Lord Is Not a Nickname
Luke 6:46 - Why do you call me “Lord, Lord,” and not do what I tell you?
On a ship, “captain” isn’t intended to be a friendly nickname. The title carries authority. A sailor can’t salute the captain, compliment the captain’s wisdom, and then steer in the opposite direction whenever the orders become inconvenient. Such a contradiction eventually endangers everyone aboard.
Jesus names the same contradiction in a single question: Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? The repeated title sounds sincere. These aren’t people who refuse religious language. They know what to call Jesus. The problem is that the confession stops at their lips. They want the comfort of belonging to a Lord without surrendering the wheel. We can do the same with impressive fluency. We sing songs about surrender, underline commands in our Bibles, and say, “God is in control.” Then Jesus tells us to forgive the person whose name still tightens our chest. He tells us to tell the truth when a lie protects our reputation. He tells us to flee the private habit we’ve carefully sectioned off in our soul. Suddenly, “Lord”begins to feel less like worship and more like interference.
But obedience reveals where authority actually rests. That does not mean Christians obey perfectly or earn salvation through performance. Remember, Peter called Jesus Lord and still failed miserably. The disciples misunderstood, resisted, and ran away. Grace has always been for imperfect followers. But grace doesn’t make Christ’s commands optional. It brings rebels back beneath the good authority we were made to trust. There’s also an important limit here: no human authority is absolute. A pastor, parent, employer, government, or spouse who commands what Christ forbids has exceeded their God-given boundary. Calling Jesus Lord may require saying no to a lesser authority. His lordship protects the conscience from both lawlessness and human tyranny.
Jesus never asks us to walk a road He refused to walk. In Gethsemane, facing a cup of suffering we can’t measure, He prayed, “Not my will, but yours.” His obedience carried Him through arrest, humiliation, and crucifixion. He obeyed the Father to the point of death for people whose favorite word had been no. Then He rose and gave us His Spirit! Which means, Christian obedience isn’t a frightened crew trying to avoid an angry captain, but the response of rescued people who know the Captain went down into death and came back to bring them safely home. We don’t obey to persuade Jesus to become our Lord. We obey because He is Lord, and because His grace is teaching our resistant hearts to trust His voice.
You may already know the command you’ve been postponing. The issue may not be confusion, but that obedience will cost more than simple admiration. Bring that resistance into the light. The One giving the order is the One who gave His life for you and whose empowers your very obedience!
Head: Jesus’ commands carry rightful authority, and His grace makes sincere obedience possible even when I have failed.
Heart: Where am I offering Jesus affectionate words while quietly reserving the right to ignore Him?
Hands: Complete the sentence, “Jesus has already made it clear that I should _____.” Put the first act of obedience on today's calendar before you explain it away again.
Prayer: “Jesus, thank You for being my Savior and my Lord. Forgive me for praising You while steering around Your commands. Thank You for obeying unto death in order to save disobedient people like me. Fill me with Your Spirit and make my next acts of obedience a glad response to Your grace. Amen.”
-PK