I love the Cowboy Culture of the 1950's and 60's! Of course, like many of you I was raised with Cowboys (and Cowgirls), being a main influence on Television and in the movies. You learned why the good guys were good and the bad guys were bad. You learned morals and ethics, you learned respect for others, you learned respect for property and you learned what was acceptable to say and what wasn't, you even learned about the concept of "work ethics".
Though he has been dead for a number of years, no one
portrayed what a Cowboy was better than John Wayne. Some say he did it better
than anyone else. John Wayne's characters could ride and fight with the best,
but he always let his concern for others show through also. He portrayed for us
the importance of qualities such as honor, loyalty, bravery and commitment.
In the movie "Rio Bravo," Wayne's character made
a statement that echo's much of Christ's teachings about commitment and what he
expects from us, when he said "Just showing up doesn't get the job
done!"
Jesus tells us, 'If you love me you obey my
commandments"! (John 14:15)
Because you see, just showing up at worship service "doesn't get the job
done," it doesn't do what God demands of us.
I know you may get tired of seeing me refer to this
concept so often in my writings, but I do it because I see it as a major
problem in the churches throughout our land. People want to wear the name
Christian, but they don't want to take it any further than that. Being a Christian
means our lives have been transformed from the very foundation of our being. It
means as Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians
2:20) It means that you are dead to
self and alive to Christ. It means… that we finally understand that just
showing up doesn't get the job done. It means we finally understand what it
means to be buried with Christ and raised as a new creation (Romans 6:3-4). How about you, do you
really understand that "Just showing up doesn't get the job done?"
