We have a big example of how to be fathers and men

We have a big example of how to be fathers and men

by | Jun 23, 2026 | Behind the Bucking Chutes

By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross

There continues to be a push against what it means to be a family, parents, fathers and men. Christians share the western world with a progressive culture that looks at the world differently from Biblical beliefs and wants to remove what it calls social constructs of what it means to be fathers and mothers. They are taking away biological distinctions and removing terms like father and mother and replacing them with “non-gestating” and “gestating” parent.

For Christians, the Bible is distinct on topics of gender roles and, of especial interest to the cowboy crowd, what it means to be fathers and men.

Not everyone in the rodeo community comes from good parents or had good fathers. There are many guys competing to prove something to themselves because in the rodeo arena, it’s them competing against the animal whether it’s a calf bolting across the arena or a bucking horse. It’s a chance to step out on their own, exert themselves and accomplish something not everyone can do and stand proud as men.

Many go on to become fathers but can be left without the role model they need to know how to be good dads themselves.

But the Bible gives us a clear role model to follow with a clear distinction of just what a father is, no matter how much a culture around us might want to remove those standards.

It’s Jesus Christ himself.

The issue and topic was raised at a father’s day service I got to attend at Castine Church all the way in the midwest in Ohio and much of this message is from that sermon by Pastor Greg Hyre.

While Jesus gives us so many examples of what Christians are to follow throughout scripture, we formally recognize God as not just our creator, but our father.

But Jesus makes something clear to his disciples in John.

John 14:6-11 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Jesus is God and God is Jesus.

There is no other example we need to turn to in order to understand what it looks like to be a father.

Jesus is that example and whether we are fathers or men, whether or not we had great dads of our own, it is Jesus who we should be striving to follow. Nothing more, nothing less.

What feels like judging could save you

What feels like judging could save you

by | Jun 10, 2026 | James

By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross

Don’t judge me.

Since the Christian faith is the dominant faith in the cowboy communities from ranching to rodeos, the idea that calling out someone’s sin is judging them is a common confusion. The reality is, the majority of the cowboy crowd identify as Christians, but far fewer are plugged into a good church or take the time to study God’s word and understand it better.

That’s why, just like most of the unbelieving world, there’s this misconception that when we talk about sin, we’re judging the people living out the sin we’re bringing up.

But James concludes his letter quite abruptly with a lesson in just one reason why have to be able to talk about someone else’s sin.

James 5:19-20 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

If our faith is real, we’re going to live it out and James has used the bulk of his letter to outline ways that a Christian lives out his faith describing every action being proof his faith is real; how the rich handle their power, how important the words we speak our, how to care for others who have less than us.

As he concludes his letter, he wants us to watch out for those whose are engaged in sin, to help them turn away from their sin and toward a Christ-like life.

If we see that as judging and reject their efforts, then we risk missing out on eternity in Heaven through a saving faith in Jesus. If we can’t talk about sin without being accused of judging, we can’t share the gospel. Sin has to be discussed in the open.

And here, James wants us to help others move away from their sin. If they are already believers, the goal is to restore them to a focus on their saving faith and living out that faith in the ways James has taught us throughout his letter.

They may not like it, but no one feels like their actions are being judged when a rodeo judge or producer fines them for breaking the rules. The goal of the fine is to correct the behavior, like swearing in the arena for the crowd to hear when missing a catch or entering and not showing up.

The point of the fine isn’t to run a contestant off, but to encourage right behavior that helps the event run smoothly or to remain pleasing to the crowd in attendance.

A lot more is at stake for Christians and James says our correction can lead them to saving faith in Jesus with everlasting life in Heaven. It’s the blood Jesus shed on the cross that covers our “multitude of sins” but our correction is what God can use to lead someone to repentance and salvation.

Pin It on Pinterest