Out Our Way: Tighten that cinch - Phillippians 1:20

Out our way I once heard someone say "There are bold cowboys and old cowboys, but no old, bold cowboys." Well, that isn't exactly the truth. Now I will say I never met an old cowboy who wasn't banged up along the way , but I never met a cowboy worth anything who wasn't bold when boldness was called for.

Now me, being perhaps the worst cowboy to work a herd in the history of the profession, and also something of a wimp , have seldom been bold like many others have, but there were times when it was called for.  Like that time when Charlie and I were trying to round up a large herd that didn't want to be herded.  

There were cattle trails crisscrossing the pasture in every direction and that day the main herd divided itself into 10-15 mini-herds, each going their own way.

But the worst was this one batch of jugheads insisting on crossing a small creek and disappearing into the backcountry that Charlie and I had just cleared.

There was one mean matriarch leading the way and we needed to stop her.  She bellowed and blew and pawed and insisted on crossing that creek bed. Charlie was working to go around the hill and start pushing these 25 or so cows back down into the main valley where the trails tended to all lead towards the lower pasture where the grass was lush and the creeks were full, while I rode to the top of the hill where the trail crossed the small creek  and had to block  Mama as she trying to lead the others back to the sparse grazing grounds  from which we had just pushed them.

This wasn't Charlie's first "rodeo" and so when we unloaded the horses and saddled up that morning, he warned me there might be some rough work ahead and to tighten my cinch.

I admit I was anxious when I crossed the creek to confront "Mama" and her posse as they tried to bully their way past me. In the end they backed down and went back towards the good pasture where Charlie and I had been trying to move them.  Sometimes you have to be bold and " tighten your cinch.

The Apostle Paul encouraged disciples of Jesus to "tighten their cinch" when in the world and stand up for Christ. Today we face mockery, scorn, rage, and even the occasional hate crimes; but that is nothing compared to what the earliest disciples faced.  One early Church historian noted that much of the world was baffled by the Christian movement , noting how they marveled at " how these Christians love one another" while the society of the day was more focused on division and promoting hatred between people.  Hmmm. Where have we heard that before?  

Well, maybe we need to heed Paul's call for boldness in the lives of believers - not the "boldness" of attacking and condemning non-believers  with threats of judgment and hell , but the boldness of living the Gospel and loving each other and our neighbor as God's beloved ones.

Tighten the cinch and show the way.

Let the modern "Calligulas" mock and scorn us, shout obscenities and vandalize our houses of worship as some do to the applause of many.

Tighten the cinch and boldly "love your enemies."

'Prison, torture, abuse, and death were the common threats in Paul's day - but even in the midst of it all, those who  sought to silence the Gospel could not overcome  that mystery of "how these Christians love one another."

While some may wish to return to the "good old days" of persecution when they could literally "throw believers to the lions" for their amusement , the Gospel flourished.

Many attempts have been made to silence the message since it first began to spread throughout the world - and all of them failed.

Too many believers have "tightened the cinch" and been bold to live the faith despite persecution, mockery and abuse by the worldly elite who see Christ as their rival.

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way."