by admin | Jun 4, 2025 | James
By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross Racing to get to a rodeo or stock sale on time, some of us have experienced mercy at the hands of a law enforcement officer who chose to let us off with a warning.
Mercy from God is not receiving a punishment we deserve. Be sending Jesus to die for our sins and take the punishment we deserve, God shows us His greatest of mercies.
James 2: 12-13 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
When James tells us to live like we are being judged by the law that gives freedom, he is talking about the gospel and God’s mercy and grace given to those of us who believe. We repent of our sin with the understanding Jesus died to take the punishment our sins deserve so that if we believe in his life, death and resurrection and ask to be forgiven, we are able to have an eternity in Heaven. God no longer judges us for our sin. That is true freedom, far greater than a cop overlooking a speeding fine and the fact we aren’t wearing a seat belt. We can breathe a sigh of relief that our efforts to get to the rodeo haven’t cost us a couple hundred dollars but true freedom comes in knowing God will receive us into Heaven no matter what mistakes we’ve made because of our saving faith in Jesus.
But if we’ve been shown that kind of mercy, how can we not extend mercy to others instead of our own personal judgments?
Because of the previous verses in James, there’s an emphasis on how the poor are treated and the need for them to receive mercy from Christians, not judgment.
This still extends to all aspects of our life and James is encouraging us to be sure that we show mercy to everyone, all the time. That’s tough to do and why God, who can show endless grace and mercy, will still extend it to us.
We know that even if we mess up pretty bad after we’ve come to a saving faith in Jesus, God will still welcome us into Heaven through His grace. James warns us that even as Christians welcomed to Heaven, there are still consequences from God for us acting without mercy to others.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
What we show others, we should expect to be shown to us.
Would you rather sit in judgment of someone you don’t think deserves to be helped or would you rather honor God, who saved you from an eternity in hell, by showing mercy to someone.
That can be through forgiving a friend or family member who wronged you, helping pay someone’s entry fees who you would rather judge for blowing all his money at the bar the night before or giving money to the man begging at the intersection while the light is red and you’re late now anyway because the cop pulled you over.
Cowboys of the Cross is a rodeo/bull riding ministry that leads cowboy church services at events and maintains an online presence to share the gospel and make disciples among the ranch and rodeo community. They can be found at CowboysOfTheCross.com
by admin | Jun 2, 2025 | James
By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross
Have you ever been made to feel like you didn’t measure up? A lot of cowboys have been through this, especially from the rodeo side of the industry. To reach their goals, many jump from job to job and paycheck to paycheck to be able to stay on the road. They drive older, unreliable vehicles and ask to help tear down after the rodeo in exchange for the producer paying their fees.
Most within the industry gets it and will do what they can to help someone else that’s struggling. But back at our jobs or at school or among our extended families, we hear the “loser” comments behind our backs. Worse, we get hit with them spoken right to us.
And while I would like to think this doesn’t happen, there’s a reason many churches have notices on their websites about “coming as your are” or “dressed as your are.” I know a cowboy who quit going to church because to him, coming in starched jeans, cleaned up boots and a button-down shirt was coming dressed in his best, but he was actually told by a deacon in a suit to dress better for service. Be assured, this is rare and most churches are welcoming.
James 2: 1-11 (1 to 5 shown) My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
Our society still does this today. Maybe it’s because we think they can do something for us that a poor person can’t, but we’re drawn to the people who have more and the wealthy seem to get warmer welcomes in a crowd. While many are generous with their wealth, many also use their wealth and other rich connections to get further ahead. A rodeo cowboy is drawn to the successful champion and would rather be seen standing next to him than to the new guy who has his spurs on upside down.
For Christians, James is being straightforward in telling us not to show favoritism. And worse, he tells us when we separate out someone because they have less than us, we’re guilty of evil thoughts for judging them as lesser people. He later tells us it’s a sin to show favoritism.
Our real wealth comes in our faith and in those terms, we can all have equal chances at being rich in faith. The person with the new barn and growing cattle herd has just as much to gain in Heaven as the cowboy living out of his car, eating a gas station hot dog.
Further into the verses and we see reminders of the Old Testament law and how they kept the systems fair. We’re reminded to let the courts and governments set the rules society follows but that our place is to care for the people God puts in our path and to treat them they way we would want to be treated. That includes the welfare mom or the immigrant. It isn’t for us to personally judge and condemn them for their situations, but to help them when we see where we can provide help. It would be breaking the law to hire someone without a work visas but it isn’t wrong for us to give that person a bag of groceries if we know their children aren’t getting enough to eat. It isn’t right for us to condemn the welfare mom who has a package of cookies as a treat for her kids on the checkout belt but comes up short on her food stamps. If we have the extra, we can cover those cookies and hand her the orange juice we just paid for in our cart.
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