As I sat on my sofa, first thing on Sunday morning, I thought to myself; "The last thing I want to do right now is get up, out of my seat, and walk to Church." This is not a new feeling for me. it comes and goes from time to time. It's something that I have attempted to articulate before. "Why men hate going to Church" (http://www.threedays.co.uk/2006/09/21/why-men-hate-going-to-church/) and (http://www.threedays.co.uk/2006/06/27/church-the-cross-we-must-bare/) "Church, the cross we must bare." But I have never been satisfied with my conclusions or been able to reconcile them with my earnest belief that Church is an important and necessary part of our our Christian lives. However, this last Sunday morning, something dawned on me.
Sunday is my day of rest. I'm a busy boy with a very full Monday - Saturday. Sunday is the day where I do not do any work at all if I can help it. Watch sport, play golf, spend time with friends and family. This is what I like my Sundays to be about. It's a rest day.
My ideal Sunday morning is sitting in front of Sky Sports (Sunday Supplement, Goals on Sunday, Super Sunday) with a mug of coffee and some breakfast. Then, after a light lunch, play 18 holes. Sunday is the only chance I get to indulge in such pleasures and Church just gets in the way. I wondered if this is in fact the reason why the numbers of men is Church is in decline. Basically, I'm fairly typical. I like my day off. I like to relax. I like to watch the game. Church doesn't tick any of those boxes.
What I (or we, the Church) do about it I'm not sure. However, if this is the simple problem; guys like to watch sport more than they like to go to Church, then we have been over complicating the issue. Maybe the problem isn't some deep, institutional, feminization of Christianity. Maybe it's just that Churches don't generally show Sky Sports!
