After attending Eric Metaxas' Bonhoeffer Tour, and in reading the inevitable classic, I was inspired to start a mentor group reflecting Bonhoeffer's thursday mentor sessions with select students. I was privilidged to obtain a pre-release copy of 7 Men during the tour and believe this could be a cornerstone piece for a new paradigm in youth ministry. This review is written with the perspective of using the book in a ministry and discipleship context.
Metaxas begins 7 Men by informing readers that his book doesn't talk about manhood, but describes how his book shows men with Biblical integrity. Although not written as a youth ministry curriculum, his approach is a welcomed diversion from most behavior modification youth ministry curriculum. Writing a series of biographies rather than a planned mentor-study, Metaxas comments,
You can talk about right and wrong and good and bad all day long, but ultimately people need to see it. Seeing and studying the actual lives of people is simply the best way to communicate ideas about how to behave and how not to behave.
7 Men isn't a How-to book of simple steps or required environments to foster Biblical manhood. Instead Mr. Metaxas has created a first volume highlighting the inspirational lives of seven men who "all evinced one particular quality: that of surrendering themseleves to a higher purpose, of giving something away that they might have kept."
Metaxas takes readers through a tour of George Washington, William Wilberforce, Eric Liddell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jackie Robinson, Pope John Paul II and Charles Colson. Leading as if he were Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Metaxas uses moments of humor that dive into moments of deep introspection during his brief overview of the seven.
Metaxas' picture of George Washington focuses on the integrity of a young Washington often not depicted in history class. Understanding the wooden-mouthed man in his prime lends gratefulness for the character of a servant who shaped the presidency, and ultimately the union, that we have enjoyed and that has blessed the world.
The 7 Men stop by Wilberforce is reminiscent of Amazing Grace, the biography written by Metaxas in 2006. Recalling 320 pages in a 24 page abridgement, Metaxas retains the heart of Amazing Grace by showing the need for Wilberforce to convince the hearts and minds of the people before he fought for votes politically to end slavery. Metaxas closes the Wilberforce section with a series of questions that leave the reader pondering their stewardship in service to God's giftings.
Eric Liddell the famous 1924 Olympic runner and Chariots of Fire story makes the cut for 7 Men. Metaxas details Liddell's life and the story of the 1924 Olympic race as the smaller and less significant part of the Olympiad's life. Noting the second half as better than the first, Metaxas shows Liddell to be a man whose love for Christ birthed into complete love and service to Europe and China. This story is a must read, partly because it is little if ever heard.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is presented almost as a lost relative by Metaxas in 7 Men. What seems as a self-finding venture through the life and service of Bonhoeffer, Metaxas details the life of the marytr, highighting the intense devotion and love Dietrich had for his Savior. As Dietrich's chapter closes it feels almost as if Metaxas has gotten the story wrong as feelings of injustice surround the life of a young theology prodigy. However, as Metaxas plays the cards of Dietrich's life the reality of Bonhoeffer's homecoming to meet his Savior is really the just ending of the story from Dietrich's perspective.
Metaxas' chapter on Jackie Robinson is worth the price of the book itself. Documenting the challenging circumstances surrounding Robinson and his fight against segregation particularly in baseball, Metaxas details Jackie's introduction to the white baseball league with a classic line, "there, in that fourth-floor office in Brooklyn to which Jackie had ridden in a whites-only elevator, under a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, history was made." The dipiction of the entire scenario surrounding Jackie Robinson will teach young men integrity and help them to grasp a Biblically-infused ethic that no social studies program or history channel special will.
All good books need a conflict, and for many the chapter on Pope John Paul II will be that conflict. An evangelical protestant author writing primariy to protestants about the significance of the character and modeling of a Catholic Pope is no doubt going to cause some increased blood pressure. However, Mr. Metaxas takes readers on a careful walk through the challenges that Karol Wojtyla encountered in war torn Poland and the resolve he displayed as a result of his unwavering faith in Jesus Christ. Protestants will understand and develop an appreciation for Wojtyla, and Catholics will undoubtedly draw significance from the complete devotion to Christ amidst the incredible power wieded by by the 264th Pope. Metaxas notes a commentary by David Aikman following a Billy Graham reference to John Paul the Great where Aikman says,
"I am not a Roman Catholic, and I certainly share many of the Protestant reservations about some aspects of the Catholic doctrine and some forms of Catholic devotionalism. Yet is is my view that Pope John Paul II, in his profound spiritual depth...is the greatest single Christian leader of the twentieth century."
Metaxas closes his work with a short biography, of which I hope he develops a full work, to his mentor Charles Colson. Taking readers through the obvious twists and turns of the "hatchet-man", Metaxas closes with a detailed account of the day Colson fell ill at the Wilberforce weekend of which Metaxas was emceeing.
I found myself with a new and inspired appreciation for the seven men Mr. Metaxas highlights who have shaped the course of history, a gratefulness I didn't obtain through my high school study of their historic exploits. The book is both informative and transformative with the focus being lives lived in response to Jesus Christ.
Metaxas cooresponds quantitative historic research with qualitative analysis, explaining the character and integrity of those chosen for 7 Men. What were surprising selections for me in Jackie Robinson and Pope John Paul II created an appreciation through Metaxas' eyes. The spread of his stroke in painting the picture of men who have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ in various faith contexts is refreshing, revealing bare authenticity in these men's holistic devotion to God. His selection of the men for this volume, across racial and denominational chasms, show grace and draw focus to Jesus Christ, which is the apparant goal of his piece.
I pray this is the first part of a multi-series exploration for Metaxas as I employ 7 Men for a summer mentorship series with students from Norway, Korea, China and the United States who attend HIllcrest Academy. This book has aided in me establishing a moral creativity I have sought to build in myself for some time; something I have felt the need for after discovering C.S. Lewis' explanation of the "chest" in The Abolition of Man.
I have no dout 7 Men will encourage and guide others to avoid the trappings of a self-help approach to Biblical manhood and will call for a formation of a greater ethos of manhood centered on the person of Jesus Christ.