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What is your favorite John Wayne movie?

Mine is The Cowboys, potentially considered an odd choice because it is not a classic action western, and (spoilers!) the Duke dies in it. Unlike Rio Bravo or True Grit, instead of frequent gunfights its a coming of age tale where boys have to decide if they have what it takes to be men.

Based on the book by William Dale Jennings, The Cowboys is about a rancher named Wil Andersen, played by Wayne, who needs to drive his cattle over 400 miles from Bozeman to Belle Fourche to be sold. The land between his ranch and the place of sale is tough and unforgiving. Worse, all of Andersen’s ranch hands and all the town’s men have left for a gold rush. He is left with 11 schoolboys.

“There ain’t a kid in that school over fifteen. They’re between hay and grass. I need men.”
-Wil Andersen

At first, they are typical boys. Wayne’s character visits the schoolhouse and is unimpressed when one boy lets loose a frog in class, causing a ruckus with the girls.

He sets up a test. Each boy has to ride an unbroken bronc for 10 seconds to be considered for the job. Scared and unsure, one by one they climb on while Wayne holds the horse. Then the counting starts.

The oldest boy volunteers to go first. He will become the leader of the bunch. He holds on for 10, then helps the next boy on, while Wayne stares open-mouthed. They all successfully ride, passing their first test of manhood.

“You have to go out and prove yourself in the world. I guess that’s right.”
-a parent

Every boy must ask himself this very question: “Do I have what it takes to prove myself to the world?”

And they will face many more tests. They work from before the sun is up until they camp for dinner. They learn responsibility, being pushed out of their saddles when they fall asleep. They face childish fears as they stand watch over the herd at night. They rope, they drive cattle, they cross rivers, they steal liquor from the chuck wagon, and they mature. Andersen, who lost two sons, becomes a father to them, and they become his adoptive sons.

Can they cowboy up and not only survive, but do the job a man should be doing?

The moment they know is at the climax of the movie in a fight scene between them and rustlers. When Wayne’s character defiantly refuses to give up his herd, he is shot and killed. The antagonist beats one of the kids, threatens another, and takes the herd. He is the exact opposite of Wayne’s character. Andersen is tough due to his honesty and moral character; the rustler is tough in his cruelty and manipulation. He tells one boy he killed his first man before he had turned 13. Then he rides away.

This is the moment. The climatic test. What will the kids do?

They come up with a plan. They restrain the only other adult on the drive (a character played by Roscoe Lee Browne who dang near steals the whole movie with his acting), break open a locked case of firearms, and arm up.

“We didn’t want to do it this way, Mr. Nightlinger, but we knew you wouldn’t give them to us. So we are going to get the herd back for Mr. Andersen and take it down to Belle Fourche.”

“You’re going to get yourselves killed.”

*Spins the cylinder in his six-gun. “We’re going to finish the job.”

They are thrust into manhood with the snap of a primer cap. They make a coordinated strike against the rustlers, killing them all, and administer frontier justice to the lead bandit. The movie ends with the boys driving the cattle into town, finishing the job of men, to the shock of the townsfolk.

“Do I have what it takes?”

I won’t have to do the same things these boys did. I’ll have other tests. Other battles. Other failures. But also other opportunities to succeed. The thesis of this movie is a challenge to me to be better than I was yesterday, better than my father was, and better than his was. It challenges me to be the sort of man worthy of his son’s loyalty and love, proud to wear my name.

Frankly, I do not always have what it takes. Man, I mess up a lot. But I believe that through Christ, my heavenly Father says to me:

“You are the child of the king you have been set free.
There is nothing that can separate you from me.
I am the one that calls you son, I formed you in the womb,
I conquered the grave, your home is not a tomb.”
-From “Epilogue” by Mouth of the South

And I have to remind myself of that often. Because my sonship is the only thing that helps me get it done.

The boys in The Cowboys didn’t choose their test—it chose them. But we do get to choose how we respond when life demands we be men. Do you have what it takes? Not to be perfect, but to show up. Not to win every battle, but to finish the job. What’s your Belle Fourche? What herd are you called to drive home?

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This post originally appeared on https://awakeputonstrength.com/