​The manosphere moment is a wake-up call. If the Church doesn’t form young men, the culture will

There was a time when boys and young men had clearer reference points for what it meant to become a man. They looked to men who built, led, created and sacrificed, men who advanced society in science, engineering, business, exploration, the arts and sport. Imperfect, yes, but often carrying a sense of responsibility beyond themselves.

But even more than that, within the life of the Church, there were deeper heroes. Men of faith. Men whose lives pointed beyond themselves to God, to purpose, to sacrifice.

We saw it in the stories of Scripture: David, flawed yet courageous. Moses, reluctant yet obedient. Paul, relentless in mission. Jesus, the ultimate example of strength expressed through surrender.

And we saw it in our churches.

Men who prayed. Men who served. Men who showed up week after week not perfect, but present. Men who became quiet pillars of faith, shaping families, mentoring younger men, and modelling what it meant to follow Christ in everyday life.

Those men didn’t just teach theology. They embodied it.

Today, many young men are forming their identity in very different places.

The voices shaping them are increasingly found online — offering a version of masculinity that is loud, confident and compelling, but often disconnected from humility, service and truth.

Watching Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere, one image has stayed with me. Not the influencers. Not the controversy. But the pixelated faces of young men – queueing up, excited, eager, expectant, wanting to meet these figures, to learn from them, to become like them.

It’s easy to criticise what they are being drawn into.

It’s harder but far more important, to ask why they are going there in the first place.

Because these young men are not just consuming content.

They are searching for identity, direction, and belonging.

And if we’re honest, much of the Church has not been offering that clearly or consistently to men.

Not New. Now Visible

The manosphere hasn’t appeared out of nowhere. This moment has been decades in the making. Generations of broken men have led to a generation of lost boys, young men growing up without fathers, without mentors, and without a clear, compelling vision of biblical manhood.

In the UK, one in five children grows up without a father. We see the impact everywhere: in education, mental health, employment, and the justice system.

But behind the statistics is a deeper spiritual reality. A generation of men who have not been discipled into everything it is to be a Kingdom man.

For too long, men’s ministry has often been sidelined, under-resourced, or treated as optional. But this moment exposes the cost of that. Because when the Church is unclear about what it means to be a man, the culture will step in and define it instead. And right now, it is doing so loudly. The manosphere is offering young men a version of masculinity that is strong, assertive, and confident but often disconnected from character, humility, and love. 

It is a distorted echo of something true. Because young men are wired for purpose.

For challenge.

For brotherhood.

For responsibility.

The question is not whether they will pursue those things.

The question is where.

An Opportunity to lead

What we are seeing is not just a crisis. It is an opportunity. An opportunity for the Church to step forward and reclaim the space of forming men. Not with programmes alone, but with people.

If the Church does not form men intentionally, the culture will do it accidentally.

Fathers who are present. Mentors who walk alongside. Leaders who call men up, not just calm them down. We don’t need softer messages. We need clearer ones.

A vision of manhood rooted in Christ, where strength is expressed through service, leadership through sacrifice, and identity through sonship.

If we fail to form men well, the consequences will not remain contained. Women and girls will continue to suffer through broken relationships, harm, abuse, and violence. This is not simply a men’s issue. It is a societal one. And the Church has both the responsibility and the opportunity to respond.

This is where movements like RUMbLE are so needed. Not as a quick fix, but as a catalyst. On the ground, we are seeing what happens when men are called together, equipped, and sent back into their homes, workplaces, and communities with purpose.

Men step up. Fathers re-engage. New groups are formed. Lives change. Because real transformation doesn’t happen through algorithms. It happens through relationship, discipleship, and brotherhood.

The young men in that documentary are not the problem.

They are the invitation. An invitation for the Church to rise, not in reaction, but in responsibility. To invest in men again. To prioritise discipleship. To build environments where men are known, challenged, and sent.

Because if we do not form men intentionally, the culture will do it accidentally. And we are already seeing the consequences of that. The manosphere is not the answer. But it is revealing the question. The question is whether the Church is ready to respond.

For more information visit: wearerumble.org