One of the things he writes (also supported by Search Institute) is that women in general seem to display a more mature faith than men. He writes from his experience as a pastor, "In the church, men more often than women are dysfunctional in faith and practice." And with church attendance running about 60% female and 40% male (some less than that), it seems men are finding other things to fill up their lives with instead of Jesus.

Where are the men? Is it fair to blame the church’s condition solely on the men? Well, that would probably be a simplistic overstatement; nevertheless, as a man I’m willing to listen. Epp is calling men (and women) to make a decision of faith in Jesus and then live it. The church as a whole doesn’t seem to be doing that, and mostly it seems to be we men who are failing. What can we do? In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commands us, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. . .teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. . ."

As we practice the spiritual disciplines in our own lives, we should also take seriously the "discipline" and "teaching" part of Jesus’ command. Maybe, especially since we men aren’t doing so well, we should either be discipling someone or being discipled. But men in the church and in general don’t seem to "connect" as well as women do. But really, men, what is our excuse? Epp wrote this book some ten years ago, so maybe his thoughts are outdated. I still say we men need to repent of our laziness and report for duty.

Come on, gentlemen (ladies, too), with godly wisdom and in the power of the Holy Spirit, let’s fulfill our God-given roles at home and then in the church.