There is a serious masculinity crisis in churches across the world.
Take America, for instance. In 2003, the typical church attendance in the U.S. was comprised of only 39 percent males; 90 percent of churches struggled to maintain a vibrant men’s ministry; and more than 70 percent of boys, raised in church, abandoned it in their teens and 20s. Most never returned.
In America alone, these numbers are alarming when we consider the future of the church. But the epidemic is worldwide.
Where manhood in the church is missing, society offers an infinite smorgasbord of hyper-manhood that appeals to most men but, in reality, does hardly anything to help them become real men.
In a world awash in porn, more and more men are falling prey to hell’s master plan, where intimacy is destroyed in the false pursuit of intensity and where the prize for real masculinity is forfeited for fleeting pain-pleasure. When the body of Christ suffers from emasculated manhood, it becomes shamefully ineffective. We need real men to fight the battles of our time.
Let’s face it: There’s a lot of hurt in the world today. Listen to the lyrics of song hits from the 1940s and up, and you’ll see innocence gradually replaced by pain, torment, anger and misogynistic sex.
We’re past Generation X, where nihilism is no longer just abstract philosophy—it’s the new reality. So many people try to make sense of the fragmented pieces of their lives, trying to fill an insatiable void in their soul.
Many women battle with emotional fulfillment, while their male counterparts struggle with sexual temptation—and all this goes back to the root of the problem: hurt. If there’s anything we’ve learned from working on the Conquer series, it’s looking beyond the symptoms and dealing with the cause.
People medicate their pain and get caught in a noose of addiction, whether it’s food, alcohol or pornography. It’s all a form of escape.
According to brain experts, pornography changes the mapping of your brain. In a nutshell, it makes you numb and dumb.
So when women wonder why men are not stepping up to their role as fathers, husbands, leaders and friends, they need to understand that these men are wounded warriors but have every potential of being the heroes they dream of.
Every Woman’s Answered Prayer
The Conquer series is a five-part teaching series. It’s not just another study tool, but it’s a battle plan for men to identify and retrace the real issues in their lives that have held them back from becoming the man God has called them to be. It’s every wife, mother’s—woman’s—answered prayer for the men in their lives.
Sexual integrity has been a “no zone” topic in the church for so long, but it’s usually here that we find real transparency and integrity once men are able to get rid of the denial structures they’ve built around themselves. Each DVD is like a piece of God’s armor that men can learn to use.
Besides the compelling and in-depth teaching in the series, we also include inspiring testimonies from real-life heroes. These are famous athletes, artists, speakers and experts. The series is also pumped with adrenalin. We’re including re-enactments based on our host’s experience in battle.
Our host, Dr. Ted Roberts, was a Marine fighter pilot in Vietnam. You’ll be watching action-packed dogfight scenes and dramatic reconstructions based on his powerful testimony.
Jeremy Wiles is the executive producer and director of the Conquer series. For the original article, visit conquerseries.com.