Several times a year men are treated to a men step up sermon, with the veneer of balance offered by the preacher telling the ladies to be patient and support the men, not realizing how imbalanced that is, setting up the female morality superiority complex that defines western faith… Men seem to love self effacing, to nod and weep yet again, to rererererererererecommit to be better men…..again…..literally crying while the self satisfied wife empathizes and rubs circles on his back in support. Its a SICK dynamic, and its rotting men from the inside.

— conservativation/empathologicalism

Empath’s vivid description of the modern Church keeps popping into my mind lately. The driving force behind this obsession with only correcting men is a mixture of a very unbiblical view of women and pure cowardice. As reader Jonathan Cooper explains, pastors are terrified of correcting women:

Yes, preaching on women’s responsibilities is a great idea. I have seen it done. The women revolt and the pastor is quickly fired. I have heard supposedly Christian women flatly say they will never, ever, ever submit to their husbands or obey what the Bible has to say about their role. The problem is not a lack of knowledge; it is a lack of obedience. As long as civil and criminal law is on their side they will continue to behave as they do. After all, they have every incentive to rebel. Who is going to stop them? The church? The government? The media?

What makes the practice of only correcting men all the more craven is how this goes against all principles of leadership. Whether you are in business or the military, only the very worst leaders reprimand a subordinate leader in front of his own subordinates unless they are going to immediately take them out of their leadership role. Even then, doing so has the risk of undermining the position itself. If generals make a habit of criticizing lieutenants (even just those who are performing poorly) in front of enlisted men, even good lieutenants will find it very difficult to lead. This is an awful practice in cases where there is generally good discipline, and the very worst thing a leader can do in cases where the authority of leadership is already in question.

In the case of the Church pastors are repeatedly criticizing husbands and fathers in front of their wives and children, and they are doing this with full knowledge that the wives are already in open revolt. This is after all why they won’t ever speak on topics the wives disapprove of.

Then they walk away and expect the father to act in the role of head of the household.