By David Ryser
“You won’t believe what I just saw!”
I had phoned Tim after seeing a
bumper sticker on a car. I enjoy reading
bumper stickers. Some manage to say so
much in so few words. Especially during
an election season. I find the stickers
are far more clever than the candidates.
The sticker read: “Elect Jesus
King of Your Life.”
In the days following, Tim and I
had great fun with this. I phoned him
one day and asked, “Have you elected Jesus as King of your life?” He answered, “No. I’m a member of the opposition party.” I laughed!
But, one day, I stopped laughing.
The more I thought about that
sticker, over time, the more it troubled me.
The message seems benign enough.
However, it points to a subtle, but dangerous, attitude in the American Church that is inconsistent with the
Gospel.
This attitude is, in fact, Gospel
poison.
Where does this attitude
come from? Perhaps it originates in our
democratic political process. In our country,
we elect our rulers. We have a
choice. We choose people to represent
us. We choose a president to lead us.
And in our churches, we are
exhorted to choose Jesus.
I’ve lost count of the number of
church services I have attended where the preacher exhorts the congregation to
“make Jesus the Lord of your life.” Make
Jesus Lord of my life? I have the power
to make Jesus Lord? And what is He if I
choose not to make Him Lord?
Since when are kings elected?
The Kingdom of God,
as with any other Kingdom, is ruled by an unelected King. (In biblical times kings ruled as lords, as
absolute monarchs, and exercised the power of life and death over their
subjects.) The King is Lord over everything and everyone in His Kingdom. He makes the rules--and He enforces
them. His word is law. His decisions are final. He does not solicit the opinion of His
subjects on how to run the Kingdom. A
kingdom is not a democracy.
Jesus reigns supreme. The fact of His Kingship is not in
dispute. His status as King is settled.
But I have some power, right? Even if I can’t make Jesus King, I do have
the choice of whether I will be His subject.
What if I decide not to be a subject in His Kingdom? What if everyone on earth decides to reject
Him as King and refuses to be part of His Kingdom? Then is He a King? King over what?
Actually, Jesus has already faced
this challenge.
In John 6:26-65, Jesus preached a
message that offended even His followers.
As a result, most of His disciples abandoned Him…except for the Twelve
(verse 66). Jesus turned to His
remaining twelve disciples and asked them, “Do you also want to go away?”
(verse 67). What would Jesus have done
if they had decided to leave?
He would have chosen twelve more
disciples and started over. He doesn’t need
us.
I know that sounds harsh, but it’s
true. God loves us passionately and
values us highly, but He doesn’t need us.
He is not diminished in any way if we choose not to be part of His
Kingdom. The Kingdom of God,
like any other Kingdom, is about the King…not the subjects.
The Kingdom of God
is not about us. The Kingdom of God
is about Him!
Jesus is King. Nothing I do will make Him King, and nothing
I do will topple Him from the throne. My
service to Him does not establish His Kingship.
I do not serve Him to make Him King…I serve Him because He is the King. He is the King whether or not I serve
Him. He doesn’t need me.
The Kingdom of God
only needs the King. Subjects are
optional.
So where does that leave us? We have the honor of being invited to be part
of God’s Kingdom. And not just as
servants, but as children of the King. We
have the privilege of being co-laborers with the King in the advancement of His
Kingdom on the earth (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:1). We can choose to be a part of the Kingdom,
but we can’t elect the King.
Jesus is Lord. Jesus is King. He is King over all of the kings, and He is
Lord over all of the lords (Revelation 19:16).
Even if I didn’t vote for Him.
Responses to this article are
welcomed. You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com
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