A report recently came out, profiling some of the worst employees ever.
As you might have guessed, those topping the list worked in the fast food sector.
One of them was caught standing in the lettuce. Another slurped vanilla shake straight from the machine nozzle into his mouth. Still, another came to work from the gym, sweaty. He promptly went to the large industrial sink at the rear of the restaurant, stripped down, and took a bath in it.
Each of these people had a common denominator (other than being terminated). They thought they weren’t being watched. And since they thought they weren’t being watched, they also thought nobody was in charge. And since they thought nobody was in charge, they did whatever they wanted to do.
The Bible tells us Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:16). We’re also told, “He is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named” (Eph. 1:21). Those are ultimate authority statements. There is a throne above, and it is occupied.
Not everyone agrees. Men think there’s no authority above this world, and so they do whatever they want, or at least whatever they can get away with. When legitimate authority exists and people don’t care who it is or what it has said, then by default, their lives will mostly be lived in rebellion.
Christians are different, or should be. For, the very first thing we ever did was confess the Lordship of Christ:
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom. 10:9).
Ours was a glorious declaration that Jesus has the final say over life and death. There is no alternative to His work, no other way of salvation, no other name. Yet past that point, our obedience often glides to a stop. We continue to agree with the concept of Christ as Lord, except when it begins to affect our personal space.
Jesus asked his disciples, “Why do you call Me Lord, and not do what I say?” (Lk. 6:46). Great question. If Christ is Lord of all, then that encompasses public and private, visible or invisible, hand or heart. His lordship includes my personal space.
The safest place for you, your family, your ministry, your spiritual growth, and your future lies in your hidden obedience to Christ and His word. Not just what everyone else can see.
Jesus said,
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like the 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” (Matt. 7:24-27).
Storms hit both of the men mentioned, so we can’t say one guy got better breaks than the other.
No, the fact is, one decided to build his life on the words of Jesus. He heard and did. The other heard and decided not to do it. He probably hoped to manipulate a positive outcome, anyway. But after hundreds of small internal compromises, he suffered a “great fall” meaning a catastrophic end.
We’ve seen too many sports figures lose their games, too many Christian men and women lose their testimonies, too many leaders lose their ministries, and too many churches lose their overall impact because they deliberately ignored certain specifics of the Word.
Life on the rock isn’t always comfortable, but it is infinitely safer than building on the sand and then watching our lives implode. Most Christians readily agree. But then sometimes the Word makes some incredibly personal demands. In those moments, we scramble to replace obedience with negotiations, telling ourselves that our situations are special, or complicated.
You know what? Every situation is complicated. Hard.
“Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and few are those who find it” (Matt. 7:13-14).
When Jesus used the word “hard” in those verses, He was being honest. There’s often a struggle related to staying under His Lordship, but look where the struggle leads: Life. Contrary to what we might think, remaining on this road does not cause a person to become miserable, but more spiritually exuberant.
Years back a Christian woman contacted me via email. She was having marital problems. Her husband’s situation neither involved adultery nor domestic violence, but she still had a litany of complaints about him that included words like, “Plain, irritating, distant, flat, boring.” It sounded like she was building a case for divorce.
I asked her if she was committed to Christ as Lord. She said yes. I pressed further, asking if her commitment included what the Lord had said about the very limited grounds for divorce. She paused but again responded in the affirmative.
Though the woman had gotten into some emotional disenchantment, to her credit, she was not going to pursue an easy out.
I told her if she persisted in obedience to Christ, she would become more spiritual than she had ever been in her life. I also explained to her that this didn’t mean some kind of magic was going to happen just because she was willing to occupy a stale, loveless marriage. ut as she prayed for the filling of the Holy Spirit every day, forgave and sought forgiveness, pursued communication with her husband, and looked for help in the faith community, something wonderful would happen.
For one thing, she would be led to life. And more than likely, her marriage would benefit as well.
All of it would transpire under the Lordship of Jesus.
Obviously, we live in a world that encourages us to take the easy way. Everybody feels good at the start of Compromise Boulevard. In fact, we hear tales of relief and fulfillment. It’s as if disregarding Jesus and Scripture really pays off. However, we rarely hear anyone talking about the “joys” of where all of it ultimately leads. That’s because when destruction finally emerges, it’s at the far end of a long process, apparently disconnected from the decision that set it in motion.
Odds are as you read these words, you’re locked in some type of private controversy with Jesus. Maybe nobody knows about it. You’ve even gotten used to avoiding the Bible verses that address the issue because they “hurt” you when you read them.
But the pain isn’t coming from Him or His word. It’s coming from your rejection of His lordship–perhaps one of the early injurious consequences of taking the “wide way.” Maybe it’s part of the gradual collapse that comes from building on sand.
Such pain is an early warning signal that you’re headed for trouble. But there’s hope. God has made great promises to those who, for whatever reasons, struggle with obedience:
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).
God is ready to provide mercy and grace for those who find themselves trapped in a prison of self. After all, you’re not the first to say, “This is hard.”
He will honor those who honor Christ as Lord.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on John Myer
Featured Image by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
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