Wild At Heart Chapter 3

In chapter 3, Eldredge deals with the question that haunts every man.  He lays the thesis of "why won't we, as men, be what we are called to be."  I am assuming that means what he has already proposed-a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.

He goes on to present a rather solid case that we as humans, whether female or male, are not living up to our true calling as either gender.  Men especially are hiding behind their masks or security features such as sports, work, or other more darker things.

The chapter spoke true to me in many ways. I have spent my life running from things.  If they get to hard, or if they get too deep; I bail.  I have started and quit college 4 different times.  I have had more jobs than I can count on two hands (and probably both feet).  Even within my jobs, I have avoided the hard things just so I didn't have to deal with the conflict that was sure to follow.

Eldredge spoke of a reoccurring dream that haunted him consistently.  He was involved in drama for years and would dream that he was in the biggest play of his life and didn't even know what his lines were although his part was crucial to the entire play.  I have had my own "what if they find me out" dream as well.  Mine is usually based around showing up for a class only to find out that the class had been going on for at least three months and I hadn't attended a single class.  And now it was time for the final!

Our world is screwed up.  It is not as God intended.  We don't know how to be who we are, we don't know how to have fellowship.  We don't even know how to have church!  My desire is to figure these things out before its too late.  I don't want to feel as if I am just filling space.  I want to be involved with my children, my wife, and even humanity as a whole.  But I need Jesus to show me how this is done effectively.

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Wild At Heart Chapter 2

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In Chapter 2, Eldredge makes that case that God is "wild at heart". He believes that most men have a warped idea of who Jesus is and was. People get their attitude of Jesus based on how their father was, the kind of pictures we always see of Jesus, and what the church tells us that Jesus was like. Eldredge says that most people end with the vision of Jesus being "Mister Rogers with a beard". We are told to be nice, be swell, and be like Mother Theresa. He makes the statement that he would rather be told to be like William Wallace from Braveheart.

I would argue that both characters where strong in their own right. William Wallace was strong in his stance against the English. Mother Theresa was strong in her determination to rescue the poor in Calcutta. I truly don't picture Mother Theresa very mild. But I guess I see Eldredge's point. I just would have chose somebody besides Mother Theresa to compare side by side with William Wallace.

Eldredge goes on to state that God has a battle to fight, and adventure to have, and a beauty to win. I think the premise is quite clear that God definitely has a battle to fight (or better said battle that has been fought), and a beauty to win (his bride the church). I am a little tepid to accept the adventure part though.

Mr. Eldredge says that since God created the world and since most of the world is dangerous and wild, then it obviously means that God prefers "adventure, danger, risk, and the element of surprise". I would argue that the world could have been much more tame and not as wild before the fall. Perhaps some of the traits we see around us-danger, risk, etc are products of the fall.

In the garden we have a world that is perfect. We have a world based on God's commands, God's love, and one on one communion with God. Was there death in the Garden before the fall? Was there a need for carnivores to be carnivores? Was there a need for danger until the serpent entered? I really don't have definite answers for that but it seems that if Eldredge's premise is a perhaps a bit skued on this point.

Now having said all this, I do believe that we have white washed the power and judgement of God. He is a lot more wild than we give him credit for. I agree that we associate Jesus with someone of the character of Mister Rogers. But he was much more. He was not timid. He was not mild all the time. God was not "nice" in the OT. God says he is a jealous God. He is righteous. He can be angry. Eldredge uses a quote from C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The beaver is talking to the children. The children ask the Beaver if Aslan is safe. Mr. Beaver's response is...

"Safe? Who said anything about being safe? Of course he isn't safe. but he's good."

And that is how it is with our Lord. If we think he is safe, we are sorely mistaken. But he is good.

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Wild at Heart Review: Chapter 1

Again I am by no means a writer. But I will do my best to critique this book and whether or not I think it is worth reading. Since I am taking my time to devour each chapter, I shall try to review the book one chapter at a time.

Chapter 1 Wild at Heart

Eldredge begins his book by saying that "Eve was created within the lush beauty of Eden's garden. Adam, if you'll remember, was created outside the garden, in the wilderness." This statement in and of itself is true. But the premise that Eldredge is trying to draw from it is a bit obtuse. He makes the claim that because Adam was created in the "wilderness" his heart longs to get back there. This has a complete disregard of the fact that the garden was created for Adam, not Eve. Who knows how many years, centuries, or even mellenia, Adam and Eve lived there happily. If Adam was wanting back out into the "wilderness" why didn't he try harder before the fall. Why was it a significant punishment to be cast out of the garden? To say that Adam did not want to be in the garden because he longed for the adventure is to say that Adam did not want or even desire to be with God (which is what the garden was).

Eldredge's thesis for this book is that every man has three desires...A battle to win, an adventure to have, and a beauty to rescue. I have to say that these sound intriguing to me and I am excited to see what he is talking about. Mr. Eldredge does have some good points. He makes the case that the modern church has been so influenced by feminism, that we have emasculated our men. How can the church expect to live up to it's full potential if we are so confused about gender roles? We are confusing what it means to have Christ like traits with what it means to be a woman.

Some of the negative reviews I read about this book complained that it was sexist. One in particular was quite negative and complained about Eldredge wanting the medieval chivalry back. I would argue that maybe we need a little chivalry in this day and age. We need men who are not afraid (or lazy) to open the door for a woman (or anyone for that matter). We need men who know their place in the family structure and are willing to impart what it means to be a man to their sons. We need men who are not afraid to treat their daughters differently than they do their sons.

I am not sure how far Eldredge will take this issue. Will he promote men going up into the wilderness and practicing the "primal scream"? Does he promote working on cars, going to monster truck rallies and banging heads in a football game? He has already laid the premise that we as men want adventure. I concur. But what kind of adventure is he talking about and at what expense?

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