For My Son...

Several years ago I read what has become one of my favorite books. "The Barbarian Way" by Erwin McManus, like most books that I love, came to me at the perfect time. You can see that I have listed it on the right in the Promoting Literacy column.

As many of you know, I have a teenage son. A son is a remarkable gift and a wonderful challenge. He's maturing the way most teenage boys mature. Learning what it means to "be a man." I'm investing a lot of time in these years especially to help shape the man he is to become. Which is why I am bringing up this book once again. I've bought him his own copy. We are reading it together and discussing each chapter. Look at these chapter titles: The Barbarian Invasion, The Barbarian Call, The Barbarian Tribe, and The Barbarian Revolt. [insert Tim Allen man grunt]

Why the Barbarian Way? Why not give my son another book? It's quite simple really. I never want him to settle. I want him to understand that this faith has always been led by those who were willing to be all in, and go all out for the cause of Christ. I want him to be confident in who the Father has created him to be. I want to stir up his inner warrior. To help him understand that this life isn't about fitting in but about being genuine. I also want him to understand that faith isn't always civilized. It doesn't always fit into our neat little boxes. That there may be risk involved. I felt that at his age this book was necessary. Although he has spent his entire life in church, it's all too easy to go through the motions. To be satisfied with a safe Jesus. I wanted to remind him, much like what is sad of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia, "He is no tame lion." This is no tame faith.

The Barbarian Way is a wonderful read for men. So many of them feel out of touch in many church cultures. They struggle to connect in environments where intimacy and raw emotion exist so freely. They need to hear about the rugged side of faith. Be challenged in their own. To understand that masculinity, adventure, and confidence are welcome here. They need to know that there is a cause besides their own salvation. That they have an opportunity to shape the world in which they live.

Most of us have seen how women outnumber men in most of our churches. Wives and Mothers tend to dominate the general population of most churches. It's led many of them to believe that this faith is emasculating. Being a man has often meant staying at home on Sunday morning while the wife and kids run off to church. They have heard the so called good news. At least the refined and civilized version. "Jesus died and rose from the dead so that you can live a life of endless comfort, security, and indulgence." OR..."If you will simply confess your a sinner and believe in Jesus, you'll be saved from the torment of eternal hellfire, then go to heaven when you die. Either case results in our domestication. One holds out for life to begin in eternity, and the other makes a mockery out of life." [page 32]

Men need to be confronted exactly where they live. They need to understand the true nature of the Lord's call to each of us. They need to know how this shapes being a man, a husband, and a father. To believe that there place among the body actually matters. Most of them have never heard that they shape the identity of their children. Many of them don't really know how their role as protector and provider in the home shapes the way their children see their Heavenly Father. The majority of them haven't read the statistics about how a father walking in faith increases the chances of the children walking in the same faith. They need the challenge. They will rise to the occasion.

But for my son...it's all about him walking out his own journey with the Lord. Even if it seems barbaric. I don't want him to bow down to the criticism of others. I don't want him giving up on a dream because others have said it's too big. I want him to hear the voice of God clearly and to follow the Lord's heart. Regardless of the struggle. This is something that I have tried to exemplify to him in my own life. He has witnessed firsthand what it looks like to walk the path you believe the Lord is leading you to travel while others mock. He has seen the confidence in the Lord that I carry along with others who have chosen this journey with me. He knows that the Barbarian Way isn't always easy, but that it is most definitely worth it.

I'm going to ask you to do something for me. Will you pray for us in this journey?
Will you pray that my son's heart will be completely open to the Lord in this season?
Will you pray that I not only walk humbly and confidently before him, but that I finish well?
You see...I'm still learning. I'm still being discipled. I'm no master. But I know that the Lord has granted me a son to pass on what I have learned. To live out an untamed faith before him. And to trust the work of the Holy Spirit in his life.

Pay attention to these words: "How is it, that for many of us, being a good Christian is nothing more than being a good person? The entire focus of our faith has been the elimination of sin, which is important but inadequate; rather than the unleashing of a unique, original, extraordinary, wonderfully untamed, faith." ~ McManus

Will you join us?