Why Don’t We Do What He Says?

LENN ZELLER, DIRECTOR OF CONFERENCE CARE

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
Luke 6:46, NIV

At the end of Luke, chapter 6, Jesus was finishing a lengthy teaching about proper attitudes and behavior for disciples in the Kingdom of God. As He drew that teaching to a close, Jesus ended with those iconic words “…Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Those are challenging words, if we take them seriously.

Who is Jesus? As Biblical, evangelical Christ followers, we say that He is the Son of God. We believe that He is the Second Person of the divine, eternal Trinity. Our doctrine teaches us that He is both human and divine, God come to earth, incarnated as a man to be our Savior and Redeemer. Others believe that Jesus is little more than a prophet, not unlike countless others through the ages; that He is a good man and a great teacher, but a man nonetheless, nothing more. But we say we believe that He is Creator, Master, Judge and Lord of all that is.

If we really believe that, Jesus said, then why don’t we do what He says? In previous verses from Luke chapter 6, He talked about loving our enemies. Do we do that? Really? He talked about doing good to those who hate us, blessing those who curse us, praying for those who mistreat us. He talked about turning the other cheek to those who strike us and going the extra mile for those who seek to take from us. Do we do that? Really?

Elsewhere, Jesus said it this way: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love … My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15: 9 and 12, NIV) Do we love others as Christ has loved us? Really? Do we love with grace, passion, humility, and self-sacrifice, without demanding or expecting anything in return, like Jesus did? Are we willing to lay down our rights and privileges, and even our lives, for the sake of others, like Jesus did?
Alexander Strauch, in his book titled, If You Bite and Devour One Another, said, “Jesus taught the unique principles of humility, servanthood, forgiveness, and love, and He promised to send a Helper to enable His disciples to live by His teaching.” He went on to say, however, that “Most of the contentious infighting and unnecessary divisions that plague many churches today result from believers acting according to the flesh and not walking by the Spirit.”¹

I think Mr. Strauch is absolutely correct in his assessment. So many conflicts and divisions in the church could be healed or even avoided if only we believers would simply live what we say we believe— that Jesus is Lord! How much deeper our unity would be if we simply loved one another as Christ, our Messiah, loved us! If He really is Lord, then we must obey Him and love as He has loved. That is no small task, because it runs so counter to our fallen human nature. But with the help of His Spirit within, we can begin to do so, showing forth our new nature in Christ and bringing glory to God in heaven. May God make it so, in us and in our congregations.