A Message for Church Men
- Strength For Life
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
One standout characteristic of churches that are pleasing to God is that they have men. By that I don’t mean that men come merely to fill a seat on a Sunday morning, or even on a Sunday night or a Wednesday night. Rather, churches that please God have men who lead their families to be engaged in the worship service. Biblical churches are convictional because the men worship with conviction. The godly father, the Christ-like husband, does not sit through church worship with his arms cynically folded across his chest. He's not sleepy during the service. He's also not silent during church. Rather, he is intentional and deliberate about worshiping God. His family can see it in him.
This man—who is the leader of his home—opens a hymnbook during church and reads the words. He sings those words even if he knows he's not the best singer. His voice is bold when he proclaims, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” He sings “Onward, Christian Soldiers” with conviction. During the preaching, this man is eager to hear his preacher herald the truth because, after all, he loves biblical truth. When he hears the truth he loves, he verbally identifies it as true by saying “amen.” Such a man doesn’t reserve his “amen” for times when the preacher is dynamic or bombastic. The preacher could be mellow or monotone, but when a godly man who is leading his family in worship hears the truth of God, he can't help but publicly identify himself with that truth. His “amen” declares and supports the truth.
The godly man understands that God is the priority of the service. His local church preacher might be peeling back the layers of John 3:16, preaching about the doctrine of the incarnation, explaining the substitutionary atonement, or proclaiming Christ's victorious resurrection. When he does, that church should be filled with shouts of “amen” because the room is full of men who are leading their families to worship the Lord.
Someone once asked me if I thought women should be saying “amen” in church. I responded that, yes, of course, women should verbally agree with the truth. There's nothing wrong with that. I encourage saying “amen” for both men and women. Sometimes while I'm preaching, I'll hear my wife say “amen,” and it encourages me. I’m encouraged by the many women saying “amen” at our church. After all, Psalm 150:6 says, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord." The last time I checked, women have breath. When women hear the truth from the pulpit, they should happily say “amen.” But I also say to the men: don't let your wives out-amen you! Don't let your children out-sing you! You should lead the way. A church with godly, masculine leadership is full of men who are eager to extol God because He is worthy. By the way, our church, NorthStone Baptist, possesses that kind of masculine energy—a Christ-like energy. Our church has nearly tripled in size over the last four years. One reason we've experienced this growth is that our men have been awakened to their responsibility as leaders, and many of them have embraced it. Women and children want to be in a place where strong men are humble enough to adore an infinitely stronger God. Women and children take heart when they see men on bended knee during a church invitation or when they see their husband and father enthusiastically singing hymns like “There's Power in the Blood.” They love to follow his leadership when he is tuned in and hearing the voice of God through the preaching of the Word of God.
Men, our families need to see us worshiping God and need to see that the worship of God is a priority to us. Men are responsible for maintaining the spiritual vitality of a worship service in the local church. If men are derelict in that responsibility, women will fill the vacuum with a feminine energy. These things ought not to be so; it is not God’s design. If our country is ever going to experience revival, it will start with men understanding their biblical responsibilities. May God help Christian men to act like men in a 1 Corinthians 16:13 kind of way—with charity, and all for God's glory.
The above article was written by Pastor James C. Johnson. He is the pastor of NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fl. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.
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