If I Call Him Lord, Why Don't I Do What He Says? — The Scandal of Cheap Lordship
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| If I Call Him Lord, Why Don't I Do What He Says? — The Scandal of Cheap Lordship |
1. The Contrast — We Say "Accept Jesus as Lord," But Rarely Explain What Lordship Requires
Modern Christianity has learned how to say the words without counting the cost. We tell people to "accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior," and it sounds biblical because it uses biblical language — but in too many places the word "Lord" has been quietly reduced to a religious label instead of a living authority. We say "Lord" as if it means personal comfort, but Jesus said it means ownership. We say it as if it means He blesses our plans, but He said it means we surrender our plans. We say it as if it means He hands us heaven when we die, but He said it means He governs us while we live.
That is where the contrast becomes painful. The church has often presented Jesus as someone to add to your life rather than the King who takes possession of it. We invite people to make a decision, repeat a prayer, join a church, and attend a service, and we call that conversion — all while avoiding the deeper question of whether Jesus actually has the right to command them. That is not a small oversight; it changes the entire message. A lord is not a mascot, a consultant, or a motivational figure whose advice we accept or reject by preference. A lord commands, and a servant obeys.
Yet much of modern Christianity has made room for something strange: people who call Jesus Lord, sing to Him as Lord, pray to Him as Lord, and publicly identify with Him as Lord, all while living as though His words are optional. That is cheap lordship. It wants the comfort of salvation without the surrender of obedience, the benefits of the kingdom without bowing to the King, Jesus as Rescuer but not Jesus as Ruler. The result is a generation of Christians who know how to say "Lord, Lord" but were never taught to ask, "What did He actually command?" We have made lordship sound like a doctrine to affirm instead of a life to live — but Jesus never separated the two.
2. The Scripture — Jesus Defines Lordship by Obedience
Jesus Himself raised the issue plainly:
"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" — Luke 6:46 KJV
That verse should stop us in our tracks. He did not ask why we fail sometimes, why we are still growing, or why we are weak; He asked why people call Him Lord while refusing to do what He says. There is a real difference between a struggling disciple and a disobedient pretender: the struggling disciple falls and repents, while the pretender uses religious language to avoid surrender. Jesus is not attacking weakness here — He is exposing contradiction. If He is Lord, His words matter, and if His words do not matter to us, then what do we mean when we call Him Lord?
The same warning appears in Matthew 7 in one of the most sobering passages in all of Scripture:
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." — Matthew 7:21-23 KJV
Notice what Jesus does not say. He does not warn against those who confess the wrong doctrine; He warns against those who say "Lord, Lord." These are people with the correct title — not atheists, not pagans, not openly anti-Christ. They speak the language of lordship and even point to religious works done in His name. But Jesus says entrance into the kingdom is not proven by saying "Lord, Lord"; it is revealed by doing the will of the Father. That should make every casual Christian tremble, because He is saying that verbal confession without surrendered obedience is not enough, that religious activity without relationship is not enough, that ministry success without submission is not enough. This does not mean we earn salvation by works, for Scripture never teaches that — but it does mean that real faith is not barren. Real belief produces obedience, and real confession bows.
Romans 10 is often quoted, and rightly so, but we must not empty it of its meaning:
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." — Romans 10:9-10 KJV
Paul does not tell us to recite the word "Lord" like a password; he tells us to confess "the Lord Jesus." The Jesus being confessed is Lord — risen, living, reigning, holding all authority. The mouth confesses what the heart believes, and if the heart truly believes He is Lord, that belief cannot stay locked inside religious language. It begins to reshape the life. This is exactly where James becomes necessary:
"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" — James 2:14-20 KJV
James is not contradicting Paul; he is confronting fake faith. A person can claim faith, recite correct religious statements, and insist that they believe — but James asks where the evidence is. Faith that never moves the hands, changes the tongue, reorders the home, confronts sin, loves the brethren, sacrifices, forgives, repents, or follows is, in his words, dead. Jesus said the same thing another way: "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15 KJV). Not merely sing about Him, not build a brand around Him, not attend religious events about Him — love obeys. Not perfectly, but truly; not as a way to purchase salvation, but as the fruit of actually belonging to Him. The great scandal of cheap lordship is that we have tried to separate what Jesus joined together. We want faith without obedience, confession without surrender, grace without transformation, and Lord without lordship — but the Bible gives us no such Christianity.
3. The Be the Few Call — Treat Jesus as Actual Lord of Every Area of Life
So what does it look like to treat Jesus as actual Lord? It begins with honesty, with letting His question land on you instead of someone else: why do I call Him Lord if I do not do what He says? Do not rush past it, and do not answer with church attendance, your denomination, your family's beliefs, your pastor's teaching, or the ministry you support. Bring the question all the way home.
If Jesus is Lord, is He Lord of your money — not merely whether you give something religiously, but whether your possessions are under His command, used to serve the kingdom, care for the needy, and live free from greed, rather than spent as though you are the owner? If He is Lord, is He Lord of your time, not just Sunday morning or a devotional slot, but your whole schedule, surrendered and available to obey rather than consumed with building your own kingdom? If He is Lord, is He Lord of your home, so that your family life reflects His commands in forgiveness, humility, prayer, repentance, and truth, leading your household toward obedience and not merely toward comfort and success? If He is Lord, is He Lord of your speech — the gossip, the complaining, the flattery, the manipulation, the online arguments, the private bitterness — can any of that survive under His rule? If He is Lord, is He Lord of your relationships, so that you love your enemies, forgive those who wronged you, refuse to use people, care for the poor, bear with the weak, and wash feet instead of climbing platforms?
And if He is Lord, is He Lord of your church life? That one may be the most uncomfortable for Be the Few readers, because we have so often confused attending a religious service with obeying Jesus. We have outsourced discipleship to professionals and assumed that sitting in a building, listening to a sermon, and going home is the same thing as living as the body of Christ. But Jesus never called us to be passive consumers of spiritual content; He called us to follow Him, and that means actual obedience. Open your Bible and read His words for yourself in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — not to win arguments, but to obey — and whenever He commands something, stop and ask, "Am I doing this?" When Jesus says forgive, forgive; when He says give, give; when He says pray, pray; when He says go, go; when He says love, love; when He says deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Me, then deny yourself, take it up, and follow.
This is not legalism, it is Christianity. Legalism tries to earn life by rule-keeping; lordship receives life from Christ and then bows to Him because He is worthy. The narrow way has never been crowded — Jesus told us so — and the many will always prefer a version of Christianity that costs little, demands little, confronts little, and changes little. But the few will hear His words and tremble. The few will not be satisfied with calling Him Lord in song while ignoring Him in life, will not hide behind religious activity while refusing repentance, and will not treat obedience as an optional upgrade reserved for radical Christians. The few will ask the dangerous question — "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" — and then they will do it: not perfectly, not proudly, not to be seen of men, and not to earn what only grace can give, but because Jesus is not a slogan. He is Lord, and if He is Lord, then every area of life must come under His rule.
That’s the scandal: a cheap version of Christianity can’t stand the idea that calling Jesus ‘Lord’ means obeying Him. It wants Jesus useful but not authoritative, comforting but not commanding, forgiving but not governing — but the real Jesus will not be divided. He is Savior and Lord, Lamb and King, merciful and holy, gentle and absolute. So the question remains: if I call Him Lord, why don't I do what He says? Maybe today is the day to stop explaining that question away. Maybe today is the day to repent, to open the Scriptures, read the words of Jesus, and obey the next thing He shows you — not someday, not when the church program approves it, not when it becomes popular, not when the many agree, but now. The narrow way is not found by admiring Jesus from a distance; it is found by following Him.
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." — Matthew 7:13-14 KJV
Be the few.
#BeTheFew
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