Wild men or obedient servants?

I have heard too many men, including some ministers and counselors, brag on what they feel is the great value of the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. I have never felt good about the book and the philosophy it promotes and Daniel Gillespie, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Wilmington, NC wrote an excellent review of the book entitled Roaming Wild: Investigating the Message of Wild at Heart. The review is a chapter of the book Fool’s Gold, edited by John MacArthur, and available at http://www.gty.org/Shop/Books/451152_Fools-Gold-Softcover.

On page 95 of the book Pastor Gillespie offers the following conclusion, of which I fully agree:

There is no question that Wild at Heart addresses a critical topic in Christianity. There is a serious need for men with resolve, strength and character. However, by failing to establish a high view of Scripture, a high view of God, and a proper view of man, Eldredge lays a faulty foundation for constructing true masculinity. His call to be a wild man is not only unnecessary-it is unbiblical. Man are to be dignified and above reproach, not dangerous and beyond restraint. The man behind the desk can be just as much a man of God as the mighty warrior of the Old Testament-if he holds fast to what God’s Word commands him to be (see Eph 5; Titus 2).

So let the man who searches for true masculinity look no further than the pages of Scripture, for there he will find the truth about himself from the mouth of his Creator. Let his ears not be tickled by the whims of men, but let his mind be trained by the Word of God. And before any man looks for his battle to fight, his beauty to rescue, and his adventure to live, let him first look to his God to glorify.