From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

The institutional church, in America and most other parts of the world, has become horribly feminized with tragic results.  According to Scripture the true Christ, and true Christianity, are uncompromisingly masculine in character.

According to a 2016 study by the Pew Research Center, males in many parts of the world are rejecting Christianity but embracing Islam because they consider it to be the more masculine religion.[1]

And no wonder. Evidence of the feminization of what is falsely called Christianity abounds.

The Tragic Facts

I was reminded of the feminization of the institutional church a few years ago when I viewed video of the procession of over a hundred lace-skirted priests of Rome - men un-Biblically forbidden to marry (1 Timothy 4:3) - at the funeral of U. S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia.

I am reminded of the feminization of the institutional church every time I see guys (I refuse to call them men, no matter how many children they may have sired), who should be old enough to know better, going into a so-called church service dressed like kindergarten dropouts, sporting the common uniform of a sloppy T-shirt, shorts, flip-flops or sneakers, and a baseball cap turned backward. Their wives (or, increasingly, their live-in partners in fornication) are often dressed more like men than they are.

I am reminded of the feminization of the institutional church every time its male leaders fail in their duty to deal with heresy and immorality in their midst, because they fear offending someone in the congregation rather than truly fearing the Lord. At one time the doctrines at issue were the virgin birth of Christ and the inerrancy of the Bible. Today the doctrine at issue are the very definition of male and female. And yes, the definition of male and female is foundation doctrine, one of the first stated in the entire Bible (Genesis 1:27). But as one secular commentator recently put it,

...[A]n expert on the transgender movement...offered startling information on why the Left vehemently pushes transgenderism: If you can convince the populace that male and female are arbitrary markers, you can get people to believe anything. The Left's assault on objective reality is their primary tool of control.[2]

Many pastors, even among self-described evangelicals, are giving in to this assault - and the church is believing anything and everything.

I am sickened by the feminization of the church every time I pass a sign advertising a woman as "pastor," or a husband and wife as so-called "co-pastors", both contrary to Scripture.

I am reminded of it every time I contemplate the sad phenomenon of wiggling women "worship leaders" and their gyrating male counterparts on the pulpit-less stages of thousands of so-called churches across America, leading congregations in a counterfeit worship that is merely an appeal to "all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16).

I am also reminded of the feminization of the church every time I contemplate the fact that millions are exposed to limp-wristed portrayals of "Jesus" in the media and in entertainment productions, and that apostates led by the likes of Dr. Tony Campolo encourage church-goers to "get in touch with the feminine side of Jesus."

Feminization is a key characteristic of the counterfeit Christianity that America's institutional, post-Evangelical, post-Protestant church culture has exported to the rest of the world, in place of the one true faith.

None of this in any way justifies male embrace of the demon-god of Islam, who is a cruel, sadistic, woman-hating, child-sacrificing perversion of the Almighty Triune God of the Bible. The followers of Islam sacrifice their sons and daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood (Psalm 106:37-38). But if men are indeed embracing Islam for its so-called "masculinity" and rejecting Christianity as effeminate, it shouts this fact: The church has failed to present Christ as He truly is, and authentic Christianity as it truly is.

The Christian Balance

We must view this matter in Biblical balance. We read in Acts 1:14 that "the women" were among the one hundred and twenty in the upper room, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit which occurred at Pentecost. No doubt, these were the women that Luke often spoke of in his Gospel record, since this is a phrase he also used in that book. Who were some of these women? There was Mary Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons. There were other women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, and had ministered to Him along the way as He moved toward Jerusalem and the Cross.

These same women, the Gospels tell us, looked on from a distance as Jesus suffered and died on the Cross. They also came and sat opposite the tomb and observed where Jesus had been buried. And early on the first day of the week, some of these same women were the first to discover the empty tomb, and to learn from the angel that Christ had risen from the dead.

Throughout His ministry, and even in the providential acts of His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus gave special - and in those days unaccustomed - status to women. He dealt with women as God commands every man to deal with every woman, in a continual pattern of kindness, respect, and sympathy that was simply not the way either Jewish or Gentile men treated women in that day. He also made it clear that although there is to be male authority in the church, women are not to be spiritual second class citizens. Through the Holy Spirit, after His ascension Jesus taught that men are to love their wives as He loved the Church, and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:22-33).

Christ Was No Weakling

But the Christ of the Bible who treated women (and children) with such kindness is no limp-wristed weakling. The Man who cleansed the Temple - not once but twice (John 2:13-16 and Luke 19:45-48) - is a man's man. He was physically capable of single-handedly driving out the merchants, the moneychangers, and their merchandise from an area that covered more than ten acres. The Lord Jesus Christ was a mighty man, like David of old, who said in Psalm 18, "By You I can run against a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall."

Jesus Christ is truly the Son of David according the flesh. He is a mighty man of valor. Our God manifest in the flesh is the mighty God, not a weakling. He "was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:3-4). He is the One who is coming again, in power and glory, leading the armies of Heaven, to bring final judgment upon this present sin-cursed earth:

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:11-16)

True Christians Are Not Called To Be Weaklings

Those who are truly Christ's are commanded to think and act in view of the true nature of Christ. A literal rendering of 1 Corinthians 16:13 reads:

Be watchful and vigilant [lest spiritual calamity overtake you], stand firm and persist in the faith, show yourselves to be men, be made strong [by God] and increase in strength.

It is important to note that this is an exhortation to all members of the church, both male and female. The man-like strength in which both Christian men and women are commanded to live is not our own, but our Lord's. He has promised it to those who will seek it:

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith... (Ephesians 3:14-17)

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:10-11)

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (Colossians 1:9-12)

This is the Christ, and this is the Christianity, that His true Church must proclaim to the world - a Christianity that can run against a troop of Satanic adversaries, and leap over walls of ungodliness, and not a spiritually or physically effeminate counterfeit.

References:

1. Bradford Richardson, "Men Are Fleeing Christianity, But Embracing Islam", The Washington Times, Thursday, March 24, 2016, as viewed at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/24/men-fleeing-christianity-not-islam-report

2. Jeff Davidson, "A Country I Do Not Recognize", January 13, 2024, as viewed at https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffdavidson/2024/01/13/a-country-i-do-not-recognize-n2633585

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