Wild at Heart – Toxic Theology.

 

When any “Christian book” hits the New York Times best seller list, any thinking person would wonder what in that book appeals to fallen man.  As one reads Wild at Heart, it’s easy to see why carnal men would think it something of value.  The sub-title is “Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul” – a faulty presupposition, as the Bible clearly diagnoses the “secret of a man’s soul”; it’s called sin.  The introduction gives a bigger peek into the message of John Eldredge, as he begins from the premise that a man’s heart is the basis for how to live, rather than a list of “should” and “ought to”.  This reveals an unbiblical view of the human heart and the Law of God.  The imperatives (commands) of Scripture are always predicated on the indicatives (statements of fact) in Scripture.  Lost people cannot live in a way that pleases God; saved people will do so more and more as they submit to the Lord.  It’s not about working harder – it’s about being made new in Christ and being given a desire to live in obedience to His commands.  Eldredge makes a flat statement that “Most messages for men fail” yet gives no substantiation for this statement – this is a pattern that is repeated throughout this book.  The author finishes his introduction “humbly” proclaiming that this book has changed many lives, including those of people who belong to the cult of Rome known as the Roman Catholic Church.  It’s clear – the Bible is not adequate for John Eldredge.  The question for the reader – it the Bible enough for you, and is it your standard?

 

Eldredge consistently quotes heathen authors to set up a straw man argument to support his presupposition that, as he states on early in chapter one (Wild at Heart), his mission is to look for his heart.  Even when he quotes or refers to Scripture, the author demonstrates a lack of basic understanding.  From page 4, “In the record of our beginnings, the second chapter of Genesis makes it clear: man was born from the outback, from the untamed part of creation.  Afterward he is brought to Eden.  And ever since then boys have never been at home indoors, and men had had an insatiable longing to explore.”   He then quotes a pagan author, John Muir.  It’s clear that Eldredge is making a lot of assumptions that Genesis chapter 2 does not contain in order to make his case that men are wild beasts.  This is the natural, unregenerate state of man – but Eldredge uses it throughout his book as if it the norm for Christian men as well.  On page 6, he misinterprets Scripture again, claiming Christ was led into the wilderness (the reader can assume he refers to the account of the Lord’s temptation recorded in Matthew chapter 4) to be strengthened.  He was led into the wilderness to be tempted and tested as part of His proving His identity as the Christ.  He was ministered to after this trial – doesn’t read like He was strengthened by it.

 

He slams Christianity because its mission is to make “nice guys” from little boys.  It’s true that many, perhaps most, churches fail to make biblical disciples – but that is not a reason for a Christian to make up a new mission of finding one’s wild heart.  The author celebrates fallen man (page 11) as if that’s the model for saints of the living God.  After naming several movies that celebrate his model of manhood, Eldredge rightly observes, “Like it or not, there is something fierce in the heart of every man.”  He fails to diagnose the issue – the fierce something in every heart is sin.  Eldredge thinks this fierce something is what we to discover, embrace, and celebrate.  He finishes chapter one establishing his standard of life, right and wrong, on the basis of experience rather than Scripture: “Compare your experience watching the latest James Bond or Indiana Jones thriller with, say, going to Bible study.” Implying that men don’t find Bible study exciting or fulfilling.  Of course, those who are spiritually dead cannot find the Word of God satisfying.  But it’s a danger sign for professing Christian when the Bible does not capture his attention. 

 

Chapter two (The Wild One Whose Image We Bear) is a wretched romp through irreverent references to Holy God, straw men to knock down, and faulty premises.  “Is Jesus more like Mother Teresa or William Wallace?”  (page 26).  “God is a romantic at heart.” (page 34).  Eldredge likens Christ to wicked humans and presents God as needy – “And after years of hearing the heart-cry of women, I am convinced beyond a doubt of this: God wants to be loved.  He wants to be a priority to someone.  How could we have missed this?  From cover to cover, from beginning to end, the cry of God’s heart is, ‘Why won’t you choose me?’  It is amazing to me how humble, how vulnerable God is on this point.”  (page 37).  This is not the all powerful and supreme God of Scripture – it is the god of man’s self-worshiping sinful being. 

 

If you wish to know the depths of this author’s departure from God’s Truth, you can abuse yourself by reading the book, with chapters three and following bearing titles such as “The Wound”, “The Father’s Voice”, “Healing the Wound”, and “A Battle to Fight”.  The last chapter of substance – if one can rightly say that about this book – is the second to last chapter, “An Adventure to Live.”   The author describes another scene for the reader, describing the danger and fear attending diving off a high cliff – then declares, “I want to live my whole life like that.”, revealing his fleshly desire for stimulation; that common carnal desire for excitement that accounts for so much of what our culture calls entertainment and recreation.  On the top pf page 202, Eldredge again displays his wretched lack of spiritual understanding: “Life is not a problem to be solved; it is an adventure to be lived.  That’s the nature of it and has been since the beginning when God set the dangerous stage for this high-stakes drama and called the whole wild enterprise good.  He rigged the world in such a way that it only works when we embrace risk as the them of our lives, which is to say, only when we live by faith.  A man just won’t be happy until he’s got adventure in his work, in his love, and in his spiritual life.” (bold italics are mine) Dear reader – find any of that in Scripture?  Here’s what Scripture tells us: God desires His children to be obedient to Him, to live honorably so as to not bring shame on His name among the pagans, to live quiet lives as productive citizens who look on others as higher than himself, in service to the brotherhood of Christ.  In fact, being found in Christ is the opposite of risky – it’s the most secure place possible.  Eldredge’s focus on experience is typical of our post-modern era – but it’s not biblical.  Our focus is not to be on our experience or desire for fleshly stimulation – it is to submit to God.  In so doing, we may well have some of the risky experience Eldredge writes about – but the object is Christ, not the adventure. 

 

Beginning on the bottom of page 208, he makes one statement to which I can say, “Amen!” – “But the goal of Christian discipleship is the transformed heart (poor word choice, a better choice would have “life”), we move from a boy who needs the Law to the man who is able to live by the Spirit of the Law.”  This is a mostly sound view of discipleship.  But he quickly follows with references to The Message (as if it were Scripture) and mystic ideas of solitude and inner peace.  This chapter is littered with quotes from pagans, straw man arguments, and the mystic guru Dallas Willard.  Two quotes from Eldredge, from this chapter, reveal with finality the wretchedly wrong focus he has built his entire ministry upon – the titillation of the flesh and the satisfaction thereof. 

 

“A man is never more a man than when he embraces an adventure beyond his control, or when he walks into a battle he isn’t sure of winning.” (page 214) and, from page 218, “We have desires in our hearts that are core to who and what we are; they are almost mythic in their meaning, waking in us something transcendent and eternal.”  If one is dead in sin, this must sound pretty good and exciting.  If one is risen in Christ, it’s easy to see the new-age influence  the mystics he quotes are having on him – men have an almost mythic, eternal desire in their sinful hearts.  The Bible tells us otherwise – that our hearts are wicked and unknowable.

 

Wild at Heart is wretched theology; it presents a seriously distorted view of God and man.  Read the Bible and see what Truth is.  You won’t find in it in this book.

 

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”