Adult Teachable Moments

For the Love of God (From a Cousin of Frank and Jesse James)

Feb 07

By Bert Montgomery

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13

If Johnny Cash or Kris Kristofferson has ever portrayed you or anyone in your family in a movie, raise your hand. I can’t see yours, but my hand is raised.

My maternal grandfather’s paternal grandmother—that’s my momma’s daddy’s grandma on his daddy’s side—is Margaret James from Missouri. According to family history, Margaret James, my great-great-grandmother, is a cousin to Frank and Jesse James. That makes me Frank and Jesse’s cousin, four times removed…which brings me back to Cash and Kristofferson. In the movie The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James, Johnny Cash plays my cousin Frank, and Kris Kristofferson plays my cousin Jesse.

Some consider my James cousins Confederate folk heroes, the Robin Hoods of our nation. Some consider them nothing more than daring robbers and cold-blooded murderers. Nevertheless, my kinship should amount to something, don’t you think?

I’d like VIP treatment wherever I go…or, at least in Missouri. But alas, I’m just another Joe Schmoe. Everywhere I go, I get the same treatment as everyone else.

All of us like special treatment and we often think we deserve it. Sometimes, our sense of entitlement comes from family connections: She’s a Hilton. They are the Mannings. He’s Britney’s ex. I’m a cousin, four times removed, of Frank and Jesse James. Sometimes we feel entitled because of what we do: The president decides things. The Donald owns things. Some guy named Barry writes songs that make the whole world sing. I tell people I’m related to notorious outlaws.

Sometimes, entitlement even invades the Church: She’s our Sunday school’s perfect-attender. They’ve read all the Christian bestsellers. He speaks in tongues (or, for you Baptists, he has his own “private prayer language”). I’m a cousin of Frank and Jesse James, and their daddy was a Baptist preacher.

This sense of entitlement is nothing new; it has plagued God’s people from the beginning. The prophets point it out to the Israelites. Jesus exposes it among the religious leaders. And Paul unmasks it in young churches.

Here’s the rub: all of this stuff is about us. It’s always about you or me. And really, none of this stuff matters at all. Nope, what’s important has nothing to do with family heritage, or what we do, or even how righteous we think we can be.

Truth is, what’s important is all about being in the presence of the God who is Love. It’s about letting God strip away all of these things about us, and letting God form in us the likeness of love; it’s about letting God, who is love, create an incarnate image of love in each of us.

Larry Norman adapts Paul’s “love” theme for his early-70’s song “Righteous Rocker.” With some altering for 2007, Paul, through Larry—with a little help from this outlaws’ cousin—might have this to say to us today:

You can boycott Hollywood, and never go to Dollywood,
You can be as pure as you can be;
You can kill every felon, and refuse to watch Ellen,
and destroy all your enemies;
You can be friends with Albert Mohler, or you can dance like a holy roller,
But without love,
you ain’t nothin’,
without love.

You can be on a spiritual search, or you can live at your church,
You could have the most heavenly of aims;
You could be an Adolph Rupp, or drink from a golden cup,
You can be kin to Jesse James;
you can pray like Jabez prays, or find your purpose in forty days,
But without love,
you ain’t nothin’,
without love.

They say that though fueled by pride, anger, hatred, and greed, even cousins Frank and Jesse showed some glimpses of love—occasionally. I guess, then, that though the Church sometimes is fueled by pride, anger, hatred, and greed, maybe the world will even catch some glimpses of love—occasional glimpses of LOVE—through us. For the Love of God, let’s hope so.

Questions for Reflection

• What things “seduce” you into pride or a sense of “entitlement”? In what ways do you sense pride and entitlement in your church?


• How does 1 Corinthians 13 specifically address your own life; how does it specifically address your church?


• What are the implications of this in terms of how you view and treat others whose race, economics, religion, lifestyle, etc., are very different from yours?


• What steps can you take right now to allow God’s love to become more abundant in your life?