I don’t know which is worse: When Sunday services fail to acknowledge Father’s Day. Or when they do.

When it is acknowledged, it tends to done in one of two ways. It’s treated like a line-item in most church bulletins (right below "Needed: More Diapers in Nursery"). When this Rodney Dangerfield of days becomes the subject of a three-point sermon, it’s used to “fix” men, who we’ve been told are the more crooked gender that needs to soften and sweeten up, like the nice-but-fictitious Jesus of countless Sunday homilies.

This day is a powerful reminder about social norms, traditions, and yes, prejudice. We see just how uncomfortable parts of the church are when it comes to a man’s nature, how often they are compared to a woman’s nature, and how men are deemed more sinful.

On this day, many men will be given the wrong medicine for what really ails them. They will be admonished to become like the Nice Nazarene. This invented Jesus is always patience, never inappropriate, dangerously nice, never says an unkind word, doesn’t argue with or question the motives of others, incapable of anger, and was the most pleasant fellow who ever hush-puppied across Planet Earth. Jesus as Eternal Folk Singer and Surfing Bud.

I was told for decades to emulate this naïve and Gumby-like Jesus. And unfortunately for me and others, I succeeded. My life and ability to bless and lead my family suffered for lack of insight, power, and wisdom, among other profound virtues. I was what others might call a pliable “nice guy” but not what most would call a strong and wise “good guy.” I needed to change and unfortunately I didn’t find the help I needed from church or men’s ministry.

That’s why this Father’s Day I’m encouraging ministers across the globe to give guys what we really need so we can really follow God into the dark corners of their hearts and the mysterious land of their faith: The shrewdness of serpents and all this ominous phrase represents.