by Laura C. Jackson | Making a Difference
Pastor Eric C. Redmond has heard all of the excuses before. The church is full of hypocrites. Some churches are just after your money. I don’t need to go to church to worship God.
When Redmond began examining why men don’t attend church, he noticed several common objections. He intended to respond to some men’s concerns with brief, written responses, but his thoughts eventually became a soon-to-be-released book, ‘‘Where Are All the Brothers: Straight answers to men’s questions about the church.”
‘‘Now I hope to place a book in their hands,” said Redmond, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Temple Hills. He designed the book to address some of the topics men talk about in the local barbershop.
Redmond says most church leaders haven’t told men about the high calling God has placed on their lives. Indeed, he says, men are supposed to lead their families, bring provision into the home, contribute to society and impact the next generation.
‘‘We never tell men that God has something great for them,” Redmond said. ‘‘Instead, we’ve just accepted things as they are. We have these huge churches with million-dollar budgets that succeed because of the efforts of spiritual, hard-working African-American women and a few men.”
The results: a disproportionate number of homes headed by single moms, high numbers of pregnant teens who don’t have guidance from fathers, too many men in the penal system and wayward young men dropping out of school.
In his book, Redmond goes to the heart of men’s objections -- and then challenges men to confront the problems they see in their local houses of worship.
‘‘I address their concerns and tell them, ‘You are part of the solution,’” he said. ‘‘Just because you’ve seen something skewed in the church doesn’t mean you can give up on God.”
The book also can serve as a helpful tool to wives, mothers or family members who have felt frustrated by loved ones who would rather sleep in or wash their cars than go to church on Sunday.
‘‘A lady could give this book as a nonthreatening gesture to a man who doesn’t come to church because I speak to the man,” he said.
Wives who are hurt or angered by their husbands’ lack of church attendance can succeed eventually if they’re willing to pray and not say anything, he added.
‘‘As men, our egos get in the way,” he said. ‘‘We’d rather think we came to the idea of coming to church ourselves and not in response to a woman. Let your husband know that you’re praying for him and continue to serve him. As men, we are wired to fight back. As the wife, you have to get out of the way so there’s no one for him to fight.”
In his own congregation, Redmond said, a woman who’s been married for more than 45 years recently saw her husband finally begin a relationship with Jesus Christ.
‘‘In the last 10 years she really turned up her efforts by focusing on humility and backing away from the busy-ness of church as he requested, although she still came for worship,” Redmond said. ‘‘Now in his 70s, this man is a new believer who understands the mercy of God. The wife is enjoying her marriage more than ever because what’s most important to her is now important to him.”
The long years of waiting on her husband were all worth it, Redmond said. Men who attend church but lack spiritual passion notice this new believer’s testimony and zeal. And as for the happy couple, Redmond said, ‘‘They’ll spend all eternity rejoicing together.”
Eric Redmond
How he makes a difference: Redmond is the author of ‘‘Where Are All the Brothers,” a book that speaks directly to men about their objections to the church. Visit www.ericredmond.wordpress.com or e-mail sevenreds@gmail.com.
