[August 1, 2024] Find adventure in your life. That advice has been doled out to young men for centuries, but like so many men, we often don’t know what that means. The question men should be asking is, what is the greatest adventure of life? One person gives us a possible answer:
“Pick up your cross and follow me. That’s a hell of an invitation, but that’s the invitation [to life’s greatest adventure].” – Dr. Jordan Peterson
In Western culture, church membership has steadily declined, and fewer people say they are religious. I hear from church leaders who see this as a serious problem – and I agree it is a problem – that the solution is to become more relevant to all people.
Here’s the problem with such a solution. There is nothing more relevant than bearing the cross, and as soon as church leaders say, “We need to be more relevant,” they are also saying that bearing the cross is less relevant. That will not work if the original proposal to bear our cross in life is correct. And, yes, the original proposal is correct.
Jesus Christ faced and triumphed over death and Hell. Many will ask why this is even relevant for us. It is relevant because that is what we all must do. And we are stuck with it because the meaning of life must be found in our faith.
Western churches, particularly those wanting to be more relevant, do not challenge us enough. Church leaders should be telling us that the path is not easy to enter the afterlife and get into Heaven. Who would want something easy where everyone gets a trophy (Heaven) just by showing up? Humans are built for adventure, and the challenge is the adventure.
To make themselves more relevant – in the eyes of church leaders – church leaders now concern themselves with Climate Change, LGBTQI+ and trans ideology, social justice, and other non-religious but social issues of today. That is not the church’s right path. The task of the church is saving souls.
The idea that the church can become “more relevant” means they have lost faith in their primary mission. We all must learn to triumph over death and Hell and to live the best way that leads to a full life.
The church is the last line of defense in this material world. It is the protector of the ideal way to live in Jesus Christ, it is the standard bearer for what is good, and this requires good men to be part of it. We now know that without good men, our churches will fail. This means all men are morally obligated to stand with the church, which is how we can bear the cross.
Our churches have drifted off course. Now is the time for good men to step up and help save our Christian churches.
—————
Please read my books:
NOW, that would be a the greatest adventure. ✝
Wow, well said, and so thank you Gen. Satterfield. Too many folks think that owning things gives them meaning but we all know that is not the case. It is convenient to own things and we should but those ‘things’ should be minimal. In America we have a choice and no one should be depriving people of their property like our government likes to do.
I would venture to think out loud that most “Christians” don’t themselves really understand the Bible or the core principles of Christainity. The good news is that is not required.
“Pick up your cross and follow me. That’s a hell of an invitation, but that’s the invitation [to life’s greatest adventure].” – Dr. Jordan Peterson. For those of us who are regular readers of this blog by Gen. Satterfield, him quoting Jordan Peterson should come as no surprise. But, what I think that Gen. Satterfield has done for us here is to help us understand how to get out of the rut we are living in and to explore what could be about us – about ourselves – that might allow us to live a fuller and more appreciative life. I look forward to more on this topic.
Yep, Good Dog, well said. 😄
Great article today, Gen. Satterfield and one of your best. I can see you are exploring this idea and I love reading about ideas being developed in real time.
“Jesus Christ faced and triumphed over death and Hell. Many will ask why this is even relevant for us. It is relevant because that is what we all must do. And we are stuck with it because the meaning of life must be found in our faith.” – Gen. Doug Satterfield. This is far more important than we might imagine.
Got that right Pastor John. Too many of the ‘modern’ man and woman are being lied to today. That lie is that there is nothing more important in life than a career. And second lie is that there should never be anything more important than a career. Implicit in those lies is that a family is troublesome and gets in the way of a great career. But most ‘modern’ men and women don’t figure out the lie until it’s too late to overcome our biology of desiring children and raising them to be good themselves. And they also reject religion and believing in God as something old and superstitious. They find out too late that they’ve been lied to.
Pastor John, that is absolutely correct. This is the most important thing that Gen. Satterfield wrote in this article.
Loved the article, sir, thanks.
Gen. Satterfield is trying to get the to heart of what it means to have a good life. This is on top of his book “55 Rules for a Good Life.” https://www.amazon.com/55-Rules-Good-Life-Responsibility/dp/1737915529/ Now, he is taking us further afield and that is an exploration that makes for a great adventure.
Gen. Satterfield is once again pointing us to God and also allowing Dr. Jordan Peterson to help us peel back the idea that we all can be better people but that we are also personally responsible for ourselves. And we also have a responsibility to help others. This is a long-running theme on this blog, and rightly so. Keep on truckin’ Gen. Satterfield and thank you.
Yep, thinking the same thing. That’s why I love this website (and also his series on Letters to My Granddaughter). I recommend getting yourself a copy of “55 Rules for a Good Life” and reading it at least twice. Then, you will be in a better position to make comments here. what Gen. Satterfield is doing, in my opinion, is tying together what he wrote in that book to his life as a kid and young man. That is not an easy task but we all can see him doing it one article at a time. His two books plus what we are seeing in his website over the past ten years plus, gives us some idea of what it takes to become a good man. And that idea is that we must understand what it is to be a good man and then do those things necessary to make it happen. No easy. No wonder so many fail at it.
🙏 Yes, indeed, Willie S. 🙏 Gen. Satterfield makes for a good case to be the right person at the right time. Plus he reminds us that we can expand beyond ourselves (but we need to start getting ourselves right first) into helping our family, our neighborhood, and our state and nation. That is not so easy but it is what makes life so meaningful.
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thank you, Rev. Cain, for your kind words. They mean a lot to me. I appreciate your taking the time to write them.
Wow, nicely put Willie and Rev Cain. thanks!!!!!!!