Review: Why Men Hate Going to Church

I picked up David Murrow's updated and revised edition of "Why Men Hate Going to Church" with much enthusiasm and hope. As one who has trouble with finding a good church or just plain finding motivation to go to church, I was hoping to find something to relate to in this book. The book ended up pointing out that my feminine qualities are more predominant than I thought, which leads me to wish there was a book entitled "Why Conservative Introverts Hate Going to Church."

That said, I did gain a lot of insight into men through this book. Murrow's premise revolves around the fact that male values are completely different from female values and that the church focuses more on those feminine values. Worship and church-speak, for example can focus on the "relationship" and on loving God, which Murrow says leaves many men with the wrong idea of "I can't love God. That would be homosexual." That specific reference is a small part of Murrow's book, so don't be offended by it.

Murrow states that men in general (that is, men who do not possess more feminine values and characteristics, not to say that those men who are more feminine are not still men) like action and need to be given positions of leadership and active ways to serve, such as repairing buildings, as well as more visual ways to learn. Women do not mind more manly attributes, but men see feminine attributes in the church as wimpy.

While some of Murrow's thoughts are confusing or contradictory (especially when it comes to what worship in the church should be like), overall, he provides plenty of Biblical support and interesting, proven successful ideas for mentoring men spiritually and keeping them involved in church.

4/5 Stars

* I received a free copy of this book from Book Sneeze for my honest review of it.