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The Rifleman Gets Branded

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

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“Communion with Christ has been forgotten. Instead of a heavenly mind, there have been earthly preoccupations, foolish vanities, and evil thoughts. Instead of service, there has been disobedience, instead of fervency lukewarmness, instead of patience petulance, instead of faith self-reliance; and as a soldier of the cross there has been cowardice, disobedience, and desertion, to a very shameful degree." – C.H. Spurgeon

Usually, Charles Spurgeon’s words are both edifying and encouraging, but today the “Prince of Preachers” has chosen to chastise us more than a little bit. It’s not that he went about it in a mean-spirited way. On the contrary, Spurgeon simply described some of the more common sins we commit as Christians… and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit did the rest.

I don’t know about you, but all too often I find myself focusing on the here and now instead of the there and then. I am also guilty of much of the other sins that Spurgeon describes such as disobedience, lukewarmness, impatience, and pride… just to name a few. And then there are the charges of cowardice and desertion, which to me may be the most reprehensible of all.

As a child, I remember episodes of The Rifleman, starring Chuck Conners as Lucas McCain. The show ran from 1958 to 1963 and was broadcast by ABC in black and white. Like most boys my age, I idolized the title character and so, when Chuck Conners was set to star in another TV series called Branded, I was anxious to tune in. Branded was also a western, but the character Conners played (Jason McCord) wasn’t your typical hero. Instead, he was an army captain who had been falsely accused of cowardice.

The opening credits of the show depicted McCord’s court-martial followed by the stripping of his shoulder boards and the breaking of his calvary sword. He is then banished from the fort as the gates close behind him. As you might imagine, I was a bit traumatized by the idea that my hero could do something that warranted such treatment.

And yet, you and I are guilty of the same thing when we willingly choose to sin or willfully pass up an opportunity to serve God, share the gospel, or stand up for Jesus. Whether our cowardice results in full-fledged desertion is irrelevant. The fact remains that when the spiritual battle intensified, we broke ranks and ran.

But the good news is that God forgives and restores us each and every time we do.

“Again Peter denied it, and this time he swore, ‘I don't even know that man!’" Matthew 26:72 (CEV)

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9 (BSB)

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