The heart of a Man

The Heart of a Man


Okay, okay, okay... stop right there, I can sense the flyscreens and doors closing in and the male protectionist wall being relaid... not another b*&%$dy one of these guys talking about getting in touch with his inner self and going out to find himself....

Or better still, you might be one of those “I'm on a journey, seeking the higher power within”.... and you've been following the karma policy of “don't harm another's (heart)”... so “lovely” isn't it...

Oh yes, and then there is Jesus, so meek and mild, “turn the other cheek” guy... his heart was so soft and loving... wasn't it, he just loves people.... with the wildest form or execution thrown in at the end...

Guys, this year we're going to crack this nut if it takes hugging a tree, crying like a baby or jumping out of a plane solo. If it takes, going up to the great dividing range, shooting something, having an absolute barney with God or taking up boxing...And the nut is, your heart and mine. A man's heart.

To be upfront, I'm taking much of this topic from the book : “Wild at Heart” by John Eldredge and my own walk back to where my father died on September 12th 1977.

So here's the deal:

“A man will not change unless he accepts the truth about himself and situation first”
to put it another way
“Why normalise your dysfunction and instead take responsibility for the truth of the matter ”

I say this to say, whatever your prejudices are to this topic/theme, build a bridge and get over yourself and be prepared to stand as a God ordained man (no you are not some lucky dip prize that happen to turn up as a man in some women's uterus and out you popped with no thought and purpose behind you) and find out what the freaking heck your heart is made of.

“where your treasure is there your heart is also” - who said that..? JC
“a hot furnace tests silver and gold, but the Lord tests hearts” - Solomon
“Heavenly Father, examine me and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts..” David

Introduction:

“Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out”...Proverbs 20:22

I'm just thinking out loud here, so bear with me: if we look around at ourselves and men today, be they in Christendom or not, there is a sanitisation, washed through, cleaned up (I'd say possibly cleaned out), dethroned persona of men. If I look directly in my own socio-economic sphere, we're so tight and clean and wincy that we couldn't recount the last time we actually got dirty. Oh yes, and we're polite and nice, some women would be making chatter in a cafe between themselves, that we're “lovely”.... what a compliment. Lovely and nice...

Ohh, can't you imagine the women of 33 AD in Jerusalem sitting at there local hang out (well? Square, markets...? I'm not a historian, can't you tell) and saying about Jesus: “Oh isn't he just lovely, he's so nice and charming, and so good...” not! How could they, when he says: “let the dead bury the dead...” “ If you want to follow me, give up everything and take up your cross daily” or “ I have come to separate families...”
Jesus was on the frontier of Spirituality and the end result speaks for itself: “The Kingdom of God is a battlefield and the violent will take it by force”.

Somewhere in that sanitisation, we have been “dethroned” of our heart. I am not speaking as a victim, or having been victimised by society. A man's heart is powerful, authoritative, grand, visionary, and wild.

I can hear someone yelling out, what about the other men that aren't nice and clean and “lovely”, those other men that are rough around the edges or those men that are politely described as having a “colourful” personality.
If getting drunk, speaking demeaning words of your wife and kids and calling other's “f&%$wits” is any better than the sanitised nice man, then let's pack up and live on mars.

And of course I am making sweeping generalisations that leave individuals out, but there is an element of truth for all men in this:

“Out of a man's heart, spring the issues of life” - Proverbs.

As a man, would you rather be remembers as a “nice” guy, a decent man, a lovely man? Or a man who “followed his heart”, fought for his family and friends, conquered his demons and set a platform for his children and community to do greater works than himself...

I think John Eldredge put's it so well:
What if? What if those deep desired in our hearts are telling us the truth, revealing to us the life we were meant to live? God gave us eyes to see, ears to hear, wills that we might choose and gave us a heart that we might live....

You must head up into the high country of the soul into the wild and uncharted regions and track down that elusive prey....