King Jesus — why are you a Christian?

From a sermon · Luke 6:46–49

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things I say? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock..."

Why are you here?

Are we loving Jesus? Are we following Him? Ask yourself why you're a Christian and why you go to church. Is it because you like Christianity — the standards, the music, the structure, the people? Many people like being part of Christianity. Few like being part of Christ. The only reason to be a Christian is Jesus. We must be here for Him, and Him alone. "He is the head of the body, the church... that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).

The single point of failure

Jesus is the single point of failure in the church. Not the pastor. Not the leaders. Not the people. Only Jesus. This is His church, and if we don't operate in Him and with Him, we're wasting our time.

So here's an uncomfortable question. Are we a church operating without Jesus — and would we know if He wasn't here? There are plenty of churches operating without Him. Plenty say "Lord, Lord" and don't follow Him. But the better question isn't whether Jesus is at those churches. It's whether He's at ours. Would anything look different if He weren't?

Or try it the other way. If Jesus walked in on Sunday, would it split the church? If we're honest, some of us would want to pull Him aside first and give Him a few guidelines. Get a haircut. Here's a jacket and tie. Here's the right Bible. Keep the sermon short — You're a little long-winded. Maybe make the point more relevant; some of Your parables are hard to follow. If You're going to heal people, do it in the lobby, not the service. And the prayers — let's keep those brief, we've got a schedule.

Where's your focus?

Is it on your self-improvement? Your reputation? Your success? Your correctness? Your superiority? Jesus needs to be the focus of our lives. We need to give ourselves over to Him — "let Him have His way with thee," as the old song says. We need a revival of His lordship and preeminence in our lives and in our churches. Everything is about Jesus. The theme of eternity will forever be Jesus and His worship.

"At the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:10–11). "Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory" (Psalm 24:10). "The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:15). "The Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings" (Revelation 17:14). "He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:16).

The only acceptable answer

When you reach the gates of heaven and you're asked why you should be let in, the answer will never be in the first person. It will always be in the third. Not "I." "He." You brought nothing to the table; Jesus brought everything. Jonathan Edwards said it: you contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.

Think about the thief on the cross. Imagine asking him how he made it in. "The man on the middle cross said I could come." That's the only acceptable answer. When we remove Christ from the center, we start to think we had something to do with our salvation, or that we have anything to do with our sanctification. Jesus has everything to do with both, and we have nothing.

Jesus is God

We need a re-entering and a re-centering of Jesus in our lives. Jesus is God, and He is who we serve. That's the stark line between us and every other religion. Some say He isn't God. Some say you can become a god like Him. Some say He was a prophet. Some say He was a zealot. Some say He isn't enough. Christians say Jesus is God.

Our foundation is sand when Jesus isn't preeminent. The point of this whole chapter in Luke is to get off our high horse, stop being hypocrites, and love people. We need to get our eyes back on Jesus. Wake up with Jesus on your mind. Go to work with Jesus on your lips. Eat with thanksgiving to Jesus. Speak with love for Jesus. Breathe with praise to Jesus. Submit to Jesus. Worship Jesus.

Where does Jesus sit in your life? Is He first in all things?

The man on the middle cross

You can borrow the thief's answer. That's the whole point of it, right? He had no church attendance, no clean record, no time left to fix a single thing, and he got in on one sentence. If you've never put your faith in Jesus and Him alone, you don't need to bring anything either — you don't have anything to bring. He died for your sin, He came out of the grave, and He turns nobody away who comes. Say it to Him however it comes out of your mouth. The man on the middle cross said you could come.

Christian, the question the post ends on is your assignment. Where does Jesus sit in your life? Take the very first thing you reach for tomorrow — the phone, the coffee, the truck keys — and put Him ahead of it, out loud, before you touch it. Wake up with Jesus on your mind. Seven days of that and you'll find out fast whether He's preeminent or just present.

Related: What is worship? and what we believe about Jesus.