Some of my favorite movies include Braveheart, Gladiator, 300, Lord Of The Rings, Last Of The Mohicans and Lone Survivor. Another honorable mention to this list is the 2004 remake of King Arthur.

Here is a short summary shared by Claudio Carval. In 400 AD, the Roman Empire extends to Britain and the Romans become impressed with the fight skills of the warrior Sarmatian people, which are spared, but have to send their sons to serve Rome in the cavalry for fifteen years. Only after these services, these knights are free to return home. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table have their last mission before achieving their freedom.

I chose this summary because it ends with a powerful word that is not always connected with authentic manhood and that is “freedom”. This theme ebbs and flows all through out history in narratives of the men who fought in the Revolutionary War and the movies mentioned above. Of course there are endless realities and tales of the bravery of men fighting for the cause of freedom, but I want to stay with this for a minute…for the men of today.

Why is this important for the men of today?

Because authentic manhood seems to be seriously absent today!

If you haven’t noticed, in today’s world view the very idea of manhood has been emasculated and masculinity is under attack. The narrative highlighted by the media, movies and society throws out labels such as tender, sensitive, fill in the blank ________.

What about cunning, strong, wild, brave, courageous, warrior and yes even dangerous. There is a malaise and a restlessness that suggest that the lines between a man and woman is blurred and manhood is reduced to being a pushover, bungling idiot or a Mister Rodger type “Mr. Nice Guy”. There seems to be a growing cultural uncertainty about the social role of men with a narrative that facilitates the feminization of men. This narrative is producing a sense of withdrawal and boredom for men and many have abdicated authentic manhood.

Just recently, in developing the men’s ministry website for my church, the very thought of showing an image of a sword drew gasps from the pastors. Really? The church is even gelding men. This quote from my life coach/mentor gets to the heart of it, “There is this false narrative that when men become Christians they somehow loose their balls!”

Ok, so where am I going with this?

Flipping through the channels I come across the movie King Arthur, the scene where the Saxon armies have descended upon Hadrian’s Wall to face Arthur and the Woads, the Celtic Britton rebels.

Here is the quote that pulled me into that scene. A scene that I found myself wanting to armor up, grab my sword and join this cause for freedom against tyranny.

I have a passion to help men discover their authentic manhood in Jesus Christ and to inspire fathers to step up and lead their families, but what I am talking about is at the very core of men.

John Eldredge shares that if men really search their hearts they will find three universal desires: 1) a battle to fight, 2) an adventure to live, and 3) a beauty to rescue.ⁱ

Whether its King Arthur selflessly fighting for others and winning the heart of Guinevere, Braveheart fighting to honor his wife’s death, Gladiator standing his ground against the Emperor of Rome, Aragorn rushing the Black Gate to face Sauron later to be united with Arwen, King Leonidas staring tyranny in the face with only 300 men, Hawkeye (Nathaniel Poe) in Last Of The Mohicans defending a British officer’s daughter Cora, Saving Private Ryan and the lure of the western movies. I could go on and on.

These movies have all the ingredients Eldgedge suggests are the three universal desires of men.

For me there is a pull into the battle and I believe that somewhere deep down inside every man is the desire to have a battle to fight, a need have adventure and a need of a women to rescue.

As fathers, husbands and leaders these battles might not be against the Saxons, the dark armies of Middle Earth or the Persian Empire, but make no mistake there are battles right in front of us everyday.

Laying our lives down like Christ did for our wives and kids, taking a courageous stand for Jesus Christ in the post modern culture, being a servant leader at home and in the workplace, to protect and provide for our families.

Look around you, pause and see the things that you’re fighting for in your life everyday. Embrace these core universal desires and let God unleash your authentic manhood. Men, get off the sidelines and stop watching life’s battles from the bleachers and get in the game. Reject passivity and live courageously from your heart!

Men, many of us have given ourselves over to the passive life and God is shouting at you like he did to Lazarus to get up and live again! There is a courageous freedom God is calling us into and our wives, our kids and the world desperately needs men who have come alive. As King Arthur cried out on the battle field, “but let history remember, that as free men, we chose to make it so!”

Some days you may spend your time fighting for what’s right.

Some days you may spend your time making a difference.

Some days you may spend your time in the thick of the battle.

But make no mistake men, you are a warrior!

Are you ready to step up and be one?