A nice guy is just as capable of facing challenges as the warrrior-prince. Being a man is not defined by the battles you fight, but how you face your life. Eldredge's nice guy model would dismiss him as a tamed, bored man who seldom took risks. When people who used to work with him tell me how much they relied on him and his word in their business - that is what impacted me the most about how to emulate him. What stands out to this day is the latter. The first set of lessons were not what impacted me for my daily life. The best lessons I learned from my 'nice guy' dad were not where he wanted to teach me how to hunt, fish or work on cars, but how much honesty, integrity and care of family mattered. He took the ultimate risk, but was one of the humblest guys you could ever meet. A soft-spoken civilian scientist who is one of a handful of men to venture to the moon. There are plenty of mild-mannered heroes in the world. God did not make everyone to be a warrior. Eldredge is either trying to reach a particular demographic, or his world-view is way too simple. That's great advice, but he taints it throughout with his 'William Wallace' imagery. He talks about challenging yourself when you are in a bad place, and being willing to take more risks. There's some good stuff in here, but it's rare. I don't think I've ever heard such utter junk. Our 'wounds' at their hands have crippled our manhood. Fathers that should be teaching us to be hunters and fighters are instead themselves bored and check out.

We aren't initiated into manhood by anyone. We forget this because our father (or father-figures) don't teach us to be wild any more. His rationale is that as boys, we all pretend to be knights, sheriffs and fighters, but that we forget this part of ourselves as we grow up and become bored, office-cubical workers. You are either a masculine, warrior-prince, or a whimpering, nice guy with dad-issues. In his view, there is nothing worse than being a 'nice guy'. Eldredge starts with the premise that modern men are no longer the men God meant us to be - that men have been tamed, and are therefore bored.

It is provocative, to be sure, but it is way too simplistic. We did this book as part of our men's group this spring.

Wild at heart john eldredge amazon