God never calls a person to be one thing, we are to be multifaceted. Looking at Jesus he wore many different hats. Able to stand before the Sanhedrin to debate doctrine, sitting with tax collectors and prostitutes for a meal, bouncing children on his knee, or driving out wicked merchants from the temple with an improvised whip. Jesus knew when the time came for action and what action to take. He surely wasn’t a hammer in a world of nails as many men can be.
C.S. Lewis brings this to light in “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” where the Pevensie children must save Narnia from the control of an evil White Witch. In one battle Peter, the eldest brother, is faced with the captain of the White Witches secret police, a wolf named Maugrim. The fight is swift, the wolf leaps for Peter. New to combat, Peter leads with his sword and runs the wolf through. When the dust settles, Peter is shocked to find out that he won, Maugrim is dead. He has killed a high ranking member of the enemy’s forces.
Right away Aslan, the God figure, gives orders to pursue the rest of Maugrim’s party. He and Peter lock eyes and Aslan reminds him to clean his sword of the blood and hair left from Maugrim. Aslan then uses that sword to knight Peter saying to him, “Rise, Sir Peter Wolf’s-Bane. And, whatever happens, never forget to wipe your sword.”
Most scholarly and fandom research only speculates what true interpretation of the advice is but I think that this is how Lewis would have preferred it. That we take it as The Lord reveals it to us. I feel strongly that God calls men to be warriors for their cause, willing to do what it takes to get the mission done. While this appeals to the aggressive nature He has put in us as men, we are also equally called to be a good friend, nurturing father and lover of our wives. Aggressiveness and aggression don't really mix well with friendship or love so we must put that attitude aside when our softer side is needed. As a dad, we take off the remnant of the battles of the day before we change a diaper, bandaid a knee, or talk through the trials of adolescence. This “Sign” gives our boys a handle to hold on the idea that they need to be multifaceted and that at a moment’s notice be able to change from a fighter to a lover.
“But what about the girls?” you ask.
Not speaking for all girls but this “Sign” sure does not appeal to the girls in my home. Also, generally, women don’t need to be reminded of the many facets God has given them. I know I'm reminded every day of the many facets of the four girls in our home. That said, I did not want to skip over this opportunity to pour in. So we changed it. When I say, “Never forget,” to one of my girls their response is the one thing they need to remember in the turbulent times, that“My daddy loves me.” It dawned on the prodigal son while he was slopping the pigs and drove him to drop everything a sprint back home. I hope it has the same effect on my girls. That whatever pearls they have haphazardly cast before swine or whatever slop them get into that they would know that I love them and that I love them more than any mess they get themselves into.
