The Purpose of Men’s Ministry
The church is the loveliest place on earth. Is it flawed? Yes. Sure the building’s AC unit never seems to work and it probably smells like water damage. But the sheep who make up the church are lovely as they cling to grace in faith despite sin. Do they sometimes bite? You bet. But they are the people on whom Christ has set his affections, promises, and presence. The church is the loveliest place on earth, and the church is the essential location for Christian growth.
My friend Caleb Bachelor describes it this way, “Your church is probably less healthy than you think, and God is undoubtedly using her more than you can imagine.” (p. 19, Visible Grace)
The local church is the place where boys become men of godliness to the glory of God. But in order for us to truly experience the means of grace that the local church is, we need to engage in meaningful ways and build deep relationships that help us follow Christ. We need to be making disciples of one another.
The main way that discipleship is happening in our church is in the Sunday gathering as the Word is preached, prayed, sung, and we are all united together in the gospel. We also gather in a Community Group at least twice a month to share our lives together and walk in fellowship.
But we’ve found in our church that extra structures of encouragement towards men are particularly helpful for their growth. Because men in our cultural moment must seek discipleship in a countercultural way. It’s not the norm for men to be deeply engaged in anything except maybe fantasy football, bitcoin, chasing a raise, or the golf course.
Women are encouraged to be better thinkers, to keep climbing the power ladder, and men are told to get out of the way. Today only 57% of male high school graduates attend college compared to 66% female graduates. And when you walk into a typical U.S. local church, it’s likely filled with women but the men are hard to find. On Mother’s day the pews are packed, but not so much on Father’s day.
All of this points to the fact that men are fighting against the current when they seek to cultivate a deep and abiding community. Men tend to like to appear strong, without the need for true community; to work hard, but not make disciples of one another. We can easily buy into the lie that if we are providing for our families, resisting impurity, and working hard, we’re pretty much crushing it as men.
But God wants men to be teachers of his Word, shepherds of our families, affectionate encouragers of others, and servant leaders in this world. We do need to work hard to provide for our families and seek purity, but we also need to be engaged in the church and taking spiritual leadership of our homes.
Our aim in Covenant Men is to help you do just that.
“Covenant Men exists to equip our men to be leaders in their area of influence, and to encourage discipleship among our men for the glory of God.”
We want to help you step up and lead, serve and shine with zeal for godliness, and call others to follow you. To make disciples of other men, be discipled, shepherd your homes, and serve in the church.
We do that by gathering in Bible studies throughout the year, pairing up in mentorships, gathering for breakfasts, and we hope to encourage you towards this through this podcast as well.
In the coming episodes you’ll hear from many men in our church on practical issues in life ranging from leading devotions, to transitioning out of college, to evangelism ideas. You’ll also hear testimonies, book recommendations, and encouragements from Scripture.
All of this is aimed to equip you to lead and make disciples in our church. Our Father doesn’t want his boys to step aside, shut up, and get out of the way. He wants us to lead, serve, and speak to lovingly bless others.
I’m so grateful that Covenant Fellowship is filled with many men who have done this for decades, and it’s my prayer that even more men are encouraged to similarly thrive as we share our lives together and go deeper into truth.
