by Pastor Lynn Walker – Cowboy Country Church
4092 Norge Road – 405-320-0055

SHEPHERD OR COWBOY
 James and John got real upset when a certain village would not receive the messengers sent by Jesus to make ready for Him. They felt like these people were very disrespectful to Jesus and James and John got down right mad at these folks; they asked Jesus if He wanted them to command fire to come down from heaven and consume the people from that village!!
But Jesus turned and rebuked them. He told them they didn’t know what manner of spirit they were acting like. He also told them that He did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.
 Sometimes we, as Christians, also want to deal with people with this same kind of spirit. We want to drive people to believe what we want them to believe; force them to look, act, and do things the way that we do. We want to act like cowboys: driving a herd of cattle to where they want them to go. But Jesus did not treat people like cattle. If you remember, He was the Good Shepherd, not a cowboy.
 We are supposed to follow the example that Jesus set for us. It is not for us to try and “drive” people into the Kingdom of God. We should be more like Jesus and lead folks to Him with gentleness and love.
 We may be a little over zealous and mean well when we are working to get people to come to the Lord and be saved, but this is not the time for the “cowboy way” to get it done. Let us be like the “Good Shepherd” and treat people with respect, kindness and a good dose of mercy. It’s much easier to love folks into the Kingdom and trying to “drive” people only drives them away. Save the cowboy way for the rodeo!!
In His Word, Love, and Power,
Pastor Lynn