Jesus is Hope

I have often characterized our work as “standing at the edge of Hell pulling people out one at a time”. I can’t imagine doing anything else. Seeing men grasp the hope that will lift them from the pit is truly miraculous. Hope provides both the courage and the energy needed to “fight the good fight”. This hope is the indwelling Christ, who changes men from the inside out.

All too frequently though our men grab on to a wrong hope and these wrong hopes are not sufficient for the task. If we mistakenly focus our men solely on improving life skills, relapse prevention or Bible knowledge we may instill an inadequate hope. With insufficient hope they slip back into the pit. Many of our men are clinging to a false hope.

Real hope comes from trusting in the indwelling Christ alone. This is the scariest thing imaginable for our men. It is also the most difficult thing to teach. How do we teach trust? …not in a class …not in counseling …not by obeying rules …not by more discipline.

In my experience trust is caught, not taught. It is learned in relationship. It is modeled. It defies anything rote or programmatic. It requires an experience of much grace and truth over a long period of time in a safe & healing environment with unrelenting accountability done in genuine loving relationship.

It would be my wish that any who read this would stop and pray for our ministry, that we would be effective modelers of trusting in Jesus. And that our men would see our trust of Him and take the risk of trusting Him themselves.

Aaron Eggers, Men’s Ministries