Christian Men...Too Wimpy?

Coughlin contends that the Christian man in America has become passive, straitjacketed by a church culture that insists he emulate a version of Christ who is mild to an extreme, almost "wimpy" in some eyes. This Jesus avoids confrontation, is overly patient and is devoted -- to a fault -- to the dictum "turn the other cheek."

Coughlin can be blunt; in his book, he calls this version of Jesus the "Bearded Lady."

"The fact is," he told the gathering, "a meek and mild Jesus eventually is a bore. He doesn't inspire us." The same applies, he argued, to a meek and mild man. "Those men end up divorced," Coughlin said. "Their wives find them boring. They have no -- I call it the 'jalapeno factor' -- in them. There's no inner heat that causes them to actively, assertively go out and do what needs to be done as a man."

'Who Doesn't Want to Look at a Naked Lady?'

Stine, once he'd finished his stand-up act, took a more serious turn, encouraging his audience to acknowledge that Christian men face challenges that they cannot talk about in church, or, as a rule, in front of women -- namely, the fact that men, including happily married Christian men, lust for other women, and that they are attracted to pornography even if they believe it is sinful.

"Who doesn't want to look at a naked lady?" he asked, the rhetorical question you'll never hear on Sunday. Stine's point: That's why a Christian hooked on pornography -- "some of you are addicted," he intoned, without requesting a show of hands -- may simmer in shame indefinitely, rather than ask for help to stop.

GodMen ends with Stine asking those who want to "join the tribe" to step forward and accept a series of assignments to complete at home, like memorizing some scripture or volunteering at a soup kitchen. Stine is interested in hearing back from those who try.

"You're the guinea pigs," he told the audience. "We're still figuring this out."