Cowboys & Christians

Cowboy Joe was had just come back from going to church for the first time, and was in the bunkhouse telling the other cowhands about his experience.

He said, “When I got there, I parked my pick-up in the corral. Charlie, a worldly cowboy said, “That would be the parking lot, Joe.”

Joe continued, “I walked up the trail to the door.” Charlie said, “That would be the sidewalk.”

Joe said, “Inside the door was this dude in a fancy suit.” Charlie explained to the other cowpokes, “That would be the usher.”

Joe said, “This dude led me to the chute.” Charlie said, “That would be the pew.”

Joe said, “Yeah, that’s exactly what that pretty young lady said when I sat down next to her.”

Cowboys are often made fun of, but they have always been there to do the work for the rest of us. We wouldn’t have top sirloin today if it weren’t for the ranchers and cowboys. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have wool sweaters, horses, or any dude ranches, would we? Cowboys even have their own language.

For instance,

... ‘amigo’ means friend;

... ‘buckaroo’ means cowboy;

... ‘cayuse’ means horse;

... ‘chips’ … well it doesn’t mean Pringles, does it?

Cowboys are a distinct group of people. Whether it be the cowboys from Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, or from here in Oklahoma, these men and women have helped settle this country like no others could have done. And they had courage to say what they thought.

AMOS 1:1 starts of by saying;

‘The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa - - what he saw concerning Israel ….’

Amos was a shepherd. During that time, the people of Israel had experienced peace and prosperity. But they were also much like America is today; there was much corruption in society.

Amos was a good man, and he was a good shepherd. I prefer to think of Amos as a cowboy preacher. He also had courage to stand up and say what he thought, too. Amos preached about God’s justice and righteousness. He condemned those who made themselves powerful at the expense of others.

His main message can be found in AMOS 4:12 –

‘Prepare to meet your God, O Israel.’

That wouldn’t be a bad message to start spreading around America today, would it? Just like Amos did then, we too living in a corrupt society. We refuse to let God take His rightful place in the public square. We do all the things that Israel got punished for in their time.

Look at it from this perspective. We begin our lives with God, even though we do not realize it. We grow up and live our lives with God, even though we do not acknowledge it. And we end our lives with God, even though some people try to deny it. There is a saying that I have heard all my life; ‘History repeats itself.’

If that is true, why can’t we learn from it? Can we read? Then why don’t we start reading the Old Testament and see how closely we resemble ancient Israel, and then start paying attention to how God punished them over and over again. I guess they didn’t learn from history either, did they?

In truth, life is nothing more than a time of personal preparation to meet our God in person! It is a time for us to become as righteous as possible for that meeting.

HEBREWS 9:27 tells us,

“… man is destined to die once, and after that- to face judgment.”

The people of America need to prepare to meet our God. This is why we are called to preach the truth about God and Christ. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and no one approaches the Father except through Him!

Let’s take a look at some of the things a cowboy must do to keep his herd safe.

1. THE COWBOY RIDES OUT TO FIND THE CATTLE

One man told his friend about his first experience riding a horse. He said that it started out okay, but soon the horse started bouncing out of control and started going faster and faster. He said that is when his foot got caught in the stirrup. Finally, he lost his balance and got thrown off the horse and was being dragged by the wayward horse.

He said he thought he was going to die being strapped to this horse, but that was when the manager of Wal-Mart came out and unplugged it.

In MATTHEW 28:19, it says,

‘Therefore, go …’

Cowboys have to get up and go, don’t they? But for most of us, that is one of the biggest problems we have. We do not get up and go anymore. Jesus said for us to “go”, but all too often, we say “WHOA”. It seems like our ‘get up and go’ has ‘got up and gone.’