To boys and men, who not so coincidentally, God created exactly alike.
There are times when this crazy adrenaline spurs in my heart. When I feel so wild, so free, so right…so MAN. Some times, for lack of better wording, I like to call it the “man song”. When the call of a man and adventure completely take over. MANNESS rises up. It plays loudly, can’t be ignored. It reminds me that I’m alive. Why I’m alive. It’s GO time. Safety, proper eddicate, and fear take a backseat to the wild heart at hand.
This took over recently at Victoria Falls, in Zambia, Africa. This was my second visit, and this time I wanted my whole squad to experience the amazing adventure I had had my first time, but even more so. So I hopped more fences, tiptoed on more edges, and took crazier pictures. Until I found the challenge – a far off rock seemingly in space as only a small, steep, slippery path lead to it, drop off cliffs on both sides. That was the one I had to do. The one thought in my head was “if it were my dad, he’d already be out there, no question, doing handstands on it. I gotta do it. I was made to do it.” So against everyone’s wise advice I did it, not for my dad, not to prove a point, not to show off, but just for me.
It was AMAZING, I loved it. The thrill that if I stepped wrong…bye bye. The rain-shower from the crash of the falls hitting me from all directions. Feeling like I was floating in the middle of this cloud. Awesome. Life surging.
No doubt this happens differently for all men, but it happens, different triggers all set off the same man heart. Let’s get a little adventurous, a little dangerous, a little crazy, a little excited and a lot WILD.
Many things trigger this for me. Some are as simple as watching great heroic movies like “BraveHeart” or “Gladiator”, digging deep in workouts, competing in sports, camping/roughing it, burning things, building things, driving things, wrestling brothers, eating contests, drinking a beer or growing a beard. Others are a little more difficult such as scaling a mountain, cliff/bridge diving, surfing big waves (still an amateur, don’t expect tricks), being a medical student, fighting for friends hearts and pursuing a captivating woman.
It’s the reason I spent countless hours as a kid working on my jump shot/slap shot, building forts, learning skateboard tricks, playing Star Wars/James Bond in the woods, spending time with my dad/God dad and why at 23 I just reread the book Treasure Island.
I long for adventure, everyday. Even if the adventure is preparing for the BIG adventure, I wanna be ready, and willing. It’s how I was made, how men were made. I can’t be satisfied with the same mundane thing over and over. If we don’t have a mountain to climb, battle to fight, a song to compose or a person to save we begin to forget who we are, we die inside. The world forgets who we are, it teaches and scolds us into being more feminine, then wonders where all the TRUE men are.
That’s why little boys play the way they play, do the way they do. We start out untamed, living out the natural way God made us. What happened to so many of us from when we were 15-35? We lost our wild hearts. We got dulled down and bored with what the world and church had to offer. In turn, we
lost the awesomeness of God and the amazing adventure he created us for. We also think that’s normal. We think that it is right. Even though deep down we long for something more wild, we chase smaller, safer things that will never satisfy our deep desires of manhood. (eg. just being a good guy.) Leaving the world lack of the warrior men they need.
Many men are lost, hiding or don’t know how to be a man. It is not always their fault, they’re often unaware or misguided. We usually don’t have good fathers, teachers or preachers to show us what being wild at heart is like. Even if we did, there is still often a gap. We need the original creator of wild and dangerous to guide us.
God is this guide. He is this way. He is dangerous, not safe. Wild, not tame. He can’t be chained, can’t be boxed, can’t lose, can’t be limited and will not be a pushover. He’s a warrior, a leader, a hero and a King. That’s why by making man in his own image, he made men want to be those things too. (God also made women and gave them unique things of himself for them to be.)
Earlier in a blog, I unraveled that it was In fact OK, and preferred that we enjoy God. So many of us think it’s a sin or something. Today I want you to walk away with permission to be WILD. To get dirty, to make mistakes, to get dangerous and adventurous. It’s not against God, in fact it’s very much for him.
Being a real follower of Jesus is the most adventurous thing a man can do. Living wild for God in the midst of the world that feeds us lies is one of the toughest and most valiant things a man can do. Especially when that turns into fighting and training his family and friends around him to live the same way. From the way that many men, woman and churches portray godly men. I can see why this view may be challenged. This is because the church is raising “nice guys” not dangerous warriors in the kingdom. Being a nice guy is great and all, but being a passionate warrior, courageous leader, life explorer and a humble servant moves the kingdom. A relationship with Jesus brings ABUNDANT life. Life and adventure that cannot be fully found anywhere else.
Lastly, I want to leave you with one of my favorite life songs, Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf. It encompasses
this adventure.
“Catch ’em on a runnin’, head out on the highway. Looking for adventure, and whatever comes my way. Yeah, I’ve gotta go make it happen, take the world in a love embrace, fire all of your guns at once and, explode them to space. I like smoking lightning, heavy metal thunder, racing with the wind, and the feeling that I’m under…..like a true natures child, we were born, born to be wild, we can climb so high, I never wanna die…Born to be wi-i-ild!”
If you’re wondering, yes I did listen to that song on repeat while writing this blog.
Live WILD!
Jake
Dedicated to my dad Jordon MacLean, discipler Brian Langford, and friend Ben Pearson. Three men who are more wild at heart than anyone else I know. Thank you for demonstrating this so clearly.
If you’d like more information about living a life wild, check out the Bible, or “Wild at Heart” by John Eldredge.
