekend, launches her boat and goes fishing in the Sabine River. And conversely, I know hulking guys with menacing facial hair that work at sandwich shops.

I know that many of this has been addressed in books like Wild at Heart, and pastors such as Mark Driscoll. But I would like to dwell and dialogue about these things. Is there a different aspect for men in worship and theology? I know the guys at work would never worship a god that they could beat in an arm-wrestling match, or take in a fight. They would never worship a God that doesn’t take a stand on important issues, never takes a side, and answers every question with more questions, and never draws a line in sand and says, “this far and no more”. When we ignore certain attributes about God are we in fact emasculating him and simultaneously distancing the men in our congregation from both the Christ and the Church.

Sometimes I think we need music that speaks of strength and power in and of itself. I’m not saying you need to turn in your theremin for twin Tesla coils. And you might have to save your Atari Punk Console and Voice of Saturn sequencer for more artistic endeavors. I’m not saying we have to pound on the maleness of God, that would be silly I think. But to present a God who is reigning supreme, one who has defeated every enemy on their own level, all the while blindfolded with both hands tied behind his back. Imagine the God of the universe as a fragile baby in Mary’s hands, being lovingly rocked to sleep.

Perhaps in an effort to reach the masses with the Gospel, making it a commodity and the Church a business, we have somehow taken the rawness of sound out. Digital sound is clean and crisp but you don’t hear the full spectrum of sound. Analog however is loud and has a hiss to it, but it encompasses the whole spectrum of sound. Digital is clean and safe, and for music enthusiast it’s quite boring. Analog is unpredictable yet true to the real deal, and a little bit “gritty”, as my friend Dan Sheed put’s it.