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Table of Contents
Laymen: Motivated to Honor and Ministry
Interview with Bill MacCarthney
To what do you attribute the great move of god in the lives of men across our nation? How can men impact our nation? our churches?
The way this thing has unfolded is like a mystery being unveiled—it keeps getting brighter and brighter until the full light of day (see Proverbs 4:18). As I have witnessed what God is doing with men, I trace it to 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing” (NIV). When the Israelites were released into the Promised Land, the Lord cautioned them not to marry or intermarry with pagan nations, because if they did, they would become just like the pagans. At this time in our nation, men have so caved into the culture you can’t tell who they are. Even guys who feel good about themselves—who get up in the morning and have devotions with God—have still compartmentalized the Lord. They don’t take Him into their day with them. Promise Keepers is a call out of God’s heart for men to be different, to stand up and show the present culture what the body of Christ is like, to bring light and salt and change the direction of morality in this nation. When we’re born into this world, we have God-given talents. And when we’re born again, we have spiritual gifts. The move of God is capturing the hearts of men, and they are going back to their churches, wanting to share their spiritual gifts. However, men have often gone to church to be inspired or educated but not to participate. As a result, the church is bankrupt. What we have is apathetic, indifferent, lukewarm men. But if they learn to use their spiritual gifts, the church will turn around. Pastors had better get ready, because when these guys come back from lay conferences they’re going to be on fire. They will say to their pastors: “Help me discover my spiritual gifts. Show me where I fit in. Show me how I can be a part of advancing the Kingdom.”
What challenges do pastors face as they minister to men, and how can they help men in these areas?
First, one of the biggest problems we’ve identified is prayerlessness. Men do not practice the presence of God. They don’t turn to Him in every situation and say, “This is a big decision. I need to take a moment and go before the Lord.” God is saying to men, “If you’re going to get excited about anything, get excited about your relationship with Me.” God calls leaders to lead by example. If pastors are people of prayer, then they will have fresh energy and conviction to call men out. When pastors who are prayer warriors—who really walk intimately with God—talk to men about prayer, men will respond. Second, men don’t learn like women do. The best example I can give is the way a football coach teaches the players. A coach’s philosophy is to tell the players what to do—tell them once and then tell them a thousand more times. That’s how men learn. Some pastors’ sermons don’t even connect with the men in the congregation. With men you keep things simple and direct. You have to start with the basics and end with a challenge. Finally, God has built into men to instinctively want to provide and protect. But they often don’t understand that the way you really protect is in the spiritual realm. I recently saw a quote that said, “It’s time men stopped being wimps.” The author’s definition of wimp was “a man who doesn’t take responsibility to be the husband and father God called him to be.” A man can provide the greatest protection for his family and feel like the kind of husband and father he should be if he is faithfully praying daily with his wife and children, inviting the power of the living God to come in and take authority. Pastors should be role models of this kind of life. If they can get the men in their churches on their knees, it’s a slam dunk. That’s what God wants.
Why is accountability among men so important?
That, again, taps into the masculine context. Men have to get past certain stuff. We’re told iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. So when a man learns to open up and be vulnerable and transparent and then others pray over him and love him in spite of the stuff he deals with, that kind of accountability will wash a man clean.
How do you get a man to be vulnerable and open up?
First of all, pastors have to be in a small group themselves—be accountable, transparent, and vulnerable. Pastors have to be people who will step up to the plate and bare their hearts. Here’s the irony of the whole thing: Even though God already knows all that is in a man’s heart, it’s still important for a man to learn to be transparent. Men will open up if it is modeled for them. If pastors want men to pray, they should pray. If they want men in small groups, they should be in a small group. If they want men to be transparent, they must be transparent. To produce young men with hearts for God, pastors and fathers have to have hearts for God. Men imitate their heroes. Just a quick example. Everyone knows that golf star Tiger Woods is hitting golf balls farther and drawing large crowds at PGA golf tournaments. Do you know what has happened to the other PGA golfers? They’re working to improve their swing and drive distance. That’s what men do for men. They reproduce what is modeled for them.
In your conferences, how do you promote men using their spiritual gifts?
We talk about the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14–30). We tell men they have gifts, and they can’t sit on them. They have to give them away, or they will be judged. After we worship and proclaim the Word of God and the person of Jesus Christ, we devote time to response—to confession and repentance. Then we express extraordinary hope. God has not quit on men. He hasn’t stopped calling out to them. We come together as men to take responsibility to do something. We’re going to come out from the society that has taken from us what we have to offer. When men go back home, the results show up in the local church. Men go back under the authority of a shepherd and submit and be part of what God would do in that assembly. God has called us to bring men together and then send them back home to their churches to give their spiritual gifts away. It’s working because the Spirit of God is penetrating their hearts. Pastors can’t be apathetic and indifferent. Men are saying to their pastors: “We have let you down. We have not stood with you, but we will today. Help us use our spiritual gifts.” Pastors must be ready to say: “OK. Here’s what you can do.” If pastors will mobilize and get everybody sharing their gifts, then the men in the church won’t feel let down. I’ll tell you how you can shut a guy down: don’t acknowledge his gifts; don’t let him use his gifts; don’t listen to him. Pastors can seriously damage the men in their churches by treating them this way. Pastors have to understand that the church breaks down when it doesn’t honor and validate God’s gifting inside men. When pastors see the value in how God has gifted men to do certain things and they are validating each other, then the men in the church will begin to use their spiritual gifts.
How can pastors motivate the men in their congregations to live godly lives?
Here’s a real key piece. We had 1.1 million men last year go to stadiums for men’s conferences. We researched and found that 62 percent admitted they struggle with sexual sin—pornography, adultery, and sensuality. Christians are caving into the culture. What pastors have to do is be pure themselves and then pray in the truth in all of its power and conviction. Men want the truth—Jesus’ truth. They want to be pierced to the depths of their being, to be called out. That’s what’s in a man. Motivate men to truth, and they will stand up and turn off the TV.
In Old Testament times, David went into a cave. Men went in with him—guys who were outcasts, yet they were called David’s mighty men (see 1 Samuel 22–24). You can’t be around a man of God in close quarters without tapping into what God has invested in him.
What is the benefit of getting men to come together in groups in the church?
You get a guy in a stadium with other men, and he looks around and says, “You know, I’m not so bad. Nobody’s looking at me.” Meeting together with other men sets a man free to relax. He’s not performing. He’s not being judged. He’s just participating.
You can create that in your church. You can’t always put a man with his children and wife on either side of him when he doesn’t have his life together. You have to help him get to the place where he can be everything his family needs him to be.
Get men together with men so they are not fearful or guilt-ridden. Then pretty soon, when they are with their families, they can participate fully in church.
What can pastors do when men come back from conferences like Promise Keepers?
The smartest thing a pastor can do the Sunday after men come home from a conference is not to preach. Let the men come up and share. If you let men get in front of your church and tell what God has done for them, then they will faithfully try to live it out. Let them speak while their hearts are tender, and the whole church will be ignited. It’s happening all over the nation.
How has Promise Keepers contributed to the spirit of unity and cooperation across denominational lines?
Denominational leaders use Promise Keepers as a catalytic entree to bring men together. For example, we recently brought together 40 to 50 men from different denominations. At first there was tension in the room. Although these were brothers in Christ, they were suspicious and guarded. Then the Spirit of God came down, and the next thing we knew these guys were knit together in the power of God’s Spirit.
We’ve also brought together ethnic leaders from different denominations. Here’s what happened when we brought in leaders from the Native Americans. They were from different tribes, so they had issues with each other. You know what happened? The Spirit of God came down, and soon they were all weeping and woven together. The same thing happened when we brought in 70 Hispanic gatekeepers from all over the world. The Spirit of God came down, and soon they were confessing their hard-heartedness. Walls were broken down right in our midst.
Let me give you another example. There is a tremendous increase in Catholics being born again. Men are coming back from conferences and saying, “Hey, I don’t have what they have.” Do you know what some of the different Catholic parishes are doing? They are printing in their bulletins that you must be born again.
And did you know more Jews have been born again in the last 14 years than in the last 1,400 years? They’re coming to Christ. God is bringing the Body together, and He’s breaking through all the things that have kept us apart.
What is your opinion on the impact the Assemblies of God is having on men?
The Assemblies of God is on the cutting edge of this thing with its HonorBound: Men of Promise programs. They are the pacesetters. Their literature and seminars for men are outstanding. I would encourage all Assemblies of God pastors to work with the national HonorBound department to establish men’s groups in their churches. They’re tapping into the masculine context in a way in which others are slow to pick up. Men want to be men of honor; they’ll submit to it.
Bill McCartney is CEO and founder of Promise Keepers, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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