"I'm not suggesting that the Christian life is chaotic or that a real man is flagrantly irresponsible. The poser who squanders his paycheck at the racetrack or the slot machines is not a man; he's a fool. The sluggard who quits his job and makes his wife go to work so he can stay home to practice his golf sing, thinking he'll make the pro tour, is 'worse than an unbeliever' (1 Tim. 5:8). What I am saying is that our false self demands a formula before he'll engage; he wants a guarantee of success, and mister, you aren't going to get one. So there comes a time in a man's life when he's got to break away from all that and head off into the unknown with God. This is a vital part of our journey and if we balk here, the journey ends."
Adventure is not an excuse for irresponsibility. Saying you're on the journey to become the man you were created to be does not permit you to abandon the responsibilities of providing for the family God has given you. But what it does mean is that we must step out in faith and trust God. If we are to become men it is only by His grace and guidance, and so we must step out blindly in faith, not irresponsibility, and let God take us where He is leading.
This doesn't mean I dig myself into a hole and then ask God to pull me out of it. It means I am going to work as hard as I can; I'm going to give everything I have, and trust God to fulfill where I fall short. It means I'm not going to worry about my daily needs, but trust God to provide for them. It means I'm going to take a shot, my best shot, and watch what He does with it. But this is adventure, and it will require effort from me. It will require me to do my part.
And if this is something we refuse to do, the journey cannot continue. God cannot lead men who refuse to follow Him. God cannot show Himself to be trust worthy to men who refuse to trust Him. God cannot fulfill the short comings of a man who refuses to try at all. God cannot make a man out of a boy who refuses to act like one. We are called to and were made for adventure, and everything that entails, but we must be willing to take the first step and follow God down the road less traveled by.
"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. The control we so desperately crave is an illusion. Far better to give it up in exchange for God's offer of companionship, set aside stale formulas so that we might enter into an informal friendship."
Think back to the Great Commission. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28.19-20). Jesus says "Go and do this... in this way..." and that's all the instructions He gives. He leaves so much open, but the last recorded words we have Him saying before returning to Heaven are, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." There isn't the promise of answers or formula; there is certainly no control, simply the promise of His presence.
I think of what Paul said in Philippians 4.11-13, "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Verse 13 is one of, if not thee, most misquoted verse in the Bible. What it means is that I can endure anything life throws at me, because no matter what, I have Christ.
"God calls you his friend. He wants to talk to you - personally, frequently." Think about that, God calls you His friend. There was a song we used to sing in chapel when I was in high school, "Friend of God". The lady who led the singing that year had us sing it pretty much every week, and like most things that aren't understood, people didn't see the significance of it, and in typical high schooler fashion, made fun of it. Until just a few minutes ago I didn't grasp what I think she was trying to do. I think she was trying to help us all understand that God, who created the universe, who spoke everything into existence, He calls me His friend.
God knows my name. God knows everything about me. And God wants to talk to me. He wants to speak to me in ways I will understand and relate to. He wants to talk to me all the time. God wants to spend every minute of the day with me, just by my side. I think there is a reason that "dog", is God spelled backwards; dogs mirror the relationship God wants with us, and offers to us. Right now my dog, Rosie, is laying at my side. If I get up she will follow me out of the room. If someone were to run into the room and try to hurt me, she would at the very least start barking. If I talk to her, she listens intently. The dog is man's best friend. And that is what God wants with us; He already calls us, and treats us like we are, His. It's time we returned it.
"Our whole journey into authentic masculinity centers around those cool-of-the-day talks with God. Simple questions change hassles to adventures; the events of our lives become opportunities for initiation." Do you see now how impossible it is to become a man without God? Do you see how dependent our masculinity is upon Him? Without deep and constant intimacy with God, we will never be the men we were created to be.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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