Jesus as Savior vs. Lord
Somehow tonight, I ended up on a website watching Kathy Ireland, the drop-dead gorgeous model share her faith story. Something she said struck me. “I can’t remember when I didn’t believe in Jesus, but I didn’t know Him. And I didn’t know that I didn’t know Him.”
That was new. It was true of me for 20 years. I didn’t know that I didn’t know Him.
Growing up in the south in the 1950’s, everyone was Christian, right? We all went to church, got sprinkled or dunked. Had church weddings.
But ‘walking with God’, ‘knowing Jesus personally’, ‘having Christ living in and through me’…these were just church words nobody my age understood. And older people couldn’t explain them either. They’d always refer you to the preacher who used church words to explain church words. It was over my head.
Jesus as “Savior”…I’m down with that. That was a ‘no brainer’. It pleased my parents when I ‘prayed the prayer’ and was baptized. I wasn’t lying…I believed John 3:16. And why wouldn’t I? Believe in Jesus and avoid going to hell? That’s a great deal. If it’s true, I go to heaven when I die. If it’s not true in the end, what the hey…it cost me nothing.
But knowing Jesus personally? Putting Him in charge of my life? Making Him “Lord”?
That’s a different deal.
I’ve had guys look at me like I’m nuts as I try to explain what all this means. Like Kathy Ireland, they believe, but they ‘don’t know they don’t know Him.’ And they don’t know what ‘making Him Lord’ looks like either.
Here – I’ve tried to paint a word picture of life when Jesus is “Lord”. Here goes:
1. You know He’s right there with you, so you talk to Him constantly, mostly thanking Him for loving you, for saving you, for adopting you into His family.
2. You ask Him for help and guidance constantly. “Lord, what are you teaching me here?” “Speak Lord, your servant is listening?” “Jesus, what would you have me do?” It’s pray-listen-act. Not every time, but when you forget and leave Him out, you wish you hadn’t. Because you realize you’ve gone out on your own. And you might have missed something special He had for you.
3. You see His blessings in your life, most often in your wife & kids, but in all kinds of other things too. From deals that happen to good parking places…and you thank Him for those blessings constantly.
4. You experience life in “three’s” not “two’s”…..it’s not you and this traffic jam….it’s you, God, and this traffic jam. You’re asking “Lord, thanks for protecting me. I know you slowed me down here. What are you teaching me? Is there something you want to say to me?” And very often He does.
5. You have an unshakable peace inside that says everything is going to be alright, no matter what the circumstances.
6. When you see beauty in nature, you immediately think of Him and give Him credit for the awe of what you’re experiencing.
7. You can sense the presence of evil. When you’re somewhere you shouldn’t be, or being confronted by something or someone who is leading you away from God, you feel a twinge in your spirit.
8. When you haven’t had a focused time of prayer in a while, you begin to miss the time and being with Him.
9. You carry songs of praise in your head and they become your “default” thought. You find yourself singing them silently in your head. Uttered or not, they’re quiet, subconscious praises for God.
10. You have a whole different connection to the Bible. You read it and it makes sense to you. Things you read come back to your mind at the weirdest times. And if you skip reading your Bible for a while, you always come back. You miss it. You won’t do without God’s Word for long.
11. God is “magnetic north” in your life. You’re drawn to things of God, to ministry, to church, to the Bible, to prayer, to being with other Christians, and to somehow making a difference for His Kingdom.
12. You have a soft heart for the poor and the hurting. Your heart breaks for the ‘least of these’, whether you act on it or not. When Jesus is Lord, your heart breaks for what His heart breaks for.
As you’ve read these words, maybe you’ve realized you might have a distance to travel from ‘Jesus your Savior’ to ‘Jesus your Lord’. Call the person you know best who’s got this kind of relationship with God. Tell him/her you want it too and ask for their help.
Question: Is Jesus your ‘Savior’? Or is He ‘Lord’? If you’d like to comment, you can do so here.
Breathe New Life Into Your Discipleship
Small group mentoring can help you engage your people, build your core group of leaders, and transform your church. Our free resources equip you with all the tools you need to launch a sustainable mentoring program.
Responses (12)
Regi — I regularly read and benefit from all your posts — but this one was especially good and really “hit the target” — my heart. Just like Andy Stanley sermons — it is if he is always talking directly to me. I just got too “comfortable” knowing that I was saved — but did KNOW what that really meant until late in my life. Now — EVERY day — I KNOW that Jesus is my Lord and savior.
Brother in Christ.
Thanks Gary. What a friend we have!
Thanks Gary. Aren’t we blessed to have men like Louie, Andy and Dr. Harrington to speak into our lives?
That’s a great distinction Regi. The church has made it so easy to “come to Jesus” that we forget there’s more than just a prayer. It’s a commitment to live a life devoted to him. To relinquish our lives to his lordship.
Sometimes I think a church can vaccinate people against a real relationship with Jesus by making Christianity something you do or go to instead of a relationship….an “it” vs. a “Him”.
Regi
This is such a beautiful post . Growing up my family attended a wonderful church and our pastor was a great. Every week he stood in the pulpit significantly removed from the congregation. He wore a black robe with various I’m not sure what you call them – but scarf like pieces over the robe. (He was a great man, loved the Lord and a great teacher – I am in no way criticizing him)
Over the years I came to belief that he had the relationship with God, and that he was the one delivering God’s message to us…much like Moses. I missed the relational side and candidly I can’t remember if it was part of the message.
It’s wasn’t until I started attending and joined the church where Dr Frank Harrington was the lead pastor – Peachtree Presbyterian, that the relational side become real to me. And interestingly enough Dr. Harrington wore a robe. And he was a great teacher and blessing – he always encouraged us to engage. It was like he was telling us about his dear friend that wanted to be our friend as well – that we were missing out on a lot of goodness by engaging this friend. And that this friend would ALWAYS have our best interests at heart and ALWAYS be there even on the days we weren’t such a great friend. (that’s powerful if you drink it in. All of a sudden even the congregational responses became real to me. These were not just responses. Every week Dr Harrington left us with a blessing – the same blessing but it was real and felt real. That blessing still means something in the hearts of many of us. During my time at Peachtree I found 7:22 and Louie Giglio spoke passionately and encouraged us to engage in our own relationships as was Dr Harrington – a powerful 1,2 punch if you will. One of the things Louie said many years ago that I carry with me and always share: “God is the God of now – not just the God of then” And while they are beautiful words – the God of now implies current and relationship – while you can relate to the past – it’s hard to engage in an active relationship. I love your post because it’s a great message, for me it will be a great tool as I will be forwarding it to several folks – thanking them for their heart and witness and others encouraging them to engage. – I apologize for the length of this comment – it was hard to edit. Thank you again!
Great post Regi! I will refer to this often as a reminder of many important things!
Thanks Britt
Regi,
One of the best post to explain Jesus as Lord. It is based on our action and thinking. Not a theological discussion.
Thanks Doug. As you said, He waits for us to act….to move into relationship with Him. And boy is He responsive when we do!
If we accepted Jesus as Savior (maybe years earlier and got baptized too), but not Lord, does scripture plainly say that we were really saved at that time? Maybe we weren’t saved even though we though we were?
Then (maybe years later) when we finally realize we need to also accept Jesus as Lord, must we accept Him as Lord and Savior at that time (so we are really saved), OR just as Lord, to be really saved (since we accepted him years earlier as Savior?
So after finally accepting Jesus as Lord, does that mean we should get baptized a second time?
I think I forgot to click on notify me via email for my post.
So I figure I’d click on it here.
Thanks,
Bob