Reflections
IS JESUS REALLY LORD OF ALL?
By Pete Hammond
For many of us, the truth is that Jesus is just “Lord of the leftovers,” or only a few scraps of our lives. Then, to make matters even worse, we slip into pride over dedicating these few parts of life to Him and the church. Here’s the evidence of this “limited Lordship” in six aspects of life.
1. Careers & Jobs:
We seldom view our jobs as callings or gifts from God. Instead we offer the church a little of our volunteer time for religious activity, and sometimes engage in a missions trip, or take one “Vacation with a purpose” mission venture. Another version of this diminished lordship view of work is when we are encouraged to retire early to “serve the Lord”, suggesting that our jobs do not belong to God at all.
2. Church or Faith Community:
We hire professional religious staff - pastors, nuns, educators, spiritual directors, etc., - and expect they will lead exemplary lives of holiness and spirituality among us. They are the “godly ones” among us while we plod through daily life on our own, and show up for worship occasionally. Another version of this problem is to only call ourselves “church” when we gather in a religious building, not ever when we scatter into the world Monday through Saturday.
3. Family:
We, like many traditional Roman Catholic families, take special pride in the one child or relative who enters a religious profession or employment, with all other members enjoying vicarious association with the “full time Christian worker”. Or we only view ourselves doing “Christian” family things together when we attend worship or have family prayers and/or devotional times together.
4. Money:
We dedicate our church offerings to God, which on our best days might be a “tithe” or 10%. But in reality, American Christians average less than 3% in religious giving. We then treat the other 90+% as ours’ to spend apart from faith issues and values.
5. Real Estate:
We speak of church buildings as “The Lord’s House” suggesting that God only has access to a few religious buildings in our community, not the business, government, healthcare and homes of our cities. Do we really see God as that small or isolated from life in our communities?
6. Time:
We speak of “The Lord's Day” suggesting that our one day of worship, usually Sunday, belongs to God, but even that seldom happens with TV professional sports and family recreation. So, in reality, God gets 1/7th, or maybe 1/14th of the whole week.
These dichotomies are destructive to us and the Lord’s work and witness in the world. And they present a very confusing message to the watching world about our faith, the reality of Jesus Christ and God’s kingdom. But scripture speaks of Jesus Christ being Lord of All and the whole creation being God's work (Col. 1:15-19). We are designed and called to be stewards over all of creation for the benefit of God (Gen. 1:26-31), and blessors of all peoples. (Gen. 12:1-3 - “... in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”). A “Steward” is one assigned to manage the resources of the owner.
Is Jesus Lord of All,
Or...
... just 10% of our money, not all 100;
... only a few church buildings across the city;
... just one day a week called “The Lord’s Day”, not all seven;
... just the one family member who goes into religious work;
... just my extracurricular time dedicated to religious volunteering;
... just our “soul’, but not body, mind and strength;
... just retirement religious work, but not our everyday jobs;
... just an occasional “vacation-with-a-purpose” mission ventures;
... our occasional devotional time, but not all 24 hours;
... just our country retreats, but not urban centers,
... just our Sunday school, but not all public schools;
... just the “Christian” nations.
But, Scripture says:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation;
for in him all things in heaven and earth were created,
things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers or powers -
all things have been created through him and for him....
So that he might come to have first place in everything.”
(Col. 1:15-19)
Lord, forgive my inconsistent and limited view of your rights to worship and service in all of life and creation. Restore me to submission, service and humility that acknowledges your ownership of all creation. Help me live under your complete Lordship over all of life!
Is Jesus Is Lord of All?
Well, Not Really!
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