What is the purpose of the ministry to men in your church?  Get them connected?  Get them serving?  Get them giving?  Most men see the church as a place that wants their attendance and taxes...serving and giving in church language.  They see little connect between church and what they face every day.

Every athlete and coach knows that the "core" is essential to success regardless of the particular sport.  Strengthening and maintaining the core is a constant emphasis from the little leagues to the big leagues.  Coaches and managers know that if an athlete is weak at his core, it won't be long before he is on the injured reserve list, sitting on the sidelines in street clothes, watching the game. Coaches and athletes know what is required to strengthen and maintain the core muscle groups of the body.  So exercises are designed and discipline is applied to develop and maintain this core. 

If we are to have an effective ministry to men in the church, we must develop and strengthen the spiritual core of a man's life.  Failure here and we should not be surprised to find men sitting on the sidelines in street clothes....at best watching the game but more likely not even in the stadium.

However, I find in working with men's leaders in churches that little attention is paid to the spiritual core.  Most men's opportunities revolve around service.  Consider an interview I heard recently between a well-known Christian talk show host and a well-known church leader.  The conversation went something like this....

Host: We are failing to reach men in our churches today; they are not engaged.
Guest:  That's right and it's because we do not understand how men are wired.
Host:  So how should we treat men differently than women to get them involved?
Guest:  Men are doers. Men are not attracted to classrooms and lectures.  We need to give men opportunities to serve so they can do something of value, to contribute, to lead... to accomplish.
                    ...In other words, the key to reaching men is to get them serving. 

Another popular approach is to help men discover their gifts.  Almost every church I work with has some highly visible and promoted venue for helping men and women discover their gifts.  The logic goes like this:

• Everyone has a spiritual gift
• You should discover yours
• Good stewardship demands it
• Personal fulfillment requires it
• Our church needs it
• Sign up now

The problem is not with the logic but with the assumption that gifting usage (i.e. serving) is "core".  Consider the question, "What is more foundational - gifting or character?"  If it is character, then why are assessments and applications for gifting highly visible in churches while assessment and development for character are conspicuously absent. Getting men connected and serving is a good thing, but it is too ancillary and inadequate to develop lifelong players.

If we are to change men from spectators to players, we must consistently, intentionally, and effectively equip them at their core to follow Christ, not as a course they take but as a direction they pursue, not as a Sunday activity but as the "set" of their heart...a way of life.

In the Old Testament, the phrase "set of his heart" was used frequently as the reason for a king's success or failure.  Rehoboam did not "set his heart on the Lord" and it led to evil (2 Chronicles 2:14).  But Ezra "set his heart" to seek God and he prospered (Ezra 7:10).  Reading the account of the kings of Judah in 2 Chronicles reveals that many started well but ended poorly.  Their destiny and legacy had to do with the "set" of their hearts.  Their examples illustrate that setting our hearts on the Lord is neither automatic nor permanent.  I think "setting their hearts to seek the Lord" was the Old Testament version of New Testament discipleship.

Our ministry to men must fundamentally equip them to set their hearts on Christ and not simply use them to serve our cause.  The battlefield is strewn with the bodies of men who were used but not equipped.  They were talented, willing and we had a need.  We plugged them into our ministry of service, but eventually they collapsed from fatigue, discouragement, or disillusionment.  Some keep serving but there is no passion, no spark, no fire.

Equipping men to set their hearts to follow Christ as a lifestyle is built around our spiritual core.  The core, using Michael Behe's term, is the "irreducible complexity" of discipleship. 

By irreducibly complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning.  (Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution)

I would suggest that our spiritual core, the irreducible complexity, is made up of three interdependent, essential pursuits:
    · Knowing Christ deeply:  our vertical relationship
    · Reflecting Christ authentically:  our inward relationship
    · Sharing Christ intentionally:  our outward relationship

If we want men on the spiritual playing field and not just serving snacks in the stands, we must equip them to strengthen and maintain their spiritual core.  We cannot do it for them, but we can teach them how.  We can create opportunities for instruction, practice, encouragement, and celebration. 

So how effective is your core training? Are your men aware of what is essential?  Are they intentional at developing and maintaining it?   On a scale of 1-10, how would you assess your own life in these three pursuits?

In the months ahead we will look at the kind of culture that develops the core, that sets and keeps a man's heart on Christ.