Ideas for Men's Ministry (Part II)

Okay, this is Part 2 in the series of emails. Originally, Part 1 wasn't really "part 1" but the whole. But then as I thought about things, I realized that I really missed a huge chunk of what it means to be "in" Christian fellowship, and I wanted to make sure that I got everything down before I forget things. So I wrote the second part, and soon realized that there would be more than just part 1 and part 2, but in any case, here's what I wrote:

Part I was about things that are necessary for fellowship, but not necessarily sufficient. I hope that Part II will add the components that will be sufficient for real fellowship.

Here are more thoughts I had.

1. Christian Maturity. This is one of the things that not many people talk about, but it is sort of assumed by everyone. Maybe it isn't talked about much because it is such an individual thing.

Everyone has different life experiences, different set of parents with different fathers, and so they have different starting points with different rates of speed in terms of emotional, mental and spiritual stability. But we have a responsibility, and this responsibility means that we have to, we must be more than what we are. It is a duty that we have to live up to.

Hebrews 5-6:
Concerning [Jesus] we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

The "pressing on" (in the greek, 'pheros') refers to us allowing ourselves to be borne along like a ship in the wind, in this case by the Holy Spirit, and not stopping at the foundations of our faith.

There are two meanings of this passage here that hit me. The first is that I don't always do what I am supposed to do, and by this I mean that I am sometimes immature in my actions. And here's the point with respect to that. I am aware of my immaturity because I can sense when I am doing wrong or, at the least, I am not actively pursuing what is right. And while in a legal sense, and in a utilitarian sense, we are only obligated not to do evil, this is not enough for Christians. We are commanded by God to be perfect, to be holy, to be good, to do right, to be Christ-like. It is an imperative, and only those who are mature can understand what it means to be Christ-like.

And the second is that we ought to be teachers. Teachers are role-models. And teachers are those who lead. Teachers are those who are actively entrusted with the duty to teach, and not to stand by and watch. And teachers are those who act when those are students are unable to act. That's their job. That's what they are paid to do.

So Christian maturity is about leading by example, by actively instructing those who know less, and by permitting oneself to be borne on the Holy Spirit (like a ship in the wind) to become Christ-like. And this isn't an option, it is an imperative. By God.

2. Hierarchy and what leadership entails.
Leadership is not about commanding people about. And soldiering isn't about giving and receiving orders. What battlefield commanders know inherently is that victory is achieved through achievement in a series of little objectives that are coherent with reference to the overarching goal. Leadership is imbued in all of this, from the goal-seeking little objectives and the formulation and push toward the overarching goal. There is, at the top level, always, only one overarching goal, and leadership is the devolution of that goal. This is so important that I will repeat it - leadership is the devolution of the overarching goal.

2 Timothy
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

Much to talk about with this passage, but I will limit it to a few thoughts. First, Paul is exhorting Timothy to teach men who will then teach others. Paul believes in Timothy's maturity, and he hands Timothy's marching orders to teach. Paul = teacher. Timothy = teacher. Timothy's students = future teachers. Normal leadership implies two things - those that lead and those that follow. Christian leadership, however, implies THREE things - those that lead, those that follow, and those who follow who will become leaders. Christian leadership is a cascade.

Now, what is the overarching goal of Christians? Well, it is debatable I guess, but my feeling is that it has something to do with the simple premise of Fellowship With God. Fellowship with God is God's wish for us, and this is, really, it. The devolution of this goal is what Christian leadership should be.

Now, the men's ministry has its own group tag, and certainly the self-styled "band of brothers" group is a good name, coming from Shakespeare's Henry V, where Henry rallies his troops with these words that impart much feeling in the face of overwhelming odds and probability of certain death - "but we in it shall be remembered- we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; be he never so vile, this day shall gentle his condition; and gentlemen in England now-a-bed shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

But these original band of brothers, though horizontal in nature (all faced the same death by French sword on the same battlefield, and had faced the same lack of food supplies, the same disease of dysentary, and the same battle weariness of being so far from home), were still led by Henry V, who did what his duty was to do: lead his troops by example and by teaching what it means to be a soldier. And likewise, Christian hierarchy is leading by example, teaching to those who will teach, and to endure like soldiers. The brotherhood, the koinonia aspect of the band, is in the endurance of what it means to be a Christian, to share in the joys and in the sorrows (and recognizing that it is all good), and to be strengthened by the horizontal shared experience.

But the maturity aspect of Christianity will obligate those who are mature to teach and to lead, and to make future teachers. And that, to me, is what fellowship is. We who are mature lead by letting ourselves be led by the Holy Spirit and then to pass on what we are taught to those who will lead and, as we lead, so do we also follow and bear our hardships together.


-David