Twelve miles of muddy trails. Obstacles ranging from a nerve-wracking dumpster full of ice and freezing water called Arctic Enema, to the infamous "Electro Shock Therapy", a 50ft stretch of mud with 1,000 wires conducting 10,000 volts of electricity directly through your soaking wet body before you cross the finish line.
Are you kidding me? Why would anyone in their right mind want to do this? Yes, there is beer at the finish line and as men we have been known for doing very stupid things for a cold beer, but there's gotta be more to this than booze.
To date, more than 2.5 Million people have been part of a Tough Mudder race, and it is said that Obstacle Racing is one of the fastest growing sports on earth. What's the deal with that?
THE ANSWER IS ADVENTURE
Adventure is at the core of every man. Think about your own life. Think about your most memorable stories, those moments when you felt fully alive. I bet there was some sort of adventure involved. And I'm sure that the more dangerous the adventure, the more you brag about it with honor and pride.
Adventure is part of the fabric of every man, because God created us for adventure. First he set us in this wild, amazing world with whales and sharks, bears and lions, oceans and mountains. Then he commanded us to rule and subdue (Gen 1:25), to exercise fierce mastery, as the Hebrew scholar Robert Alter better translates. What an adventure!
The reality, however, is that our world has gone soft, lately. For the last few decades, we have worked tirelessly to find ways to make our lives as comfortable as possible. Today I can chat with my friends around the world, pay my bills, read the news, listen to the latest albums, all at the same time from my mobile device. Thankfully, I'm now able to do it from my watch too, because who can bear the pain of having to take the phone out of their pocket to answer a message!
And there is nothing wrong with technology per se. The danger comes when we get trapped by comfort and we don't give our hearts what they naturally long for. And if the heart goes hungry for adventure and we don't feed it with the right kind, then it is going to go look for it somewhere else. In the absence of healthy adventure, sooner or later, when your enemy presents you with a counterfeit, your heart will have a hard time resisting, and you'll easily find yourself in dark places like pornography, an affair or something else that can give your heart the illusion of feeling alive, even if it is just for a few minutes.
On the flip side, a good dose of adventure will always make our masculine hearts come alive. It trains us for life, as God designed it to be. It moves us away from the illusion of control and forces us to release our fears to God, take risks and trust him with the outcome.
ADVENTURE TRAINS US TO LIVE BY FAITH
In the Bible we find the story of 15-year old David who found out that a giant warrior named Goliath was threatening his country, and he didn't hesitate to challenge him, while the rest of his countrymen, grown up valiant soldiers of Israel, wet their pants and went hiding. Why? Because he trusted that in the same way God had delivered him in the past, when he had to fight against lions and bears to protect his sheep, He would certainly do it again against a mere pagan soldier yapping against God and the people of Israel. He had been initiated. His previous adventures had trained him, and as a result, he knew that he had what it takes.
Which takes us back to Tough Mudder. What brings 10 out-of-shape men in their 30s and 40s to sign up for an obstacle race like this? Simple. A deep desire for adventure, a willingness to help each other and fight for each other like brothers, and a longing to see God come through for us.
So, against all reason, we drove up to Lake Tahoe on a hot summer weekend, and together, as a Band of Brothers, we ran a Tough Mudder race, helping each other overcome every obstacle. We started together and finished together, and now we have an amazing story to brag about, with honor and pride.
During the race, most of us swore never to do something like this again. After crossing the finish line, however, we enjoyed our cold beer, we celebrated together and then we signed up for the next race.
If your heart is longing for adventure and you want to give it a dose of the good kind, maybe we'll cross paths out there on the trail.