On the Lordship of Christ

Among the earliest of Christian confessions is, ‘Jesus is Lord’. One of the many ironies of our day is that the language of conversion which is in the Bible is at times exchanged by preachers and others for language that is not. For example, we sometimes mistakenly urge people to ‘accept’ Jesus Christ. This is a weak, and I must say defective, way of formulating what it means to become a Christian. Our interpersonal parallels make this obvious. We say of Mr So and So, ‘He just wants acceptance. He just wants to be accepted by you’. Mr So and So is cast into the role of victim by the language of acceptance. Poor fellow. He just wants to belong, to be one of the gang. It goes without saying, I trust, that such is inadequate terminology for conversion to Christ. Jesus is not passively seeking acceptance. He is not pleading that we let Him be a part of our lives. He does not have a psychological need for a place at our table. He does not need us at all. Rather He is actively demanding and commending submission.

Quoted from When Grace Comes Alive: Living Through the Lord's Prayer
by Terry Johnson, Pages 108-109