To Be a Part of Something Big

The book “Killing Lions” is a conversation between John and Sam Eldredge about the trials young men face.

[John]   You have entered the Warrior Stage of a young man’s life. Young men have been at the center of most of history’s revolutions. Deep in your marrow lies a passion to bring down tyrants, overthrow oppression, and fight for a better world — to be part of something big. And why did God give you such hearts? Isn’t that fascinating — why you and all your peers have a heart to change the world? Was that placed in you simply to be killed? Never! I know older folks love to look down at you over their reading glasses and say something dismissive about “the idealism of youth” and how it’s high time you settle down to real life, but that is not my opinion. I don’t think it’s God’s opinion either. That counsel comes from folks who have killed their heart and soul in order to “get along” in the world. Christianity is all about revolution — is a revolution to its core — and that is why God gives young men and women passion to change the world. God gave you that heart in order that you might discover both the joy of being part of his revolution and your own unique place within it. 

There is a lot of wrong to be set right in the world. Everywhere you look, the planet is bleeding, children are trafficked, slavery is on the rise, and truth itself has all but shattered. This is a time for revolution, and one of the great wonders of Christianity is the idea that you are born into your times, to set your times aright. What could be more exciting? Frederick Buechner believed that, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” What could be more hopeful?

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