Two men on a cross: an Easter message

By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross

The best sermons are lived, not preached.” That’s a phrase that people have shared in faith-based conversations and it’s often been in some form of a viral meme the cowboy crowd has shared numerous times over the years across social media.

It sounds good and I don’t disagree with it entirely, but it’s more complicated than that. Both are not just important, but essential. The gospel, how someone comes to a saving faith in Jesus, needs to be preached clearly and we should be looking for opportunities to share it. Our words and actions, how we live our lives, how we treat others and what we say to people can show others that we believe differently from them because most of how the Bible teaches us to live goes against human nature and the culture we live in.

James 1: 19-21 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

In rodeo, everyone knows who the hothead is, especially the judges. Same with your crew at work or on the ranch. While there’s a difference between getting cheated by a judge on a score or just thinking we were cheated from disagreeing with the call, you know the hothead is going to going to nose to nose with the judge either in the arena or at intermission.

James wants us to listen, hold our tongues and hold back our anger. Literally taking a breath and counting to 10 before we speak or act can give us that moment to cool down and not act out of anger. And being quick to hear gives us a chance both to listen to someone’s perspective whether we agree with them or not and more importantly, give us a chance to hear from God through the Holy Spirit. If we pause and let God direct our steps, He’s going to direct us away from an angry response. If we buck up right away, it only escalates into something that isn’t God-honoring and makes it nearly impossible for us to ever share the gospel.

By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross

Proverbs 12:22 The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

We may not be intentionally lying but often what we are doing is willingly spreading false information because it supports a strong view and opinion we have. It doens’t matter to us if the information is correct, we believe it is because it supports what we already think.

God wants us to be trustworthy.

In fact, we need to be trustworthy if we’re going to be able to tell people about Jesus and having any hope of them believing us.

The most important truth we can share is that of who Jesus is and what it means to have a saving faith in him.

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

How we behave should line up with what we believe in terms of our faith. That needs to come from a solid understanding of what the Bible teaches and unfortunately, many of us these days know more details about false stories that circulate or false gospels (beliefs that sound Biblical but aren’t).

Here’s just a little bit to help you navigate what is real, particularly on social media. Most of this only takes seconds or minutes before

1.First, look to the original source. If it’s something that sounds Christian, look up the preacher or teacher or church it came from and see if their beliefs are rooted in the gospel and right teaching of scripture. That’s why you HAVE to know more of what’s in the Bible yourself to help you catch these things or ask someone you trust to verify it for you.

If it’s from the realm of politics, news and social issues, look at the original sources. Take the time to follow the post back to where it came from. If you can’t find a source, chances are it’s not true at all or at best, is misleading.