Man to Man

For two months now we’ve been talking about “Healthy Relationship Hacks” for both men and women. I hope they’ve been insightful and helpful. At the end of our lives, it will be our relationship with God and others that really matters… Are you ready to meet God face-to-face? Who can help you get ready? Will anyone be standing at your bedside when you breathe your last breath? What relationships have you nurtured and grown?

What about your relationship with God and His forever family, the church? The church is God’s body. He created it for Himself and as a family to supply unity, growth, and stability in our lives. But His family is under assault, and it’s coming from the inside. It’s difficult to admit it, but one of the church’s biggest problems is men today because so many men are A.W.O.L. (absent without leave) from their families, churches, and communities.

Consider these facts:

• There are over 113,000,000 men in America over 15 years of age. Almost 70,000,000 men have not made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
• Only 1 man in 18 is involved in growing his faith.
• Over 70% of men watch pornography.
• The typical church congregation is 61% female, and 39% male.
• Almost 25% of married church going women attend church without their husbands.
• Over 70% of boys raised in church will abandon it during their teens and never return.
• 40-50% of recent marriages will end in divorce.
• We have become a fatherless country, and 33% of the 72 million children go to bed without their biological father in the home.
• 93% of all incarcerated inmates are men, and 85% have no father figure. Most do not love or have a relationship with their father.

While that is distressing, there is hope. For instance, look at all of you. You are reading this because you care about relationships and a relationship with God matters to you.

As you grow in your walk with Jesus and tell other men about Him, helping them grow spiritually, you positively impact their family, their church, and their community.

Look at these statistics:

• If a child is the first person in a family to come to Christ, there is a 3.5% probability that everyone else will follow suit.
• If mom comes to Christ first, this number climbs to a 17% probability that the rest of the family will do so as well.
• However, if dad comes to Christ first, this rockets to a 93% probability that the entire family will come to Christ. There is something wired in all of us that causes the wives and children to follow dad’s lead.

I bet you never realized how important you are! As we approach Easter Sunday, take time today, to consider where you stand in your relationship with Jesus Christ. If you and He aren’t really on speaking terms, decide to change that. Begin the relationship that matters more than any other. Don’t wait. Start today! Tell Him you want to be His friend. You want to know His plan for your life…the reason you were created and purpose you are to fulfill. He’ll answer. He’s just been waiting for you to ask!