Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. And so we ask ourselves: will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved? Odysseus, from the opening monologue of the movie 'Troy'.
When I was a boy I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. There was a paragon of greatness that called out to me. The hero to beat all heroes--with nothing but a loincloth and a hunting knife. That's right, good old Tarzan. I watched him every Saturday morning, read the novels (as soon as I learned to read well enough), and begged my daddy to buy the comic books. Tarzan was greatness personified. He could wrestle crocodiles, put gorillas in the full-nelson, and fight off any jungle denizen that dared cross him. He protected those within his care and feared nothing.
Adventure films have come a long way since Johnny Weismuller swung on a vine and did the Tarzan yell. A more recent one that caught my attention was the aforementioned 'Troy'. In the movie Eric Bana plays Hector, defender and eldest Prince of the walled city. He shares the screen with Orlando Bloom, who plays his younger brother Paris, and Peter O'Toole who plays their father Priam, King of Troy. And, during the movie's most confrontational moments, Bana faces off with Brad Pitt, who plays Achilles, the legendary warrior and unstoppable killing machine.
I've read some reviews that talk about Achilles being the hero. But when I watched it, I didn't quite see it that way. Achilles was loyal to no one. He didn't even want to get involved. Hector was defending his family and his home--and even the cowardly younger brother who brought the war to them by having a fling with Helen. Hector was the real hero of the story. Achilles only becomes an interesting character, to me, when he first begins to care about someone other than himself.
Like most men, I'm still drawn to larger than life heroes that do daring deeds. Adventure is hard to come by in these modern times (one reason why I think our society is so entertainment driven). Make me forget my mundane life for a while. Give me a few hours of vicarious adventure, so that I can experience the thrill, however hollow. I say 'hollow' because we do this type of adventuring from the sofa or the theater seat. Local sporting events bring us a little closer to the action, and yet we are still sitting safely in the stands.
The book "Wild at Heart" by John Eldridge explores this phenomenon to much greater detail than I have time for here. Go read it if you haven't already. Personally I think adventure is all around us, if we only have eyes to see. If we can as God does.
God looks at things upside down. Or as I've said before, the world has everything backwards and upside down. God alone has it right. Want to be great? Serve everybody. That's what Jesus said. The first will be last and the last first. I think there are many facets to what He was saying there, one of them being that when we get to heaven we are going to be really surprised at who the truly glorious ones are.
I think of my mother's mother as I write this. My grandfather left her when my mama was very young. From that point, my Mema raised her children alone. She never remarried. She was their provider and protector, and the example of what a Christian should be. Personally I can't remember her ever saying anything bad about anyone. She lived a quiet life and when she went home, it was a quiet death--very sudden, while she was talking to her sister, like God just reached down and took her. Which is what I think happened. She epitomized greatness. Godliness and sacrifice were evident throughout her life.
And yet, as a man, I still look for a battle to fight. Something I can put my hands to and wrestle to the ground. There is a need to conquer. I think this is a God-given thing. Masculinity is bestowed so that we can protect. To defend the ones we love. To achieve goals that are bigger than ourselves. To answer a call to war from our "Great King". To advance the Kingdom. Those are the things that pull at a man's heart.
All this to say, that as I've gotten older my view of greatness has shifted a bit. Yes there are battles to fight. The battle for the hearts of my children, for one. There is a war for their souls, and it's beginning even now. The world and satan will do what they can to deceive them and snatch them away. It's my job to arm my boys with the truth. To show them how to resist. How to draw close to God and see the devil flee.
I think there are dark days ahead. I think Christian men will have their hands full of adventure, if we just open our eyes to it. There is a Kingdom to advance and a war to wage. We just have to see it for what it is and learn how to wield the Sword. The quote at the beginning of this post is a good one. And I think, thousands of years from now, we will sit with our Lord in heaven and recount our battles, tell of the victories He led us in. The Bible mentions that even now we are surrounded by a 'great cloud of witnesses'. What we do matters. Our actions can and do have eternal significance.
I pray often for my boys that God will give them a heart like His. That they will be world-changers for Him. I don't think this necessarily means that they will have ministries that impact millions of people. Maybe they will. Maybe they won't. But I do know that God has a destiny for each of them, and I want them to find it. God doesn't measure success in terms of numbers. Jesus asked his followers after the crowds left him. "Do you want to leave too?" He had twelve men that He brought in close. Three that were really close to Him. And He used these men to turn the course of history. He wasn't interested in building the next 'Mega-church'. He wanted to change lives, one at a time if He had to. And He did. He stopped to touch the untouchable, to reach out to the ostracized and hated ones.
That person that I barely notice, who brings a refill for my sweet tea, may be neck deep in a battle for their lives. I need to answer the call of my "Great King" and learn to reach out. (Daddy, help me do this!) I need to learn to wield the Sword, His word. I need to pray fierce prayers. I need to make sure that the world does not have more influence over my children than I do. I need to love my wife with passion. Live adventurously!
I think we can all have great impact. We just need to see what God is doing and get involved. Redefine greatness, and see with God's eyes.
Okay, reading back over this it is something of a rambling post, but I'll leave it as it is. Maybe there is something worth gleaning.
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