“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” Luke 6:46
Though promoting a wide range of theological positions that I would not endorse, A.W. Tozer well stated a common failure among those who believe in Jesus because we often struggle to take that belief as seriously as we should. As he put it, “We often treat Jesus the way Saul treated David. We want him to slay giants and sing evil spirits away, but we don’t want him to be King.” Though we may be tempted to treat this as a problem for “those people over there,” an honest look at ourselves will reveal that we all struggle with submission to King Jesus in some aspect of our lives.
Though we may never curse our enemies, nonetheless we may harbor ill-will in our hearts (Matthew 5:43-48). Or perhaps we may never steal our neighbor’s valuables, but inwardly we may be envious of them and covet what they have (Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5). Or we may never commit adultery, but we might look upon people other than our spouses with lustful intent and desire (Matthew 5:27-30). What if we never abuse our children but fail to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4)? It is not enough to not be mean to them. We must positively point them heavenward at every turn (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). This list could go on and on, but this illustrates the point.
Much of the religious world, and sadly many sitting on our own pews around the world, are quick to call Jesus Lord and Savior. However, when you peel back the layers and look at how that belief is lived out, many fall into the mold Jesus described in Luke 6:46 above. The principle elucidated is easy enough to understand, but the implications are often beyond what we are willing to embrace. We can say He is our Lord all we want, but His Lordship implies our subservience (cf. 1 John 1:5-6).
The rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-25 is an excellent case study demonstrating the ease with which we may be self-deceived. This young man approached Jesus with what appears to be a genuine query as to how he could live a life worthy of eternal life. I say he was genuine based on two elements in Mark’s account: 1) he ran up and knelt before Jesus, addressing Him as “good teacher” (10:17), and 2) Mark indicates that he was disheartened by the saying and went away sorrowful after learning the full depth of Jesus’ demands (10:22). Neither of these would be so if he were not sincere in his query.
Furthermore, this was not a rebellious man who shirked God’s law in pursuit of evil desires, but he was a man who obeyed the commandments of God within the covenant under which he lived (10:18-20). However, Jesus peered into his heart and exposed to him the weak link in his commitment to God. He was happy to let Jesus be his King in every aspect of life, save one. He wanted to obey the Lord and obtain eternal life, but he could not muster the strength to relinquish his material comforts to make his faith complete.
As Jesus stated elsewhere, being an obedient follower of Him is all-encompassing. We must deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him daily (Luke 9:23-26). We must maintain that devotion even if it costs us our closest human relationships (Matthew 10:34-39). A common thread in both statements above is that we must follow Him even to the point of giving our lives in service to Him if such is necessary (Matthew 10:39; Luke 9:24-25; cf. 1 John 3:16; Revelation 2:10). This exercise could continue, but in a nutshell, Jesus is only the Savior of those who submit to Him as King in every aspect of life (Hebrews 5:9).
Hopefully, after having gone through this brief exercise, you and I found the humility to confess that we too treat Jesus as Saul did David at times in our lives. Acceptance of our failings truly is the only way we can hope to conquer them. May we all take stock of the true depths of our devotion to our King and strive every day to further submit to His will and ways, no matter the cost. Heaven will surely be worth it all!