El Machismo

Once again, a few thoughts about obstacles to discipleship in Latin America.

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El Machismo
(The Obstacle of the Insular Man)

Related to the previous factor, we must confess that Christian culture in Latin America has done little to ameliorate the impact of machismo in the lives of most believers. The tendency to only allow one half of the Christian population a voice in the spiritual community has resulted in the loss of wisdom, sensitivity and perspective in the church as a whole during the past fifty years.

Still, the most dangerous aspect of machismo as it relates to discipleship has nothing to do with women, but with Latin men themselves. Machismo does not permit men to admit weakness or difficulty to themselves or each other. Because of this, it often becomes difficult to achieve a level of authenticity within the discipling relationship. Concepts and ideas can be discussed, but the process breaks down in the level of transparency and personal application.

Machismo has also resulted in Christian leadership being given as a prize to effective, political in-fighting as opposed to being the natural result of effective discipleship resulting in evident multiplication. Once again, the problem of the strongman is closely related.

Finally, it should be acknowledged that Jesus broke some cultural molds in His relationships with women. Machismo limits Latin men’s ability to respond in a biblical fashion to how Jesus interacted with the women in His life and culture.