5 Skills Cavemen (and Christian Men) Need to Survive

Arena Men,

I have been hooked on Alone: Season Seven ever since our interview with Joel Van de Loon. Participants attempted to survive for 100 days in the Arctic to win one million dollars.

You may also remember episode 166 and our interview with Alone: Season Two winner, Dave McIntyre. Besides a backpack and clothing, contestants were allowed ten survival items. As an avid outdoorsman, I was intrigued with Joel’s selection: Saw, bow and arrows, fishing line and hooks, snare wire, ax, multitool, Ferro rod, pot, sleeping bag, and a Gillnet.

Joel went on to explain that for a society to survive, it needs exactly five things, all starting with the letter C. The same goes for surviving the wild.

It struck me how necessary these five C’s are for men to survive the spiritual wilds of life. Let me explain.

Survival Item C1: Combustion device

One contest lost his Ferro rod one week into the competition. Knowing that to survive the damp artic climate, he would need easy access to fire, warmth, food preparation, and maintaining high morale, he tapped out immediately after realizing that his access to fire was lost.

Men need fire.

Men need passion.

Men need purpose.

The man who lives at full capacity realizes this can only happen through a commitment to Jesus that is so radical that, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish (Gr: skubala or human feces) so that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:8)”

Is Jesus your combustion device?

Survival Item C2: Containers

Think about it. We use containers for everything. To hold our drinks. To contain our clothes while traveling. To hold our money. To carry golf clubs. To hold fishing gear. To pack into the woods. These often-unnoticed containers can make life easy or difficult.

Jesus said, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” We are living containers or vessels, that are as beneficial as the integrity of our heart. That is why one of the nine fruits of the Spirit is self-control. We are only as good as what we fill out lives with. Read that again and reflect on it for your life.

Survival Item C3: Cutting Tools

When I was a young man, my Grandpa told me, “Real men always carry a pocket knife.” That statement has served me well. I carry a pocketknife everywhere. Whether it is cutting a sandwich, cleaning a fish, chopping a tree, or sawing a branch, there’s always something to cut.

The author of Hebrews wrote, “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)”

Wow, no wonder it is called the “Sword of the Spirit.”

With it, a man can cut through the lies to live in freedom and truth.

I am troubled at how lightly the Word of God is taken today by so-called Christian men. It is not a book of suggestions to take or leave as you wish but a book of life-giving commands. Obey it at the cost of your life on earth or after.

Survival Item C4: Cover Material

The show Naked and Afraid may be popular among some, but it is not real. It is fake. False. Not reality. It is media at its finest. Without proper clothing and shelter, your life is over.

Uncomfortably over.

I have learned something from watching the news (besides the fact that most of it is biased and untrue). Whenever tragedy strikes, whether it is war, a natural disaster, or a catastrophic event, it is almost always men who are the interviewed heroes.

Why? Because men are wired to be a wall and covering for others.

Paul uses an interesting word for “manages” in 1 Timothy 3:4, “He must be one who manages his own household well.” The Greek word means to preside, protect, and provide. God calls men to cover others. A man with no one to protect, provide for, and preside over is the most pathetic of humans. We need someone to cover.

Survival Item C5: Cordage

Imagine your home without a binding material. Your car. Your clothes. Your shoes! I am instantly reminded of Ecclesiastes 4:12, “And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”

The great challenge for survivalists on Alone: Season Seven was in the title. They were…ALONE! Joel spent time talking to a Muskox skull he found. Others talk to themselves or the camera. Tom Hanks, in Castaway, spoke to Wilson, a volleyball he found!

We need relationships. Without them, we are lost—and alone.

For the follower of Jesus, he is only as strong as the fellowship he keeps. Jesus told us how to be known as disciples: “THIS is how they will know you are my disciples: IF you love one another.”

Stop Surviving. Start Thriving.

• Speaking of survival, pick up your copy on my newly released, Guts, and Manhood and leave a five-star review on Amazon. Thank you in advance.

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Thriving at Full Capacity,

Jim Ramos