One of my favorite Westerns is True Grit, both the old version starring John Wayne, and also the newer version starring Jeff Bridges (please watch them in that order).

My favorite scene from the latter film serves as a reminder to me to not buckle under pressure. As they say, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” This movie, and particularly this scene, literally bleeds this mindset. Now, before going any further, this is not an approval of Rooster’s morality, but is an endorsement of his resoluteness.

(Spoiler Alert) Towards the end of the film, fourteen-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross (played by Hailee Steinfeld in the 2010 version of the film) is bitten by a rattlesnake and very quickly begins heading towards death. Rooster immediately steps into action and does what needs to be done to save her life. He set his face like flint (Isaiah 50:7) and acted like any honorable man should.

Despite losing his own horse, after rescuing Mattie from the snake pit, he hauled her up on the girl’s pony, Little Blackie, and rode deep into the night without stopping until the pony could go no further, collapsing under the weight and exertion. It was evident Little Blackie was dying, so Rooster pulls out his pistol, puts him down, then picks up Mattie and proceeds to carry her the rest of the way, through the snowy night, until he reaches a cabin in the woods. Although Mattie ends up losing an arm from the snakebite, her life is spared.

Rooster ends the film as the hero. He acted like a man and saved the girl’s life, no matter the cost. No matter how difficult it got, he did what he had to do to rescue Mattie from the jaws of death.

This very accurately represents a biblical principle from Psalm 24:10-11, which states:

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. 

When faced with the day of adversity, Rooster did not faint. He showed that his strength was not small, but great! He literally rescued the girl from being taken away to death.

I fear this mindset is one that is greatly missing in our culture — especially by men who claim the name of Christ. Overall, men are no longer courageous. Very few men can even be considered honorable. Gone are the days of chivalry, where men were readily willing to lay down their lives for their families, let alone their neighbors.

In our culture, the effeminate males have become the popular ones. In Hollywood, the heroes are no longer brave men (who instead play the coward), but are courageous women, who almost always have daddy and abandonment issues.

In the political realm, weak men have willingly allowed strong women to lead. When it comes to war, more and more men have stopped enlisting, allowing our front lines to be defended by women and men in dresses. In our churches there is a growing trend of men allowing women to lead their churches from the pulpit, something the Apostle Paul clearly commanded against in 1 Timothy 2:12. In our homes men have lazily abdicated their roles as head of their households to their wives and baby mamas, despite Paul’s admonition in Ephesians chapter five.

The cool “in” thing to do is to play the victim and accumulate as many intersections as possible. This is considered “respectable.” Victimhood is the ultimate badge of honor. This is not a trend relegated only to women, but extends to (and due to the failure of) men as well. My good friend Pastor Toby Sumpter has said,

We must refuse and reject every offer of victimhood, not because real injustice cannot be perpetrated against us, but because we are never totally innocent and we have a better offer. And this is because we have a better victim. Jesus is the better victim because He was completely innocent and willing, and therefore, His sacrifice was an act of taking responsibility…

Godly men must burn their victim cards. They must stop accepting the invitations to use them. They must be accountable for their actions, for their failures, and for their families.

Jesus was willing to take responsibility for our sins, why are so many men who claim the name of Christ unwilling to answer for their own? Why are they so quickly willing to point the finger at someone else — whether it be their wives, their children, their parents, the church, the state, society, or even God himself? Because they are weak. It is easy to be a coward, but difficult to be courageous. It is easy to pass the buck, but honorable to take responsibility. It is easy to be a victim, but takes work to be a victor.

Did you know that cowards will not inherit the Kingdom of God and that God views them the same as the vilest of vile? This is made blatantly clear in Revelation 21:7-8:

The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

Here’s the point: Christian men, stop being cowards. Be courageous. Be honorable. Take responsibility.

When you are faced with the day of adversity do not faint, but instead ride that pony as far as you can, take out your six shooter and put it down, pick up that girl and carry her to safety. As far as you have to go and as long as it takes. Do not stop. Do not complain. Treat her life as if it is more valuable than your own. This is what godly men do.