Lord, Lord

One Saturday morning. I relaxed on my pillow and sank into my prayers with a leisurely attitude. "I should ask the Lord what to do with this rare, unstructured day," I thought. And so I began, "Lord, how would you have me use this day?" But the first word of my prayer echoed in my head "Lord . . .”

“Lord," what an odd word. Here in “the land of the free" we don’t have lords. We have employers (hopefully), but no masters. We have rights on which no one has the right to tread. Our lives are rich with options, opportunities, and the freedom to pursue them. Besides taxes, we have few mandates (and we resent even those). Do we, who doff our hats to no man, even know what it means when we address Christ as "Lord"?  

I am an American and I love this country. But seventeen years ago I was re-born a Christian, a citizen of a foreign country. That kingdom is not a democracy; it’s a monarchy. Christ is its king and his word is a constant reminder that I am not my own, I was bought with a price. I was freed from my slavery to sin to serve a new master (see Rom 6:22).

So when Jesus asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?" (Lk 6:46) his meaning is clear: if I call him “Lord” but do not obey him, I am fooling myself, and his most terrifying words are aimed right at me: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 7:21). Jesus illustrates his point with a famous parable:

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it" (Mt 7:24-27).

I sang it in Sunday school, "The wise man builds his house upon the rock!" But I didn’t know what it meant. The wise man honors Christ’s authority with obedience. Too often, I fear, we read the words of Christ as suggestions or jumping-off points for our own ideas. We accept the words that suit us, that appear to validate our own desires and lifestyles, but we skip over the rest. Too often we use the scriptures to condemn others rather than face what it reveals about ourselves.

This is how we deceive ourselves. This is how we can read our Bibles, close them, and walk away unchanged, confidently declaring that we are saved by faith in Christ alone and not by works. Yet, as James tells us, “Faith without works is dead” (2:26). Yes, Christ is the rock of our salvation, the firm foundation of our faith. But a faith that is alive builds its house by careful obedience to His word. 

"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked" (1 Jn 2: 3-6).

If we are not doing the word, if we are not obeying the words of our King, it doesn’t matter how loudly we proclaim our faith, how much we know about the Bible, or how accurate our doctrinal statements are. I've heard it said that the devil doesn't mind what we do so long as He can keep us from the scriptures. I’d take it a step farther: the devil doesn't mind us hearing the word of God so long as we don’t obey. So today as America celebrates her foundation, let’s make it a day for us who call Christ “Lord” to examine our own foundations.