Should’ve Been a Cowboy

Sometimes it’s a Western novel where the most surprising gold nuggets are found. Do you remember Mattie Ross? “There is nothing free except the grace of God. You cannot earn that or deserve it.”

And sometimes it’s those Western movies where you find the best lines. Like John Wayne: “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” And also the funniest lines, like this one from Clint Eastwood: “You see, in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend: those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.”

Maybe summertime’s got me thinkin’ ‘bout bein’ home on the range.

When we seriously consider the small band of apostles who shared in Christ’s earthly ministry – each one of the Twelve called personally by Jesus to follow Him – we quickly recognize that they were not all cut from the same cloth. Some were fishermen, while the others represented other walks of life. One was a tax collector aligned with the Roman Empire, and at least one opposed Rome at all costs. (Just to make it colorful in your own mind, imagine a modern-day task force having to recruit one guy from the Biden camp, and one guy from the Trump camp.) The veritable smorgasbord of personalities, temperaments, and backgrounds has me wondering: what did these men have in common?

My answer to that question is this: each man had to have at least a little of the “cowboy” spirit!

The apostles had to be willing to swim upstream. Think about what these guys left behind to follow Jesus, namely, the security of all that they had known before. And think about how seductive is the world’s applause. The pervasive culture consistently reminds us that “more is better.” There isn’t much out there that’s viewed as more important than improving your job title, climbing the ranks, and securing a little more status for yourself along the way. But that’s not the life of a cowboy. Just like a cowboy is never quite sure of what tomorrow will bring – except that it will bring plenty of hard work and sweat – the apostles weren’t given a complete job description. There would be few bells and whistles attached to a life of ease. But these men were compelled, from somewhere deep within them, simply to follow.

When the going got tough, as it soon did, the apostles had to remember their calling. Their calling would always matter. Most people don’t view their “vocation” as a “calling” – though that’s what the word means – but instead they minimize the worth of their “job” until it becomes little more than a means by which to accumulate more and more for myself. You and I are told, in about a million ways, that it’s up to us to make a name for ourselves. This would not be the life of the apostles. In sharp contrast to this world’s values, from their calling onward, eight of the Twelve would live in relative obscurity. How much do you know about Thaddaeus? In fact, consider how little we know about most of them. Simply put, it was not about them. “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him” (Matthew 4:20).

They had to be willing, like a cowboy knows instinctively, to explore uncharted territory. This was absolutely necessary if the apostles were to claim the new ground that Christ had in store for them. In His name and for His glory, they were gonna turn the world upside down! And this would require courage and grit. Just like everybody else, the apostles could act like total cowards on any given day. The four Gospels bear this out. But, thankfully, the Holy Spirit was coming. And come He did! On this side of Christ’s resurrection, and now empowered by the Spirit, Peter would stand before the intimidating religious authorities and testify to the miraculous power of God’s Son: “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you.” Peter’s prior, well-documented fear had morphed into holy resolve. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:1-22).

The apostles had to be willing to cut themselves free from the ropes that held them hostage to the past. Just like in every generation, these men were born into a world of cultural and religious expectations. “Keep the status quo – don’t rock the boat – and all will go well for you.” At one time or another, each one of them was tempted to keep the religious peace. “Go along to get along.” After all, even legalism can feel comfortable when everybody’s doing it. But, as God wrote His story, such foolishness would not be allowed to stand.

Under the power of the gospel, human pride takes a beating. Our Lord Jesus lived, died, and rose again so that His band of brothers could walk in – and actually enjoy – a hard-fought freedom that honors God. Some would find this an easier place to arrive than others. Consider Peter’s intense struggle over the inclusion of Gentiles in the kingdom, as it’s recorded for us in Acts 10. Like Peter, each man would have to wrestle with the new and liberating claims of Christ upon his life. That meant that the apostles, as they would discover their freedom in Christ, would lose more than a few friends along the way. Freedom always comes at a price. But our God wants nothing less for all of us who are His blood-bought daughters and sons.

The Apostle Paul would tell the Romans: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (12:1-2).

As I keep reading and rereading those two poignant verses, I am struck by how much of that energy – to which the Scriptures call each one of us in Christ to exert regularly – closely aligns with the life of a cowboy-hearted disciple of Jesus. Are we willing, with cowboy courage, to pursue with gusto the exciting territory that Christ has marked out for us? Are we willing to cut the ropes of humanistic religion, that we may serve Christ, and only Christ?

Then there is the swimming upstream – intentionally – that we might overcome the world instead of being overcome by it. Are we willing to forsake the applause and approval of the powers-that-be all around us? Help us, Jesus! Then there is the hard-fought struggle of our persevering faith. Will you and I live by grace and truth – with cowboy grit – until the end?

According to God’s Word, there is already in you and in me the “mind” which is nothing less than the very “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16), which sets us free from the guilt and shame of our past. But that’s not the end of our ride-off-into-the-sunset story. The mind of Christ also sets us free to saunter forward – cowboy boots and all – in the colossal victory that our Lord Jesus has already won for us!

Then it hit me. I should’ve been a cowboy, y’all.

Maybe it’s not too late.

Pastor Charles