Wild at Heart by John Eldredge is an amazing book. It goes into the psyche of the Christian man, and picks apart the stereotypes and unfulfilled promises. It looks deep within the essence of what a man was created to be, and what drives us most.
Guys who are reading this, try thinking about this next thing for the next week or so. The authors believes all men are driven towards three goals.
A battle to fight - As kids, it seems that it's almost always the boys who play cowboys, or war, or anything of the sort. Even if we've grown out of wanting to go enlist, be a fire fighter, or hunt a lion, think of the movies we like. Braveheart, Last Samurai, Top Gun, Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, and the like. For some reason, it's built into us to fight a battle.
An adventure to live - Deep within you, is it your dream to spend forty hours a week in a cubicle typing stuff, then go home to a watch whatever is on, constantly hoping retirement comes soon? No! We want to do something that tests us, challenges us, makes us show our own inner strength, what we're made of. I bet I'm not the only one who's pictured in their mind what I would do if the guy in front of me tried to hold up the gas station. Do we think, "I'd duck behind the little old lady and toss him my wallet!" or do we think of how great it would feel to kick the gun from his hands and throw him to the ground, and calmly tell the cashier to call the cops? (I totally thought that this morning when I was paying for gas. It wasn't the first time.)
A beauty to rescue - Feminism is great, and I believe that women should definitely be paid the same for the same work. That being said, I don't want to have a girl come up and tell me "You're the one I want to marry." I don't even know if I want her to like me romantically at first. I want to sweep her off her feet, woo her until she realizes she could never love anyone but me. I want to rescue her when she's in danger, comfort her when she's crying, and be the man she looks to for help.
Maybe my audience here isn't all ready for this kinda stuff, but I think every guy can probably identify with these three yearnings, at least in part or on some level.
Anyway, I'd definitely suggest this book. It's a great read, and got me to reevaluate myself as a man of God. Here's a link to the first chapter.
The first chapter of Wild at Heart. It goes more in depth on the three things I talked about, plus goes into the three desires for women. It shouldn't take up too much time to read, and I think you'll find it interesting. If you think on this stuff, you might find it makes you want to change. It sure did for me.
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