Prophets and Countries, Taken Captive for Christ

It's hard to find someone who just doesn't like Jesus, someone who easily ignores him thinking he is unimportant and irrelevant to the greater human race. I find people in my local church who like Jesus, people in my apartment complex who don't go to church, people who follow Muhammad or Abraham; they all like Jesus. Jesus is alright; Jesus is my friend; Jesus is a prophet; and Jesus is my savior. But, is Jesus Lord?

I even run into a lot of people at my chiropractor's office, in restaurants, and in nice neighborhoods, people who claim that Jesus is both their Lord and their savior. One says, "I follow the prophet Muhammad and I believe in Jesus." Another says, "I am a patriotic American and I believe in God's Kingdom." Another says, "I am a shopper and I believe in God's economy." I'm one of these people who lives with tension between lords and kingdoms. I make this claim of Christ's supreme lordship verbally and I even think about it on the way as I follow my intentions and inclinations and initiatives to various occupations, vocations, and hobbies.

I am among people everyday who claim Jesus as Lord, but who of us lives in such a way that it is clear that Jesus has a claim on us and everything we think about, feel, and touch? Which of us is obedient to His lordship? How can I tell if I am truly submitting to Jesus' lordship?

I heard a young man, Patrick, talk about how running consumed his life. His thoughts, his feelings, and his feet always carried him, in every "free" moment, to running on the trails. He ate, slept, breathed, and dreamed the Western States Ultra-Marathon. He made the 16% cut for the 2008 race--what an accomplishment--but when fires required the race to be cancelled, he came face to face with Jesus. He had invested all his passion in a burned up trail. He wondered whether his trail passion had rivaled God's passionate desire for His creation. As an amateur philosopher of religions, I often ask, what is God's will for every trail? or Do all trails lead to Christ? But, presently I'm distracted by the personal question, What is God's will for every lone trail runner?

When you are passionate about something, are you necessarily denying Jesus' ultimate lordship as Christ? Are you forfeiting one race because you're too involved in another?

It seems like there are two good responses to coming face to face with Jesus no matter which trail you find yourself on.

Using the metaphor of ultra-marathon running, one good response is: There's nothing wrong with running; it's one of life's healthiest pleasures. I will run with the attitude of Christ to God's glory. I will take every public or media opportunity to say something for God, especially, "I couldn't do this without Christ in my life" and "I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ".

Another good response is: There's nothing wrong with running; it's one of life's healthiest pleasures. But I will translate all my passion that burns so naturally for running into a passion for knowing Christ and spreading the knowledge of Him. I will run, but only as it improves my knowledge of Christ and aids in spreading the knowledge of Him.

It seems to me both these responses are good. Of course, I don't think all choices are so clearly contrasted or so easily separated, but these responses, I think, represent two ways of opportunity in which I might be taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10)

That's my problem: taking every thought, feeling, and thing captive and making it obedient to Christ.

If I am a Muslim, taking my passionate belief in Muhammad captive for Christ and letting the Christ reveal Allah to me.

If I am an American Christian, making my passionate zeal for my country obedient to Christ and raising his Kingdom above my own.

Is this how you make Jesus Lord? But, I don't know that lowering other false gods like Muhammad or America is enough, though. I just don't know. But how would you know anyway whether you really are pressing your competitive thoughts, feelings, and practices adequately lower than THE prophet or THE nation (I mean Jesus of Nazareth and the Kingdom of God)?

If we take everything captive and make it obedient to Christ, just how captive and obedient must we make it in order for our running to match our claim "Jesus is both Lord and Savior"? How do we decide whether to reject our trail completely or just to see it in a different light?