There is a traitor in our midst that needs to back right off!

John Eldridge said that in the story of every mans life he has: a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. Think about it for a minute.

This is the epic, the theme, the reason behind every great legend, every great story, every great movie you have ever watched.

Even in the fables where the knight takes the castle, he sets off on his quest and adventure, he battles the dragon, he releases the fair maiden.

But there is more to it than just the theme of really good stories.


The reason it appeals to us, the reason it became the essence of legends, is because it calls to that part of us inside which has roots into our deep inner longings. It is written into the masculine of our soul.

In our midlife crisis this part of us still screams to be let loose. We know we have a battle yet to fight that we have not fought yet. We hunger for an adventure to live that we have not yet lived. And in our lives there is still a Beauty to rescue. And if we are not discerning and cunning enough to find these in the things we have fought valiantly for all of our lives until now, there is a traitor in the castle who will find the false and the fantasy for you instead and tell you this is now your story and its the true one. We are driven by something deep in our soul that needs the story to be written in our lives.

We talked about Tokyo Rose, the infamous voice of propaganda that we men need to fight in our MLC but now lets talk about someone more sinister. I call him Jude as short for Judas. He is a traitor. We know him all too well. He resides inside you and me. He is Judas because if even Christ in building his legacy still had a betrayer within the group, how much better do you think you might be? There is a traitor in you that you need to fight – so lets out him!

See, all of our lives until now we were committed to a cause. Perhaps we never clearly identified it or announced it, but it was there. Our first half of life we were warriors committed to this cause and fought valiantly for it. We fought for love. We fought for family. We fought for values we believed in. A warrior always fights for a transcendent cause.

At midlife we catch a glimpse of Jude when we assess all we battled for. In cunning deceptive craftiness Jude whispers, “you have fought so hard, when is it going to be your turn?” And if you are weary or tired out or feeling down anyway you answer that traitors voice with a “yeah! When does it get to be my turn?” instead of a sword that you would have sliced him with in stronger days!

And the day you listened to Jude and said “its my turn now” you moved away from being the warrior fighting for a cause to becoming a mercenary.

There is a line in the movie The Rock when a schism breaks out and the General commands “Soldier, Stand down!”. The major replies: “we stopped being soldiers the minute we took over this rock, we are mercenaries now, and mercenaries GET PAID!!”

When we give in to that traitors voice and yield way to saying “its going to be about ME now” is the day we became mercenaries instead of warriors. It was the day we gave away our transcendent cause.

............ do you recognize Jude now?

He is the self-gratifying traitor of your character who as a pretend soldier wants to get paid!

But, you see, Jude didn't start out with the big things any more than Judas started out with the “kiss”.

See, we have this traitor within us who has resided here from the beginning. He is that part of us that always wants to find the easy way out. I will call him Jude only because he tends to take on a personality all his own. He is a weasel, a poser, and a selfish pig.

This traitor always will side in against your true strength as a man.

He is the voice that doesn't speak up at meetings even though he knows the devastating personal result of not saying anything.

He is the voice that cannot say 'no' even though you are desperately tired.

He is the one that doesn't say clearly what he wants in the marriage so goes without all the while fuming inside.

He is the one who tells you that “you can attract more flies with honey” so urges you to be the nice guy at the expense of your own heartfelt needs and desires.

The traitor is passive. He will not tell the truth about how he feels if his life depended on it.

The traitor builds up scenarios in his mind to the place of feeling free to cast blame for his situation on someone else (typically our wife).

The traitor will side in with temptation and justify it with excuses.

The traitor will side in with Tokyo Rose.

I think you recognize him now!

The reason I personify this voice and call him “Jude” is this: THE TRAITOR IS NOT THE REAL YOU!

(Women have this voice too – Judy!)

Now before you go off saying “newman is hearing voices now...” let me just say, “we all do”; its the people who don't that you need to worry about! Inside of us are several voices. There is the voice of reason. There is the voice of conscience. There is the voice of values. There is the voice of our beliefs. We summon these voices often for consensus when we need to make larger decisions in our lives. Those without the voices of reason, conscience, values, and beliefs are the ones we need to worry about!

The REAL you is the one on the side of these voices for good. The traitor is not the real you!

There is a war within you but its a civil war. And the man who wants to live valiantly will lose heart quickly if he begins to believe that he is the traitor or he is the failure. “Why fight” he will say and the battle feels lost before it even begins.  No! Jude is your false self --- the poser, manifest in cowardice and self-preservation and the only way to deal with him is to execute him! And the poser he is will try to get you to believe that you should be the one executed! Fooey!

Traitors are meant to get shot! We need to put this traitor to death! How?

We do it by choosing against him every time!

Walk right into those situations you would normally run from.

Speak right to the issues you would normally be silent over.

If you want to grow in true strength and masculine courage then you must stop sabotaging yours!

Sabotage happens when you let yourself be bought off.

When you give your strength away.

When you take a bribe by accepting flattery in exchange for true loyalty.

When you refuse to confront an issue because if you keep quiet the peace is kept in the house; but it corrupts you down deep...

The warfare and the battle, men, is for your strength. And your strength of character is the real you; not the voice or the times we yielded to Jude. Start choosing to live out your strength and you'll discover that it grows every time. You will discover the traitor weakening.

Where we discover our true strength is in the daily details of life where we get to choose on the side of strength and courage instead of the easy way. As you do, something in your chest in your heart and in your lungs begins to feel weighty and substantial.

We must allow our strength to show up!

Many men are unnerved by their own masculinity and what would happen if they let their strength show up. Like-- what would happen if I really let it out? One fellow said: “I'm afraid I will do something bad if I let all this show up”. NO, you will do something bad if you don't!! A man's addictions are the result of his refusing his own strength. Letting your strength show up is choosing against Jude – the traitor and betrayer! It is choosing to win this battle for your strength and for your mind.

Let people feel the full weight of who you are, and let them deal with it.

Jude is not who you are, he is the traitor within. Counter him by letting him feel the full weight of who you are by choosing against him every time.