Wild at Heart (PART 2: In Whose Image?)

"If a boy is to become a man, if a man is to know he is one, this is not an option. A man has to know where he comes from, and what he's made of." (Wild at Heart, p. 21)

I came from a family of six children, my place the last in line -- the baby of the family. I came from a father who was emotionally absent yet prone to anger. I came from a mother who was emotionally smothering yet prone to high anxiety. I was made of nightmares and daydreams, success and failure, loneliness and fantasy, intimacy and pornography, faith and drugs, anger and kindness, isolation and courage. I'm still a boy, growing up to be a man -- and I am a man, dying a slow death to the ways of a child.

God knows all this -- and He still loves me. And yet there are many times I look at myself and wonder how I can possibly be made in His image. All I see is the boy or the man -- who I was or who I haven't been. In whose image?

In Chapter Two of Wild at Heart by John Eldredge (2001: Thomas Nelson, Inc.), the great paradox of masculinity is approached, wherein a man knows that he doesn't want to become his father yet then struggles in a search for strength and beauty in the image of God.

Where Do We Come From?

Men are the image-bearers of God...but who is the One whose image every man bears? What is the masculinity of Jesus?

"The Lord is a gentleman?" Eldredge asks. "Not if you're in the service of His enemy. God has a battle to fight, and the battle is for our freedom." (p. 25)

The God of the Bible holds all the archetypes, if you will, that are recognized to be hard-wired into every man: the compassionate and caring individual (a Lover), a strong and powerful force (a Warrior), the focused and responsible leader (a King), and a wise and discerning counselor (a Sage).

In Matthew's Gospel account, we can learn the parts of the truth in whose image we are cast. Jesus told the Pharisees (his enemies), "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' (Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV) This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Leviticus 19:18 NIV)(Matthew 22:37-39 NIV)

As a man, I have been cast in the image of a loving God -- if I have any doubt, I can ask myself one question: "Would I sacrifice my own son in order to reconcile the loss of those I love?" John, in his Gospel, tells us where God's heart is: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 NIV)

There is little doubt -- we, as men created in the image of God -- are embodied with the capacity to love. As an image-bearer of God, it is our highest calling.

A Battle to Fight

Let us turn our sights upon the image of God as a warrior. Even a cursory reading of the Old Testament reveals God's activity in warfare. The New Testament isn't leaving out His fierce presence, either.

John tells us, in Revelation, "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a Name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His Name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine line, white and clean. Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations." (Revelation 19:11-15 NIV)

This isn't a nice boy Jesus.

And what of the might Samson, a wild man of Scripture? "The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him..." (Judges 13:24-25 NIV) Yet this isn't the Samson we know much about, is it?

As Samson grew, he wanted to marry a young Philistine woman. As he traveled with his parents to claim her as his bride "suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands..." (Judges 14:5-6 NIV)

Through examples such as this, one can see that the Spirit of the LORD was present in Samson -- and, of course, in Christ. It is the fierceness in the heart of God that we bear as part of His image -- a fierceness that many men have either forgotten they own or, for whatever reason, are afraid to engage. But it's there.

What About Adventure?

"What's at risk?"

It could be one of the most challenging questions a man could ask of himself or be asked to answer. Did God ever take a risk? And does He love adventure?

According to Eldredge, "God is a person who takes immense risks. No doubt the biggest risk of all was when He gave angels and men free will -- including the freedom to reject Him -- not just once but every single day." (Wild at Heart, p. 30)

Put simply, God did not have to create us -- He chose to. He simply could have made Adam (and Eve) obey His spoken commands -- instead, as Eldredge notes, "He took a risk. A staggering risk, with staggering consequences. He let others into His story, and He let their choices shape it profoundly." (p. 31)

As a man -- and as a Christian -- I forget from time to time that its' not my story...it's His! And every single time I forget, when I got to that place as a man where I'm convinced it's all about me, God shows up -- comes through -- and demonstrates the truth that He has what it takes.

Also, as my peer relationships develop with men -- and as I examine how God chooses to use me in the necessary unveiling of His story -- I am both fascinated and humbled to be chosen as one of His ambassadors. As a man who follows God (and lives out His image), I am able to see past who I was and look towards whose image I was created to reflect.

"Therefore," the apostle Paul tells us, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciled to the world Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were make His appeal through us." (2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NIV)

Can you glimpse the wildness in God's heart, His sense and love for adventure? What a great sacrifice -- and risk -- not to count men's sins against them -- and for us, as men, to be given such a duty as ambassadors for the Gospel.

"God needs to get a message out to the human race, without which they will perish...forever. What's the plan? First, He starts with the most unlikely group ever: a couple of prostitutes, a few fishermen with no better than a second-grade education, a tax collector. Then, He passes the ball to us. Unbelievable." (Wild at Heart, p. 32)

And, in the end, after risk upon risk, God literally bleeds for us in His heart -- reminding us (reminding me) that we, as men, are capable of sacrificing so much more than we do in order to live out the God-sized adventures calling from our hearts.

Like Children

A.W. Tozer says, "God waits to be wanted." And isn't it like children -- little boys or little girls -- to want to have love bestowed upon them, to be a priority to someone?

As the masculine (and feminine) run deep and wide across God's creation, one can easily see that the image of God is fierce, wild, and passionate. "And this is our true Father," Eldredge writes, "the stock from which the heart of man is drawn. Strong, courageous love." (p. 35)

There is both a strength AND a beauty to man. Remember...God's creation, His image, captures both. Man is captivated by the beauty unveiled in woman because God created Eve to be the crown to the splendor and strength of man. "Adam bears the likeness of God in his fierce, wild, and passionate heart. And yet, there is one more finishing touch. There is Eve." (Wild at Heart, p. 37)

In strength. In captivating beauty. At what point, as men, do we miss the mark -- and the point -- that God wants to be worshiped? As men created in His image, let us continue to examine our role in the search for authentic masculinity with both strength and beauty. As King David said in Psalm 62, "One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that You, O God, are strong, and that You, O Lord, are loving." (Psalm 62:11-12 NIV)

Next Week: Wild at Heart (PART 3: The Question)