My father was a member of all-male civic organizations and “the men’s” Sunday school class at our church. That appeal was not passed on to me. I have not belonged to an exclusively male group since Boy Scouts.

When college football coach Bill McCartney launched “Promise Keepers” in 1990, he drew masses of men to high-energy rallies. As a journalist, I attended several of these events including the massive “Stand in the Gap” rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in 1997.

While I never felt drawn into the movement personally, I saw it meet a need within a lot of men. The messages, primarily, were positive and needed ones about taking responsibility and making family life a priority.

Of course there was enough masculine stuff to keep the guys’ interest. Coming out of the emotional events, busloads of men would journey home with newfound energy and commitments.

Back home, one young man told me he had helped form an all-male “accountability group” that met on Saturday mornings to encourage each other in their family responsibilities. He invited me to join.

I graciously declined, noting that I like to spend Saturday morning making pancakes for my kids. A couple of drops of batter to each side of the pancake will look like ears. Just add chocolate chips for eyes, the end of a strawberry for the nose and a banana slice for the mouth — and, wah-lah, you have an appreciated work of art.

Growing up in a culture that valued machismo, I understood that men were to be tough, hardworking and unemotional. Occasionally some tenderness would break through — usually during the invitation or testimony time at church — and I always found that refreshing and even desirable.

During my nearly half-century of life the roles of women in society — and much more slowly in church — have changed dramatically. It has been encouraging to see opportunities for women to use their gifts in ways once restricted.

Not all aspects of the feminist movement — or “women’s liberation” as it was once called — have been positive. Many women will tell you they have burned out from trying to be and do too much at the same time. Overall, however, both women and men have much to celebrate about these cultural changes.

Most of my theological wrangling over the years has focused on what is means to be a Christian person rather than a “biblical male.” While never denying the differences in genders, the Bible seems to focus more on what it means to be a follower of Jesus rather than a male or female disciple.

So I am intrigued by the effort of some Baptists today to advocate for an understanding of “biblical manhood” that emphasizes male headship and dominion. The most obvious example in Baptist life is at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. The campus houses an organization known as the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Its director, Randy Stinson, is also assistant professor of gender and family studies.

Stinson and others at the seminary denounce “egalitarian” marriage in which husband and wife share equal responsibilities for decision making. Southern Seminary Dean Russell Moore told the Evangelical Theological Society last November that “egalitarians” are winning the day even in the homes of evangelical Christians — and he doesn’t like it.

“Egalitarians are winning the gender debate because evangelical complementarian men have largely abdicated their biblically ordained roles as head of the home,” said Moore according to Baptist Press. He lamented that “practical decisions are made in most evangelical homes through a process of negotiation, mutual submission and consensus.”

Now that’s something to fear in a relationship — negotiation, mutual submission (which is called for in Ephesians 5:21) and consensus!

In the winter issue of the seminary’s magazine, The Tie, Stinson presents his view of “biblical manhood” and urges males to “do something that is a challenge to you. It may be to kill a bear or a lion …”

He also warns that messiness is “evidence of passivity,” a characteristic not appropriate to biblical manhood apparently.

“Your home, dorm room, garage, office and car should bear the mark of your masculinity as you subdue it and keep it in order,” adds Stinson.

Somehow I hear the Village People singing “Macho Man,” more than the teachings of Scripture.

My hope is that these young ministers — and husbands or husbands-to-be — will listen to other voices about what it means to a Christian person — and a man. Or, perhaps, they will just read the broader biblical message and see how Jesus related to women at a time when the larger culture considered them of little value.