Posted by
Doug on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:56:22 PM
You have heard this phrase before - "All hat and no cowboy." It is one of those aphorisms that I particularly enjoy. It is often used to describe someone who talks pretty big, but just can't back it up. Sometimes in the church, we can be guilty of this phrase.
Sometimes we talk a big game. We tell stories of Moses, Gideon, Elijah, Peter or Paul and tell our people that we can or should be just like them. Big stories, big dreams and big promises. Here is the trouble. Most of us don't live in the land of big dreams, we live in the day to day world filled with bills, challenges, kids, and economic fear. As big of a dream that we may have, God lives in our world with us. patience with a spouse, extra love for a challenging child, and kindness to a neighbor or co-corker. If we have the biggest of dreams, yet do not show these traits to those closest to us, we are "all hat and no cowboy."
I live in a world filled with big plans. All of the big plans in the world have not changed my life much. The real difference has been made by all of those average people, living average lives, except they demonstrated to me an extraordinary God living in them.