Come & See: 10 Cowboy Devotions to Strengthen Your Ride With ChristSample

John the Barbarian Baptist

“I dunk folks in water as a symbol that they want to change the way they think and live.” Matthew 3:11

Imagine your preacher coming in on Sunday morning, unwashed and unshaved while wearing a cowhide poncho cinched with a leather belt and nothing else. He immediately starts criticizing all the elders and deacons and every convention, denomination, and religious institution.

He doesn’t stop with mere criticism of their ways. He calls them a den of rattlesnakes and tells them they are all going to burn in hell.

How barbaric!

At lunch, he doesn’t go down to the café for steak and taters. He gets some grasshoppers and honey out of his lunch pail.

And then . . . you find out he is Jesus’s cousin on Mary’s side.

You would think Jesus would put a stop to his antics. On the contrary, Jesus said there was no one born who was greater than John the Barbarian Baptist.

John wasn’t preaching three-piece suits and worship songs. He was preaching a life-changing transformation. I think we’ve grown numb to the true meaning of “being saved” or “giving your life to Christ.” Maybe it would be better understood as “swearing absolute and total allegiance to the Man and mission of Jesus Christ” . . . not just until Sunday service is over, but until your life is.

Cowboy Call:

Christianity isn’t a Sunday thing. It’s not a Wednesday-night thing either. It’s not organs, pianos, and lead guitars. It’s total transformation. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen. You cannot come face-to-face with the risen Savior and remain unchanged. If you’re not all in, you’re probably not in it at all.