Rural

It’s kind of a trick question; and I know what most people around the church today would say. Without a doubt, nearly everyone would say, “Yes, of course I’m a servant”, to that question. But if we’re talking identity, then the answer is not just a little wrong…..it’s a lot wrong! And I think it’s one of the big problems with Christianity today.

Growing up we lived on a 10,000 acre ranch in the Texas Panhandle. My dad leased the ranch; we didn’t own it but we had to run it like we did own it. Over the course of the 25 years we lived there we had a number of hired-hands, some of them good, some not so good. But my mom and dad, Cliff and Charlene Taylor, and my brother, Monty and I…..always worked harder than the hired-hands. We did the things that the hired-hands didn’t want to do, or had left undone. We went the ‘extra mile’, so to speak, in seeing that the work was done around the ranch that needed to be done. We all worked longer hours and constantly carried the weight of knowing that the ranch had to make money or we wouldn’t. It didn’t matter to the hired-hands.

In the story of the ‘prodigal son’, the boy comes home and tries to tell his dad (God) that he’s willing to be a hired-hand. But the Father would have none of it! There are hired-hands in the story….but this boy isn’t one of them….he’s a ‘son’!

In our Christian lives we’re going to do a lot of serving, …..but the Father never intended for us to have the identity of a hired-hand! He’s hand-picked us as His own sons and daughters……we should start acting like it!

Well, for starters, just the name “Booger” gets your attention, right!? Booger Bryant could be described in a lot of ways; Cowboy, Bull Rider, Bull Rope Maker, Believer…..A Man’s-Man! Booger lived in Hagerman, New Mexico, not far from Roswell. He was probably 8-10 years older than me when I started my professional rodeo career at 18. Back in those days when you were a ‘rookie’ and just starting out most of the older, seasoned cowboys wouldn’t talk to you until you had ‘paid your dues’ and proven yourself. But Booger wasn’t that way at all, at least with me.There’s no telling how tough Booger really was but he didn’t try at all to push that persona. But you could obviously tell that he wouldn’t get pushed around by anyone.

In the mid to late ’70’s there was a surge of Christianity through professional rodeo. And as it often happens with people who first experience salvation, there was a lot more zeal than common sense displayed by a lot of these rodeo people. Many of them were in-your-face with it; they meant well but to be honest it turned me off and I avoided most of them the best I could. I’d gotten saved in a countywide crusade in Wheeler, Texas in 1974, but I pretty much kept it to myself and wasn’t doing a very good job of living it out.

But, Booger Bryant was different than the others. I knew he was a Christian, but it was different, I wanted to be around him. We had quite a few visits about the Lord. He hardly ever initiated them, it was mostly me. I knew he’d be ‘straight-up’ with me; I knew he wouldn’t be pushy about it; he didn’t have some subtle agenda like the rest of them. I knew I could trust him. He knew I wasn’t doing a good job of walking it out but he never, ever mentioned it. He stood his ground between the over-zealous believers and the hard-ass, old-school cowboys who didn’t want any of it, and would dang sure tell you about it if they needed to!

He got cancer but never complained about it; he’d just say he was trusting the Lord with it. He fought the good fight for sure but finally went to his reward. He left behind his wife, Bonnie and a little boy, Blu. He made my bull ropes for several years, he was always a trusted friend, kinda like a big brother I didn’t have. But most of all he showed me what a ‘real’ Christian ought to be like and his impact on my life was deep, even though I didn’t know it at the time.

I never got the chance to talk to Booger after my life had really ‘made the turn’ in ’84, he was already gone. But I did get the chance in the mid-’90’s to tell his son, Blu, who was leading the world bull riding standings at the time, how much I admired him and how much of an impact his dad had on my life. It felt pretty good!

I’ll forever be grateful to Booger Bryant for helping to show me the Way!