As we prepare to embark on a quest to answer the five big questions of life, I make one final plea for you to join us: We need you in the fight. Why? Because you, your family and the world in which you live are at risk. When men do not have definitive answers to the five big questions, they wander aimlessly through a meaningless life. Doing so causes their potential to be squandered as they invest their time, energy and resources into selfish passions and pursuits. Without life-directing answers, men sink into the dark holes of narcissism and victimhood, and as they do, they drag their world with them. This is no joke, my friend. The stakes are high.

This is the third article in The Five Big Questions of Life series. Previous articles in this series are always available at webbweekly.com/arts-and-lifestyles/faith-conversations/.

Narcissism (an intense and unhealthy focus on self) seeks satisfaction through materialism (the pursuit of possessions) and hedonism (the pursuit of pleasure). These selfish pursuits are doomed to fail because a man’s eyes and stomach are never satisfied. See Proverbs 30:15-16. He always wants more and better. To satisfy his appetites, a man will exhaust his money, himself and his relationships. Instead of experiencing ever-increasing purpose, passion and freedom, a narcissist sinks into the darkness and death of meaninglessness, loneliness and bondage.

Victimhood is a narcotic that deadens the pain of meaninglessness and develops into an addiction-induced paralysis called entitlement. If a man can blame someone or something else for his limited opportunities, meager resources, and dissatisfaction, then he can numb the pain of failure while demanding that others meet his needs and satisfy his desires. Like the narcissist, a man who lives as a victim sinks into darkness and death.

Here is a hard reality: men never go anywhere alone. Wherever they go, they take their world with them. If a man sinks into darkness and death, he takes everyone he claims to love with him. Like it or not, men are leaders, and everything we do has a profound effect on those around us.

This is why we need you in the fight! We need lifegiving men who pursue the truth that sets them and their world free. Yes, you can lead your world into light and freedom! We need industrious and determined men who overcome their fears and challenges. We need brave and courageous men who sacrifice self for the greater good. We need virtuous and authentic men who choose good over evil, right over wrong, love over hate, and forgiveness over bitterness. We need grateful and generous men who are content with what they have and find joy in giving. We need men of uncompromising character who soar on wings like eagles, who run and don’t grow weary, who walk and do not faint. See Isaiah 40:31.

To be that man, you must be guided by the answers to the five big questions of life: Who am I? Why am I here? What am I missing? What is truth? What must I do?

So again, I invite you on a quest to find those answers. Have you been a life-taking man? If so, then God has redemptive grace for you. He still has meaning and purpose for your life. It’s never too late to join the quest, and it’s never too late for redemption. My friend, there is hope, and your best days are yet to come! You can be a lifegiving man!

Have you been a life-frustrating man? If so, then God has corrective grace for you. Discipline is never easy, but it produces a harvest of goodness and peace if we are willing to submit to it. See Hebrews 12:11. God wants more and better for you. Don’t settle for lukewarm mediocrity. See Revelation 3:14-22. You can be a man who burns with passion and purpose. You can be a lifegiving man!

My friend, we need you in the fight! I pray that you will join us on the quest. The journey won’t be easy. It will require time and sacrifice. You will need to leave behind your comforts, preferences, traditions and security, but if you are willing to be a seeker of truth, then you will find the answers that will guide your life into meaning, purpose, passion and freedom.

It is the mission of each true knight
His duty… nay, his privilege!
To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go;
To right the unrightable wrong.
To love, pure and chaste, from afar,
To try, when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star!
This is my Quest to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right
Without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause!
And I know, if I’ll only be true
To this glorious Quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest.
And the world will be better for this,
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach the unreachable stars!”
~ Joe Darion, Man of La Mancha