Teaching for the Male Brain - Part II

[The following is an excerpt from David Murrow’s upcoming book, How Women Help Men Find God (Thomas Nelson Publishers).]

One of the reasons churchgoing men are not becoming more Christlike is that we give them too many things to work on. The male brain prefers to focus on one task, finish it, and then move on to the next one. This is the format of TV crime shows. Even though real-life investigators juggle dozens of cases at once, big-screen detectives tackle one crime until it’s solved. Men like it this way.

Consider how we teach in church. We send dozens of disparate messages each week. We expect people to make major life changes based on these teaspoons of truth.

Here’s an example. Sam goes to adult Sunday school, where he receives a lesson about generosity and giving. Then he reads a devotional story in the bulletin about the power of prayer. Sam sings praise songs that focus on God’s love and forgiveness. The sermon focuses on the importance of sharing your faith with friends and neighbors. The pastor quotes twelve scriptures and makes five main points.

Sam walks out of church and . . . forgets everything he heard. In truth, Sam would love to be more generous, have a better prayer life, experience God’s love in a deeper way, and be bolder in sharing his faith. But his brain simply cannot work on all these things at once. So, like a computer that crashes due to a data overload, Sam locks up in spiritual neutral.

Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois, may have found the answer. They’ve adopted a teaching strategy known as The Big Idea. Simply put, CCC and its affiliated churches focus all their weekly teaching on one main theme. Every class, small group, song, sermon, bulletin insert, announcement—everything is focused on one concept of the week.

Men, with their highly focused brains, love this approach. They walk out of church with one thing to work on. And this approach is spurring parishioners – both male and female — to action. For example, after presenting the big idea of reaching out to the less fortunate, one CCC group suddenly decided to cancel their Bible study that week in order to drive across town to help an impoverished church that had a need. The same message series inspired another group to perform a free home makeover for a needy single mom in the community. (Gentlemen, start your chop saws.)

The U.S. Army has been training a mostly-male fighting force for more than 200 years. Their method: tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. Focus all your communications on one theme, repeat it liberally, and watch your men suddenly begin to “get it.”

If you’d like to learn more about Community Christian Church and their Big Idea concept, click here.

About the Author

David Murrow is the author of Why Men Hate Going to Church. For more than twenty years he has produced and written television documentaries, commercials, and specials. He's won numerous awards for his production, writing, and creative skills. He's produced material for the Discovery Channel, NBC, ABC, Food Network, Travel Channel, Dr. Phil, The Miss America Pageant, and many others. He has owned Murrow Media, Inc., since 1987 and has a degree in Anthropology from Baylor University. He has served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and he and his wife have three children. Email David here.