I have a goal of reading 100 books this year. Undoubtedly some of those books will be biographies, but in reality there are few people that I desire to know so much about that I would be willing to read a 400 page biography. However, there are many people that I want to know a little about. If that seems lazy to you, I think of biographical reading similar to the way I think about reading my Bible. There is a place and time for me to spend hours on a single verse, but there is also great value in me reading large portions at one time with less detail to grasp the big picture.
That being said, I have always enjoyed books that are made up of a collection of short biographies (examples: 10 Who Changed the World, The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, Filling up The Afflictions of Christ) as a way to broaden my knowledge and appreciation for Christian believers who have gone before me. Eric Metals has created a book that does just that in 7 Men. As his criteria for selection, Metaxas looked for men who had the quality of “surrendering themselves to a higher purpose, of giving something away that they might have kept.”The list of seven men includes George Washington, William Wilberforce, Eric Liddell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jackie Robinson, Pope John Paul II, and Charles W. Colson.
Interestingly, however, I have found that the greatest treasure in this book is not the gems about Jackie Robinson that I was not aware of nor the fact that George Washington’s faith led him to free his slaves as a part of his will. Those tidbits could be discovered from a Google search or a click on wikipedia.
In the introduction to this book, Metaxas embarks on a brief discussion of manhood that is desperately needed in Western culture today. For this book, Metaxas did not simply choose seven people, he chose seven men.
Manhood, according to Metaxas, is something far different than the false ideas of being macho or being emasculated that are promoted in western culture. Instead, God’s idea of manhood says that people are created in God’s image as male and female, and that men are to live as they are made–as the stronger sex. Godly manhood then is the proper use of the strength that God has given to men. God has created men “to use their gift of strength to protect and bless this who are weaker.”
We live in a culture where strength is feared and were there is a sense that–to protect the weak–strength itself must be weakened. When this happens, the heroic and true nature of strength is much forgotten. It leads to a world of men who aren’t really men. Instead they are just two kinds of boys: boasting, loud-mouthed bullies or so, emasculated pseudo-men. Women feel that they must be “empowered” and must never rely on men for strength. It’s a lot like a socialistic idea, where “power” and “strength” are redistributed–taken away from men and given to women, to even things out. Of course it doesn’t work that way. Everyone loses.
Metaxas has written a book about seven great men, not only to tell their stories, but to remind the world of the need for men, “men with chests” as C. S. Lewis famously wrote. I would encourage you to read and enjoy 7 Men, but do so with the full understanding of why Metaxas wrote it. He understands the need for real men to stand up and lead and he has shown us their stories for inspiration. Be inspired to celebrate real manhood and to create fertile in which manhood and womanhood can thrive.
