I have just finished reading “Wild at Heart” by John Eldridge……probably for the third time. I reread it about every ten years. The book is about manhood in general and about Christian manhood in particular. It includes side trips into a man’s relationships with his sons, his father, and his wife. It also deals with man and his relationship to God and the damage that we suffer at the hands of Satan……..and our own father. Each time I read it, I find it enlightening, but also challenging.
This is a vision of manhood that is not at all like the soft focus, Casper Milquetoast man that we usually associate with the church. The author is selling a fierce brand of manhood that flies in the face of our modern society’s call for a softer, tamer man. And yet, this fierce, wild, and yes…….dangerous man………rings true.
The heart of the book is the idea that a man has three great desires:
A battle to fight.
An adventure to live.
A beauty to rescue.
Eldridge also spends a lot of ink on the wound that we carry around……and we all carry one.
The manhood that the author describes, is complicated. In my own life, I find that I am a long way from his vision of a man. And yet, the three great desires resonate with me. As in many other things, I sense that these three desires are “hard wired” into me. They are “written on my heart”.
I believe that they are a part of a man’s makeup…….because they were put there……..by our creator.
I believe that they are there, because we were created in God’s image. God too………has a wild, fierce, and dangerous side. This is not his only side, but we lose a bit of ourselves if we deny…..or ignore it.
The book doesn’t entirely ignore women. There are some valuable insights into the female persona…….but this book is about men and for men.
If you are interested in having a good hard look under the hood……..at yourself……or at the man in your life…………this book will get you thinking.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua, NIV
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
Gil Bailie
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”
Jesus, NIV