Does God Hate Men?

‘Men are the image and glory of God.’

-1 Cor 11.7

Men, you were born into a culture that hates you.

You have been told to sit down and pay attention nicely like the girls that surround you since your earliest years in school. When your naturally boyish and boisterous selves resist this environment, they pump you full of Ritalin and other drugs.

You are sent into schools where girls are naturally encouraged every step of the way but you are not. Girls do better in our current form of education and tests resulting in 35% more women than men going to University. More scholarships and grants are specially earmarked for women than men. A man and a woman of equal qualifications will often go for a job, but a woman is more likely to get it as it adds ‘diversity points’ to the business in the eyes of the government. If you are under 40 in the UK, you are earning less than your female co-workers. 

One-third of domestic abuse victims are men. 

You are 11 times more likely to die at the workplace than a woman.

You are 3 times more likely to be homeless. 

You are 99 times more likely to die in military combat. 

On average, men get a 65% longer the prison sentence for many of the same crime.

You have a 15% chance of winning your children in case of divorce.

You are 4 times more likely to commit suicide. 

In the UK, women retire 2 years earlier than men on average, even though they also live longer.

In spite of all these challenges, you're supposed to wear the label of 'privileged' because of your gender. 

Whereas once being a man meant something noble, young men are now viewed as nothing more than a Homer Simpson in the making. It used to be understood that there is something unique about being a man – that men and women are different and therefore naturally excel at different areas. Now such talk only invites the shrill mob of feminism to attack you, wielding the ill-defined accusations of ‘misogyny’ and ‘sexism'.You'll hear feminist and 'egalitarian' movements say that they don't hate men and are only for equality. But you notice how they never advocate in these areas where men are disadvantaged. They don't seem to care that more men than women are sewer workers. Why is that?

Most of you men aren't bitter about these inequalities. Most of you are willing to take a bullet on the combat field for your women back home. You're happy to dig ditches if it will enable you to provide for your woman and children at home. You're men. But under the banner of 'privilege', you now have guilt dumped on you for the crime of being male. 

In order to not get dumped on, you must ignore the reality, profess a faulted feminist ideology, and swear that you too are committed to 'smashing the patriarchy' (whatever that supposed to be).

Church

Sadly, it’s not just society. The church is no longer an encouraging place for you either. Here in the UK, only 37% of those worshipping on a Sunday are men. The music, the preaching, the decorations largely appeal to women. Whereas past epochs of church history resounded with robust masculinity under the leadership of reformers like Martin Luther or fiery church patriarchs like John Chrysostom, we now have ministers whose flowery talks are about as dangerous as a cup of warm Horlicks.

And this does not even begin to consider the recent overturnings of church leadership – be it bishops or eldership – being male. After nearly 2,000 of being led by men, we have gotten with the times in hopes that the cool kids will give us the thumbs up. Denominations that lead the way in embracing feminism 30 years ago have been wilting ever since. They are also the ones being most compromised by LGBT ideology right now. What man doesn’t want to get up early on Sunday morning and lead his wife and children to a church where he can hear yet another sermon against systemic male-hetero privilege by a feminist pastor?

Depending on the church, the singing part may not be all bad. But there are many churches where this is done in a pop love-song style with high notes that men struggle to reach. It's worse than the karaoke at the pub – and he’s expected to be sober.

This hurts both men and women. Many are spiritually widowed - worshipping at church while their husbands are home watching sport. When someone asks how the church can reach men better they are told that if men aren’t there that’s it their own fault.

Thankfully, the majority of women don't identify as feminists and most don't oppose men being men. Most Christian women want to help men share the gospel and war against demons. Many of us would not be where we are if it were not for the encouragement of spiritual sisters and mothers. We cherish and are grateful to these women for their love and support.

But the feminist minority is loud.

 The Glory

Men, even though clerics in high positions won’t say it, we need you. And we need you in a way that we don’t need the ladies (we do need them, but in another way). Society may hate men, but God does not.

Being masculine is not a joke or an insignificant part of your makeup as a person. God made you male for a purpose. Scripture declares that you 'are the image and glory of God'.  

Be that.

Be that without shame. Don’t apologise for being male – even if the plague of third-wave feminism pressures you to do so.

God made you that way to build civilisations, carve out roads in the wilderness, plant churches, lead governments, serve as elders, fight wars, take wives, and raise up families.

Society may hate men, but God loves men. And he loves you as men – not just as androgynous humans. Don’t throw away your masculinity when it comes to discipleship. Don’t waste your life with a neutered faith. You are his glory.

We need you to lead the charge against the gates of hell in this screwed up and confused generation. Everything will be against you. You will constantly be told you’re wrong. If you speak the truth, you’re called a bigot. If you lead, you’re called power-hungry. If you denounce sin, you’re called a hypocrite.

Do it anyway. 

(Download a FREE e-copy of our book: Elijah Devotional)

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This is an extract from Elijah Men Eat Meat: Readings to slaughter your inner Ahab and pursue Revival and Reform