Jesus Rules

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. – 2 Cor. 4:5

It is an interesting word: Lord. Back in the day when men wore powdered wigs and panty hose and snorted snuff from the back of their hands, the title lord had a certain meaning of male gentility or class status. But it also meant ownership of some substantial property. They were czars in a sense (which later became retranslated as ‘sir’) or masters (which later became ‘mister’). In some languages, that has carried forward with dualistic implications of male propriety and property management (ie. “Senor” in Spanish means Mr. or Lord). Consequently, the English word Lord is often misunderstood, even sometimes by those who cry out in cathedrals "Lord, have mercy!" in the Kyrie Eleison liturgy.

Maybe a better word would be “boss” or “owner,” because that carries with it the understanding that someone has ownership and rights to manage us. So Paul was saying in reality, “We are not talking big about ourselves, but we’re saying that Jesus Christ is the Boss, and we are working for you because He owns us.”

So, the big question for us today is: Is Jesus really Lord?

I wore a T-shirt to school one day that said, “Jesus Rules.” Interestingly, a Muslim math teacher stopped me and said, “Says who?” He was actually pretty angry at the time, so I thought he had taken my T-statement to be demeaning to his exaltation of Mohammed. Later, I found out that he was more of a liberal atheist than a devout Muslim, so his anger was most likely generated by a sense of “no religion should make any exclusive claims.” But Paul was pretty straightforward about Jesus being the Boss to the exclusion of everyone else.

Is Jesus really Lord? Says Who?

1. Actually the mainstream “orthodox” Christian church says that He is Lord. I use those qualifiers to define what is a true church from cults. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved.” This is one of the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith. Any “church” or group that claims otherwise is not Christian. By definition, Christianity is following Christ as the ONLY means of salvation; therefore, the Christian church says that Jesus is Lord or Boss. Unfortunately, there have arisen some groups that, in the name of embracing diversity, have posited that there are other ways to be saved apart from a verbal profession of faith in Christ. I’m sorry, folks, but I’m not drinking a mixture of one part lemonade with one part poison. Jesus alone is Lord; if He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.

2. Individual Christians should have the daily testimony that Jesus is Boss. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says that “nobody can say Jesus is the Lord except by the power of the Holy Spirit.” If anyone has received Jesus as Savior, he has received Him also as Boss. Christianity is not a cafeteria plan where one item can be picked and the other left at the counter. It’s also not an installment plan, whereby you get larger increments of Lordship over time. When the Spirit of Jesus invades a person’s heart at the moment of salvation, Jesus becomes Boss immediately. So it is normal for a true Christian to verbally acknowledge that Jesus rules everyday.

3. One day, every person and angel will say that Jesus is Lord. Philippians 2:9-11 says that there is coming a day when “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is really the Boss.” It’s really just a matter of timing and compulsion. To establish Jesus’ ownership personally now by faith opens up a life of freedom (see 2 Cor. 3:17). To reject that absolute truth until faith is no longer possible is not only unintelligent and reckless, it is tragic (Rev. 20:15). Perhaps this is not a popular thought in our modern pluralistic world, but it is nonetheless the truth.

So the ultimate question is: Is He your Lord?

Think back again about ownership of property. Does Jesus own you? Does He own your heart? Is He the Boss of your mind? Does He get management rights over your stuff? Like Paul was saying, we should not pose these questions because we think we’ve got it all together, but Jesus does. So let this small post be a ministry to you for His sake.