The book Wild at Heat by John Eldridge is subtitled, "A personal guide to discover the secret of your masculine soul." The premise sounds nice, that God inteneded men to be real men just like Jesus, but when you actually read the things the author says, it turns out to be worse than just a bunch of nonsense.
There is a very dramatic moment in the book where the author tells his son, who was being bullied at school, to walk right up to the person bullying him and " Punch him in the face."
No... I'm sorry. When your masculine soul tells you to teach your son to punch someone in the face it is not acting in accordance with the will of God. Your masculine soul has in fact given in to the teachings of the world and the devil which says that violence is a solution to your personal problems. This it has done in direct opposition to Jesus Christ who tells us that we are to forgive seven times seventy times.
Your child is likely to get thrown out of school or arrested. What makes matters worse for you is that you have caused a child which God has entrusted to you to sin.
Jesus Christ willingly mounted the cross and allowed those who hated him to murder him. Then, as he hung there dying, he prayed for his murderers. How do we draw from Christ's example the teaching that we are allowed to punch people in the face because they have stolen our lunch money? The answer is that we can't.
Yes, Jesus Christ made a scourge of cords and drove the merchants out of the temple in righteous anger. But he was the Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the divine God-man who came down from heaven to rise from the dead and take away the sins of the world. You are not. Jesus was driving perverse secularism out of the sacred and holy temple in which the creator of the universe chose to dwell among men. You however, are teaching your child to punch another child of God in the face.
Man is sinful by nature. It is this sinful nature that is at war with our souls which have been created in the image of God. Throughout this book, John Eldridge teaches us to obey our flesh, to give in to what our lower instincs and to accomodate our worldly passions.
The first chapter of this book encourages our proclivity to engage in dangerous behavior. Our desire for thrill, newness and excitement we are told, is a gift from God. We are told that this inner masculine thrill-seeker warrior with its restless need for adenture and adrenaline, is something which should be accepted, embraced nurtured and fed. The first chapter of this book made me want to drive my car really fast.
My reply is simply, "Vanity!"
My reply is simply, "Vanity!"
The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear filled with hearing. What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun. Even the thing of which we say, "See, this is new!" has already existed in the ages that preceded us. I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a chase after wind. (Ecclisiastes 1:9-10,14)
No, the eye will not be satisfied with whatever it sees nor will the ear be satisfied with anything it hears. No matter how many cliffs you climb, no matter how many aircraft you jump out of, and mo matter how many beauties you think you are fighting for, you will not be satisfied. Only in God is the ultimate satisfaction found and no matter how unjustly you are treated, you don't find God by punching other people in the face.
Keep this book away from your sons.
-Tim-
I read this book many moons ago, though I am not male. It has come up a few times throughout the years and yes, I agree that it total it is not worth the read. Some excerpts, maybe, but it seemed to me that it was more of a marketing device. An opportunity for Eldridge to have speaking engagements at really manly retreats.
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