"I'm Somewhere Between Jesus and John Wayne"

The Gaither Vocal Band just released a new CD titled “Lovin’ Life”. Every one of the 13 Christian songs are great, but the one that caught my attention is “I’m somewhere between Jesus and John Wayne”.

The lyrics are as follows:

Daddy was a cowboy hard as a rock
Mama she was quiet as a prayer
Daddy’d always tell me, “Son, you gotta be tough
Mama would kiss my cheek and say, “play fair”
I did my best to make ‘em proud of me
But it’s never been an easy place to be
Somewhere between Jesus and John Wayne
A cowboy and a saint, the cross and the open range
I try to be more like you Lord,
But most days I know I ain’t
I’m somewhere between Jesus and John Wayne.
Mama’s love was tender, Daddy’s love was strong
Both of them were there to help the weak
They taught me to stand up and fight for what is right
And showed me how to turn the other cheek
Now I see there’s both of them in me
And maybe that’s the best that I can ever hope to be
[Repeat chorus]

As a Christian, we have got to understand HOW we are between Jesus and John Wayne.

Human beings are made up of three parts: spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). I like to say that I AM a spirit, I HAVE a soul, and I LIVE IN a body. The spirit part of me is the “image of God” mentioned in Genesis One. It is who I am. The soul part is the intellect, emotions and the will located in the physical brain. And we all know what the body is.

When we receive salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, Jesus comes to actually live right within our human spirit. And He will never leave us or forsake us.

But the soul remains the same the day after salvation as it was before. The same basic independent ideas and garbage of the world are still there and have to be gradually, on a day to day basis, changed to the ideas and ideals of Christ within us.

So, in this respect, a Christian really is between the Jesus in his spirit and the John Wayne in his soul.

But what the song doesn’t bring out is that WHEN THE FATHER LOOKS AT US, HE SEES US AS JESUS! The John Wayne soul part is being continually brought into recognition of the union with Jesus in our spirit.

John Wayne was an independent guy. He got the job done his way. And we have that same independent streak in our soul that Jesus will gradually, on a day to day basis, eliminate.

The key element of salvation is that Jesus dwelling in a union with our human spirit makes us not “between Jesus and John Wayne” but rather we ARE Jesus/John Wayne – a living union with the divine nature of God (2 Peter 1:4). The Father will eternally recognize us as such.

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