| RIDIN' FOR THE BRAND |
The stage was ready for the next competitor. The cowgirl stepped up, staged her rifle and shotgun, then
as everyone watched, she pantomimed each step she would take in shooting through the stage.
Normally when a shooter responds to “shooter up” they will move through the stage, assure themselves
they know each target and can see the targets from the required shooting positions, (that’s important IF
you want to hit the target) then take their place with the stage marshal. The appropriate action is not to
consume too much time but prepare, assume your starting position and announce your readiness. Now
the entire posse waited as this cowgirl practiced every step, every hand move in preparation.
The start of the stage required the shooter to take a coiled lariat in both hands and announce their
readiness. The marshal would announce “stand-by” and after a short pause he would start the timer. At
the sound of the beep the shooter was required to place the coiled lariat over both horns of a plastic steer
before moving to the first shooting position. Not only was this requirement in the stage marshal’s
instructions, it was also on a printed poster to the immediate right of the steer head. Someone had gone
to the trouble to print “both horns” across the face of the poster in black, bold letters. This cowgirl wanted
to win. She really wanted to win and she knew that every part of a second made a difference. She
assumed her position, announced her readiness and waited for the beep of the timer, poised like a
sprinter about to begin his run. At the beep, she tossed the lariat as she started her run toward the first
position. The lariat came to rest on only one horn of the steer. The stage marshal and several of the
counters started pointing and shouting, “Both horns! Both horns!”
The rule grants the shooter a choice in situations such as this. She could complete the stage as started
and be penalized with a procedural of 10 seconds or she could return, correct the error, and then shoot
the stage. The “spirit of the game” required her to correct the error once the timer sounded and the stage
had been initiated. The response depended upon what is important to the shooter. If for instance, the
shooter is attempting to shoot a clean match, no misses or procedures, then return and correct the error.
If time was the incentive, take the 10 second penalty. It was the lesser of the time that would be
consumed correcting the error. Either response spelled disaster for someone wanting to win by any
means. This shooter just stopped. “What,” She asked? Feigning innocence, she proclaimed she did not
know the lariat was to be over both horns of the steer. Yea, right! By the rules she was not entitled to a re-
start. She was burning daylight and by the rule could not start over. It was definitely “shooter’s choice.”
We had just witnessed a train wreck and everyone knew it. However, even though every shooter
preceding her, and every shooter following her had been required to start as described or be penalized
and no one even remotely believed her proclamations of ignorance, the stage marshal allowed her to
start over. She was an attractive young girl and the marshal was a young man. It didn’t take much
thinking to figure out what was going on.
The truth is we are not always motivated by the rules to do what is right. That motivation comes from
deep within us. What guides our actions is far more personal than some written rule. Fundamental
fairness has nothing to do with it. It helps to have an advocate working for us when our actions are
motivated more by selfish desires than by a written rule. Selfishness remains the most commonly visible
sin of Adam!
We have all witnessed it many times. The sign says “Stay Off The Grass” yet we see someone step over
the sign and walk on the grass. They know how to read but figure the instructions do not apply to them.
Bless their little hearts for they are special! If you don’t believe it, ask them! We all have the ability to get
ourselves into more of a mess than we can manage to get out of. At these times we need an advocate.
Contrary to our talent for creating misery for ourselves is that strand of motivation that says anyone can be
or do anything they want to be or do. Here is another example of “a” truth vs. “the” truth. You can – IF –
you get a little help along the way. Have you ever noticed that it is the little words that have the greatest
impact upon our lives? Try as hard as we may we will soon discover we cannot pull ourselves up by our
own bootstraps.
If you were to stamp “Advocate” on one side of a coin, you would be required to stamp “Accountability” on
the reverse side. We are required to answer for what we do. It is accountability that brings motive into
play. When the rule is broken there is a price to pay. Even when forgiven we are still required to pay the
price for what we say or do.
Bullets, like guns, do not have a conscience. Point the gun and pull the trigger and you will send the
bullet on its way. This bit of obvious wisdom has a direct influence upon how willing we are to pull the
trigger. In the days when I was teaching firearms in the police academy I would hand a cadet a pistol
loaded with a single bullet and tell him to shoot the target. As the gun fired I would start shouting, “Wait,
wait, not that target!” Of course the poor cadet would look at me dumbfounded with that look on his face
that says, “What can I do now?” The answer of course is nothing in this world. I would then discuss the
cadet’s present willingness to pull the trigger as compare to his previous attitude, once he realized that
the bullet, once sent on its way, would complete its mission. This is a simple lesson, difficult to learn and
even more difficult to live with.
Our little cowgirl was cute, energetic, and full of determination to win. However, she had given little
thought to the fact that once on its way the bullet will complete its mission. Her stopping and feigning
ignorance in the face of her mistaken start pulled the trigger. Her creditability and status was immediately
diminished in the sight of the other 26 shooters on the posse. Even though she achieved her immediate
goal, a stage restart when it was not merited, she lost in the sight of every other cowboy on the posse. It
simply is not cowboy to want to win at any cost. Sadly, the stage marshal was also caught up in her
game and he too was diminished. The price for the wrong we create is not limited to just us.
Isn’t this little vignette so like the manner we go through our days? We think we are accomplishing what
we want and all the while we are leaving a trail of damage behind us. We expect someone else to pay
the price for what we do. Little do we realize there will be a personal price to pay, a personal accounting
to be made. That accounting will include the harm done to all others along the way. Godliness for the
modern day Christian simply means being more like Jesus each day. This truth has paled in the face of
contemporary teaching. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ as Messiah there should be an adjustment
in our willingness to pull the trigger. We have the perfect paradigm before us in the person of Jesus yet
we exert little effort to model our behavior after Him. The New Testament tells us there are two results of
our actions that are particularly onus to us and are of no effect to those of the carnal persuasion. The first
is that we should never be the reason for causing a brother to stumble. The second is that we should
never be a divisive person within the fellowship of believers. Both are sins for the believer. We are all
diminished when either of these consequences is the result of what a believer does. Oh, we may
accomplish our immediate goal, but the price we pay is that we are diminished beyond measure. We
forget that often our lives are the only gospel the nonbeliever sees.
How much wrong does it take to be wrong? How much speed does it take for us to be guilty of speeding
when we drive our automobiles? The obvious answer is only 1 MPH. It only takes one wrong to make us
guilty in the eyes of the Father. I see each of us standing before the Judgment Seat of God where He
looks and sees not only the guilt but also the motive that drove us. He picks up the gavel and is about to
pronounce judgment when the hand of the Son reaches over and stops the fall of the gavel. “This one
belongs to me,” Jesus says. You see, we have an advocate sitting at the right hand of the father. That
advocate is Jesus Christ. That is what Calvary was all about.
© Carl H. Lenz, 2007
| HAVING AN ADVOCATE |
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