I was listening to a report on NPR about Army recruitment. They are having difficulty keeping recruitment up. I know. No Duh.
The reasons they cited, though, were not the ones I expected. I figured that the 100% chance of going to war might put a dent in their efforts. But the reason the Army recruiter cited was (are you ready for this) obesity.
Too many of the young men coming and inquiring about becoming part of The One were too fat to be able to handle the physical rigors of the army life. Now I know some of these guys are the victims of bad genes - but not all of them. In fact, not most of them.
One of the guys interviewed said he knew he was overweight when he applied. He was 5'10" and 280 pounds. The army has somewhat lenient rules concerning obesity, but he was still over the limit by 70 pounds. Why was he overweight? In his own words: beer and the X-Box.
He said that he worked all day in a sedentary job, then came home and consumed two six-packs and played video games all night.
To be clear here, I like both beer and video games - in moderation. How bored do you have to be, how uninspired with life, to drink yourself into a stuper while numbing your mind with the same games night after night? And what I am finding is that he simply is not alone. We have a whole generation of overgrown adolescents living for no greater purpose than to win a video game.
The part that grabbed me about this story, though, is that this guy - in 90 days - lost the 70 pounds by dropping the beer and exercising at night instead of playing games.
This guy finally got a glimpse that his life could be about more. He bought into the military mantra about living for something greater - for sacrificing to be part of the great adventure. And here is the point for us: how many leaders in history's greatest adventure - the advancement of the Kingdom of God - are inspiring 28 year old teenagers to put away their weapons of play and instead take up the real weapons of war? How many directionless dudes are we inspiring with visions of Kingdom building grandeur?
This is one of the great challenges of church leadership in our culture today. Men no longer know how to be men. They are visionless and are content to conquer a virtual enemy. They are directionless are are settling for simply mapping out the clubs to be hit tonight while on the prowl for another one night stand. They are simply bored.
There is nothing wrong with the Army - but let's take a page from their book and start living and casting a Kingdom vision that is compelling - so inspiring - that the boys that surround us feel a restless stir to become men.
The reasons they cited, though, were not the ones I expected. I figured that the 100% chance of going to war might put a dent in their efforts. But the reason the Army recruiter cited was (are you ready for this) obesity.
Too many of the young men coming and inquiring about becoming part of The One were too fat to be able to handle the physical rigors of the army life. Now I know some of these guys are the victims of bad genes - but not all of them. In fact, not most of them.
One of the guys interviewed said he knew he was overweight when he applied. He was 5'10" and 280 pounds. The army has somewhat lenient rules concerning obesity, but he was still over the limit by 70 pounds. Why was he overweight? In his own words: beer and the X-Box.
He said that he worked all day in a sedentary job, then came home and consumed two six-packs and played video games all night.
To be clear here, I like both beer and video games - in moderation. How bored do you have to be, how uninspired with life, to drink yourself into a stuper while numbing your mind with the same games night after night? And what I am finding is that he simply is not alone. We have a whole generation of overgrown adolescents living for no greater purpose than to win a video game.
The part that grabbed me about this story, though, is that this guy - in 90 days - lost the 70 pounds by dropping the beer and exercising at night instead of playing games.
This guy finally got a glimpse that his life could be about more. He bought into the military mantra about living for something greater - for sacrificing to be part of the great adventure. And here is the point for us: how many leaders in history's greatest adventure - the advancement of the Kingdom of God - are inspiring 28 year old teenagers to put away their weapons of play and instead take up the real weapons of war? How many directionless dudes are we inspiring with visions of Kingdom building grandeur?
This is one of the great challenges of church leadership in our culture today. Men no longer know how to be men. They are visionless and are content to conquer a virtual enemy. They are directionless are are settling for simply mapping out the clubs to be hit tonight while on the prowl for another one night stand. They are simply bored.
There is nothing wrong with the Army - but let's take a page from their book and start living and casting a Kingdom vision that is compelling - so inspiring - that the boys that surround us feel a restless stir to become men.
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