Mild At Heart?
Neh 4:14
And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
This verse is quoted by writer John Eldredge in the first chapter of his book Wild at Heart.
Eldredge's work admonishes men to be men...to live a life of passion and adventure. The cover of Wild at Heart says it all; it has a photogragh of a man charging and leaping up a rock-face like a mountain goat who has drained a bucket of Mt. Dew. Eldredge disdains "nice guys"...wimps in need of a wedgie (also known as a snuggie, grundie, gotch pull, or mervin. What is up with "Mervin?"....like to do some research on that one...probably came from a boy named Mervin who was on the "receiving end"--get it, "receiving end?"--of so many wedgies that his name became synomous with the act).
I can't help but think of Alice Cooper's 1973 anthemic song "No More Mr. Nice Guy" when I write this. Pretty ironic that a guy named Alice would belt out a song about no longer being a "nice guy." (click "Mild at Heart" title for a video of the song)
Eldredge's inspiration draws from three major sources like the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh: the Bible, movies, and the he-man non-Christian author Robert Bly. Like the Three Rivers, there is a good deal of sludge in the water (except for the Scriptures...ok, so the analogy doesn't quite work). As such, Eldredge needs to be read carefully and circumspectly. He makes good points but can stray theologically.
One example, then I will move on: ‘We are free to be what he meant when he meant us. You have a new life – the life of Christ. And you have a new heart. Do you know what this means? Your heart is good.’ (John Eldredge, Waking the Dead). This is where Eldredge drinks too much of his own Kool-Aid...no less than the apostle Paul states that "I am (not was) the Chief of Sinners" in 1 Tim. 1:15. It is a paradox that those who know themselves to be evil are often the most good. Sociopaths and psychopaths and Liberals think themselves to be essentially good. And that is essentially their problem...a wrong view of who they are. No confession, no cure.
My friend Doug McFall, in one of his Facebook postings, recently mentioned Eldredge's work. I have been thinking about what book my friend John and I would read for our Friday morning breakfast time. We are soon finished with Orthodoxy by Chesterton. Eldredge is a significantly easier read than Chesterton...my buddy John admitted yesterday that he did not have the mental energy to read through the most recent chapter of Orthodoxy. We may soon be done with Chesterton, but to paraphrase a line from the film Magnolia, "He is not done with us."
Orthodoxy is heavy stuff...intellectual deadlifting whereas Eldredge is more like 20 lbs bicep curls. However, a lot of Christian writing is the equivalent Richard Simmons' resistance bands which pairs up with his "Disco Sweat DVD" for a real killer work-out. Much of Contemporary Christain Music is theological disco and its sugary content can bring on spiritual diabetes. So, Eldredge kicks up the hard rock and it is good. So, I am looking forward to reading Eldredge again. I have been feeling like I have been on auto-pilot with life, relationships, and work. Day in and day out, I feel like a spectator in my own life. More like "Eric the Rut" than "Erik the Red."
It is interesting how God corrects imbalances in the Church by a counter-weight on the other end of scale that is also not dead on center but is stuff that needs to be said. Eldredge performs such a service. He calls men to be warriors and not wusses. I am sure that Alice Cooper would approve.
And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
This verse is quoted by writer John Eldredge in the first chapter of his book Wild at Heart.
Eldredge's work admonishes men to be men...to live a life of passion and adventure. The cover of Wild at Heart says it all; it has a photogragh of a man charging and leaping up a rock-face like a mountain goat who has drained a bucket of Mt. Dew. Eldredge disdains "nice guys"...wimps in need of a wedgie (also known as a snuggie, grundie, gotch pull, or mervin. What is up with "Mervin?"....like to do some research on that one...probably came from a boy named Mervin who was on the "receiving end"--get it, "receiving end?"--of so many wedgies that his name became synomous with the act).
I can't help but think of Alice Cooper's 1973 anthemic song "No More Mr. Nice Guy" when I write this. Pretty ironic that a guy named Alice would belt out a song about no longer being a "nice guy." (click "Mild at Heart" title for a video of the song)
Eldredge's inspiration draws from three major sources like the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh: the Bible, movies, and the he-man non-Christian author Robert Bly. Like the Three Rivers, there is a good deal of sludge in the water (except for the Scriptures...ok, so the analogy doesn't quite work). As such, Eldredge needs to be read carefully and circumspectly. He makes good points but can stray theologically.
One example, then I will move on: ‘We are free to be what he meant when he meant us. You have a new life – the life of Christ. And you have a new heart. Do you know what this means? Your heart is good.’ (John Eldredge, Waking the Dead). This is where Eldredge drinks too much of his own Kool-Aid...no less than the apostle Paul states that "I am (not was) the Chief of Sinners" in 1 Tim. 1:15. It is a paradox that those who know themselves to be evil are often the most good. Sociopaths and psychopaths and Liberals think themselves to be essentially good. And that is essentially their problem...a wrong view of who they are. No confession, no cure.
My friend Doug McFall, in one of his Facebook postings, recently mentioned Eldredge's work. I have been thinking about what book my friend John and I would read for our Friday morning breakfast time. We are soon finished with Orthodoxy by Chesterton. Eldredge is a significantly easier read than Chesterton...my buddy John admitted yesterday that he did not have the mental energy to read through the most recent chapter of Orthodoxy. We may soon be done with Chesterton, but to paraphrase a line from the film Magnolia, "He is not done with us."
Orthodoxy is heavy stuff...intellectual deadlifting whereas Eldredge is more like 20 lbs bicep curls. However, a lot of Christian writing is the equivalent Richard Simmons' resistance bands which pairs up with his "Disco Sweat DVD" for a real killer work-out. Much of Contemporary Christain Music is theological disco and its sugary content can bring on spiritual diabetes. So, Eldredge kicks up the hard rock and it is good. So, I am looking forward to reading Eldredge again. I have been feeling like I have been on auto-pilot with life, relationships, and work. Day in and day out, I feel like a spectator in my own life. More like "Eric the Rut" than "Erik the Red."
It is interesting how God corrects imbalances in the Church by a counter-weight on the other end of scale that is also not dead on center but is stuff that needs to be said. Eldredge performs such a service. He calls men to be warriors and not wusses. I am sure that Alice Cooper would approve.
Comments
I've liked this verse from Nehemiah for sometime where he has this bold, manly reaction to his fellows sin of intermarriage with pagans:
So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
~ Nehemiah 13:25