I swung through a church the other day and happened to pick up a pamphlet for their men's ministry. In bold letters it says "Live The Adventure in Christ" and beneath that is a grainy picture of four men in a drab colored hallway with paint rollers. Painting? Seriously? Jesus offers "life to the full" and the best you can come up with is busy work? But really that's the kind of thing we see almost everywhere we look, not just in church. It's a foundational plank in how western culture manages men these days. Have you ever heard somebody say something like "The greatest adventure you'll ever live is [insert obligation]". That kind of thinking rises up from a world of undressed wounds where playing it safe is a primary motivation. When we've been hurt deeply and nobody was there to play a father's role of interpretation and initiation for us, then the desire to avoid pain is often the best motivation we have left. So we only take on the challenges we know we can win. We only risk what we can afford to loose. We take that soul-deep desire for adventure and try to channel it into artificial adventures like sports. But what troubles me most about this brochure is that these folks should know better. They're using the language, arguably calling man into the deep and powerful life of spirit...and then offering chores. It's a horrible bait and switch and acts to convince millions of earnest Christian men and women that the biggest, most important thing the King of the Universe has for them is service. If the version of the Gospel you heard goes something like "Sin less, give more, sit down." then please believe me that there is MORE. So Much More...