Book Review: WILD AT HEART
Men everywhere have a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. Today, men will often loose the desire or do nothing with their passion, but masculine desire is God-given and even God-like, after all we were created in His image. John Eldredge, in Wild at Heart, pleads with men to be men. He challenges men to embrace masculinity. Eldredge dares men to enjoy the voyage. But men often refuse to even hear Eldredge's call.
Wild at Heart is a helpful book, but not free from fault. Daniel Gillespie, Randy Stinson, and Daryl Wingerd each offer fair and accurate criticism. These men, for the most part, bring Eldredge's understanding and use of Scripture into question. I believe it's fair to say that all three men see some value in Wild at Heart. I agree with the faults discussed and see the dangerous pitfalls, but to be balanced we can't "through the baby out with the bath water." Again, I do wish that it were packaged a bit differently--with a more sufficient, adequate, and accurate presentation of God with His Word. Nevertheless, men need to accept Wild at Heart's pleads, challenges, and dares.
John Eldredge discusses themes that Christian men need to bravely consider:
1. A loss of true masculinity: Christian men often suffer identity crisis. Manly identity is lost at home when fathers become work-aholics, asking the ladies to raise young men. Teenagers then look for femininity to define their masculinity and the lifestyle begins. "When a man takes his question [concerning masculinity] to the woman what happens is either addiction or emasculation. Usually both" (pg 93).
2. A loss of genuine relationships: Wounds tend to cause people to feel vulnerable, which leads to a lack of trust, which in turn destroys all relationships. The truth is, "Healing never happens outside of intimacy with Christ" (pg 128). Once a relationship with Christ is restored, men can offer powerful and meaningful relationships with others. Eldredge also says, "The only way to live in this adventure--with all its danger and unpredictability and immensely high stakes--is in an ongoing, intimate relationship with God" (pg 214).
3. A loss of spiritual reality: Men generally loose the spiritual battle because they do not grasp the reality of the battle. "You can't fight a battle you don't believe exists" (pg 159). Life is a battle, and Satan's arrows bring real destruction. Put on the armor of God and embrace the battle or be destroyed.
Wild at Heart was not written by an infallible man, nor should the book be canonized. However, with caution and discernment, one can be frightened, rebuked, encouraged, and blessed with Eldredge's work.
