Lessons In Lordship Part 5
What Does Lordship Require of Me?
Introduction: We took a break from our series on Lordship back in June and now I want to return to that theme and share with you some practical connections to this whole idea of what Lordship means to us on a day-to-day basis. To ask ourselves, "what are the practical applications of Lordship?" I want to show you through scripture that there are ways you can begin living a life that acknowledges Jesus Christ as Lord right now.
Before we begin our study today, I want us to be reminded why the whole issue of Lordship is relevant. Many people are living as what we might call Sunday Christians and I want to show you a little video clip that I hope will help us focus on Lordship.
Video Clip: Calendar Christian (available at www.essentials.tv)
Any of those hit home? Well, if so, then you are just like me, and you are struggling with a Lordship issue. But that doesn’t mean we have to keep struggling. There are some practical ways to begin refocusing our daily lives on Jesus Christ.
There are 5 questions that I hope will spur us to rethink some of the choices we make on a daily basis. We will get started with a couple of the questions today and then finish up next week. The over-arching principle that I want to focus on is the fact that...
Acknowledging the Lordship of Christ is a Daily Exercise
Accepting Jesus as our Savior is a one-time event. We put our trust in what He did on the cross, dying for our sins, and in His resurrection from the dead—as the hope of eternal life with Him in heaven when our earthly lives are over. Once that decision is made it is made, but Lordship isn’t a “one-time” event—it is a daily reality of being a follower of Jesus Christ.
Because it is a daily exercise, there are some very straightforward questions that I think we should ask ourselves. Here is the first: The Lordship of Jesus Christ demands that we ask...
1. What Am I Holding On To?
Turn with me to Philippians 3. Paul through his own personal testimony gives us an illustration on how we are to apply this question. Paul by his own admission had it made. He was a powerful man who was on the fast-track to success and then he met Jesus and everything changed! Look at what he says starting in verse 7:
Philippians 3:7-8 (HCSB)
7But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ.
Notice how definitive Paul was in these verses. He didn’t say that he let go of most things. He didn’t say that he was willing to leave behind a lot of things. He said that everything that was gain to him he considered loss because of Christ. What does that mean? It means that once Paul found Jesus his whole value system changed. Everything that he thought was worth something seemed meaningless compared to what he had found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
So, what are you hanging on to today? What do you value most? Or, better yet, who do you value most? Here is the question that we all need to ask ourselves today:
Is there is anything in my life that is keeping me from being totally sold-out for Jesus? If so, then its time to let it go.
Another way to look at that question is: Is Jesus part of your life? Or, is Jesus your life? That’s a tough question. It should be! Being a sold-out follower of Jesus Christ isn’t easy. On one occasion Jesus challenged those who were following after Him to make a decision if they were going to truly put their faith in Him. When it was laid out before them, many refused. Listen what it says in John 6:
John 6:66-69
66From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him. 67Therefore Jesus said to the Twelve, "You don’t want to go away too, do you?" 68Simon Peter answered, "Lord, who will we go to? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God!"
Today we need to decide whether we are ready to give up control and allow Jesus to be the Lord of our life. If there are things we are still in charge of, then we are denying His Lordship, and to deny His Lordship is a sin! I don’t know what it is that you are hanging on to today, but it’s time to let it go.
The second question I want us to focus on today has to do with our associations. The Lordship of Jesus Christ demands that we ask...
2. Who am I Hanging Out With?
Now that may seem like an odd question to you. It sounds like something we might ask our children, especially a teenager. That is precisely why I chose that phrase. Why do we ask our children that kind of question? Because we know that if they hang out with the wrong crowd there is a good possibility there going to get into trouble that influence of those they hang out with is going to rub off on them.
Guess what? We’re right! But the same principle applies to us as is does to our children. Our Heavenly Father also wants to know who we are hanging out with. Turn with me to Ephesians 5.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is divided up into two parts. The first three chapters he spends time laying down doctrinal truth: what believers are supposed to believe. He then spends the last three chapters giving instructions about how to apply those beliefs showing believers how to behave. Look at the practical advice he gives beginning in verse 7:
Ephesians 5:7-10 (HCSB)
7Therefore, do not become their partners. 8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth 10discerning what is pleasing to the Lord.
Paul clearly says that God cares about who you and I are hanging out with. He says do not become their partners. So who is it he is talking about? Really bad people I’m sure murders, thieves, that kind of folks right? Well, that’s probably true, but the people he specifically mentions sounds a lot more like some of our co-workers, or family members, or even fellow church members. Look at who Paul mentions in verses 3-5:
Ephesians 5:3-5 (HCSB)
3But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. 4And coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. 5For know and recognize this: no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God.
Well, maybe we can eliminate the immorality, though statistics will tell us that those kinds of problems are almost as rampant among those who identify themselves as Christians as those who do not; but what about these other negative traits? Some of the greediest people I’ve known are church people. I have heard some of the coarsest and most foolish words come out of church people’s mouths at Baptist business meetings. So, when Paul says don’t be partners with them he could be talking about people who don’t look much different than us!
This association question is really a two-sided coin. On one side is the challenge to ask ourselves, "Am I hanging out with people who are doing things that don’t honor the Lord? Am I reading things I shouldn’t be reading? Am I watching things I shouldn’t be watching? Am I going places I shouldn’t be going?" Basically, it’s a question of whether I am allowing the ways of the world to drive my life.
Paul put it this way in Romans 13:13-14:
13Let us walk with decency, as in the daylight: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires.
We shouldn’t even make plans to hang out with the world!
The other side of the coin has a challenge that is a little more subtle. It involves asking ourselves, "Am I hanging out with people who are pulling me down instead of building me up? Do I spend a lot of time with people who have really bad attitudes? People who complain, gossip, undermine the work of the church and its leaders?" I believe we need to examine even our associations with other Christians, and see whether they are ones that God approves of is He happy we are hanging out with these people?
I’m not saying we cut people off, or that we avoid people who may need our friendship and acceptance. But, if we are spending considerable time with people who are negative we better make sure that it is us rubbing off on them and not the other way around!
Is there is anything or anyone in your life that is coming between you and Jesus? If so, then its time to check who you are hanging out with!
I firmly believe that one of the greatest implications of Lordship is for us to reevaluate who we spend our time with, as well as what we spend our time doing. If Jesus is taking a back seat then its time to stop the car and figure out why!
Invitation: Lets spend some time reflecting on these two questions: 1) What am I holding on to? 2) Who am I hanging out with?
