Doug preaches for one of the CoC congregations in Huntsville, Alabama, and writes a weekly column for the Times. This is a unique Mother's Day message -- to husbands/fathers.
Dan
'Soul Food' Columnist Doug Mendenhall
What men can ponder in a rose-scented church
Friday, May 06, 2005
Huntsville Times
Good morning, ladies. I have nothing else to say to you today. Please give this page to your husband or son or dad and go make better use of your time.
Gentlemen, it is almost Mother's Day, and you and I both know what that means.
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No. 1, all the good restaurants will be stuffed.
No. 2, on Sunday morning, everything will be pastel-colored and rose-scented, with a sweet, touching sermon about the importance of the gentler sex.
So let's don't replow that field. Instead, I want to remind you that Christianity is not a pastel sort of religion. Think of this as counter-programming, like showing \"Heidi\" during the Super Bowl.
Yes, Jesus welcomes women as much as men. The Apostle Paul writes, \"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.\"
But still, guys, look back at the early days and remind yourselves that Christianity is a rough and tumble, guts and muscle undertaking.
Even if you haven't seen that bloody movie about His death, you've heard the stories about Jesus' life, how He walked into the sophisticated, educated and constipated setting of the temple, made His own whip and went on a one-man rampage that Chuck Norris could never match. Plenty of temple guards and even more vigilantes were around to stop Him, but they didn't have the guts. Jesus did.
Jesus was a carpenter's son, and I've been around enough carpenters to know you don't want to arm wrestle one.
A bunch of His best friends were professional fishermen. Not the kind with endorsement packages and their own TV shows. The kind who smelled like fish year-round. The kind who knew as they hauled in a net that if it was empty they'd have to haul in the next one on empty stomachs. The kind not even the carpenters wanted to arm wrestle.
Another of His best friends was a streetfighter. An insurgent, we'd call Simon the Zealot today. He believed the only good Roman soldier was a dead one, and if a knife in the back would do the trick, it was fine by him.
A couple of his best friends were nicknamed \"The Sons of Thunder.\" Think they sat around quietly discussing what color to upholster the pews? They said what they thought, straight up and loud.
Most of His best friends were from the sticks. Every time they went to a big city and opened their mouths, people knew from their accents that they were Galileans. Made fun of them the way they do good ol' boys who visit New Yawk.
Ever read about all the stuff Paul went through? Flogged, lashed, beaten with sticks, stoned, shipwrecked three times and plenty more in the list he makes in 2 Corinthians. One time a poisonous snake bites him and is hanging from his hand, but he just shakes it off into the fire and goes about his business.
What's my point? Jesus and his followers weren't wimps. You know how Jesus died, and all but one of those rough and rugged apostles died equally horrible deaths that they could have gotten out of just by turning their backs on him. But they didn't because they were real men and they were real Christians.
That's my point, and I want you to think about it Sunday, even if the church smells like roses and the sermon is about the beauty of motherhood.
Yeah, that's important, but the truth is that the church needs more real men who are really committed to the cause.
Think about that, if you have the guts, because your mothers and wives and daughters are counting on you.
Doug Mendenhall serves up Soul Food each week. E-mail him at [a href=\"mailto:dougm@htimes.com\"]dougm@htimes.com[/a] .
:applause: :clap: :preachit:
me likey. :thumbsup:
Very good! :givingkiss:
That's lovely.
Now where's my pastel rose bouquet and my wonderful restaurant lunch?