Written by Bob Schindler, Executive Director of CEDE Partners – an Initiative of CEDE Sports
The next time you’re in worship service at your church, look around and take note of the ratio of women to men that you see. My hunch is that women in the church will outnumber men 2:1. The local church certainly has a man problem, doesn’t it?
And it’s not even numbers, it’s much more than that. There’s a spiritual maturity issue as well. There is a large percentage of men in the local church are who are disinterested. Perhaps these men attend church out of obligation or because their wife is making them. Whatever the reason, our pews/seats are filled with men who are either non-believers or nominal believers.
This problem is a big deal:
• Can you see any way of ever getting society right unless we get the church right?
• If that’s true, can you see any way of ever getting the church right unless we get families right?
• If you’re still with me, can you see any way of ever getting families right unless we get marriages right?
• And, can you see any way of ever getting marriages right unless we get men right?
Sure, every now and then you hear about a woman who rips her family apart, but even then it’s usually after years of emotional neglect. It really is about the men.
So, what’s the solution? The blog I linked above has some thoughts and I would encourage you to explore those. I’m not exactly sure what the solution is but I know what a solution could be: sports.
Sports has a tendency to draw men out of their hiding in the pew. Men often times don’t feel competent enough to teach children’s Sunday school and may not feel comfortable enough to go to an adult Bible Study/Sunday School class but they often feel qualified to play/coach sports.
Sports can be a great way to evangelize/assimilate a disinterested man in your congregation. Sports provide a great context to build relationships. Beyond evangelism and assimilation though, sports can be a great tool to disciple a nominal believing guy in your church and help to develop him into a leader.
For more on this topic, see this video.
Bob,
Thanks for the article. I appreciate what you guys are doing! I hope you are well!
Reading your article came on the heels of an article I read yesterday. It was from the United Soccer Coaches, announcing their high school and college winners of the “Team Ethics and Sportsmanship” awards. Of the 91 schools who won the award, only TWO were men’s teams! Eighty nine were women’s. Along with that, it was sad to see such a small number of “Christian” schools that were included in the list.
It would seem that there’s much more work to be done with men who love sport, but only like Christ!
Blessings!
Rick
Rick
Thanks so much for your encouragement. Saddened by what you reported but fueled to see this different in the future.
Great read. I thank God for your sports ministry. Definitely helped awaken me out of passivity. It has been laid on my heart that I have a part in helping with the passivity of men in the local church and using sports is a great way.
This is so encouraging to hear Keola! Thank you for your comment. I will make sure to pass it on to Bob.
Vic
Thanks for your encouragement. We definitely need to talk. We got your email and want to support your efforts. I want to hear more of what you are thinking.