When I was a little boy, I loved to play games like hide-n-seek, tag, and "you're it" — games that involved lots of other kids and a lot of fun! Nearly all of these kinds of games allowed you to declare "King's X." "King's X" was a special thing you could yell and keep from losing. But, you could only use it once per game and had to shout it out BEFORE you were discovered or tagged, otherwise it didn't count.

Over the years, I've noticed that most of us have an area of our lives where we've declared "King's X" with Jesus. We want Him Lord over our lives, but there are still a few places we refuse to yield to His lordship. This may be a secret sin — secretive Internet sites — or something we rationalize away as harmless — like "little white lies" and gossip. However, deep in our hearts, we know these areas don't reflect the character of Jesus. Rather than trying to address these pockets of sin in our character, we declare "Kings X."

Even more startling, however, is that many of us do this with our daily relationships at work and in our families. So many of those "one another" values we are supposed to live with each other in our spiritual relationships are ignored at work or at home. We declare "King's X" over the most crucial parts of our lives.

Scripture directly challenges this sinful behavior. Toward the end of several of Paul's letters in the New Testament, he directly teaches how we are to live in our families and work relationships (Colossians 3:17-4:1). At first glance, Paul is giving advice for living in an ancient household — how to live as husband and wife, parents and children, and slaves and masters. Yet what often goes unnoticed is that what he teaches is repeatedly tied to the example and lordship of Christ. He uses the word "lord" 10 times in 9 verses! (The word "master" is the word "lord" or "kurios" in the Greek.) The focus of this teaching is much more than the "how to of relationships": it is a reminder that Christ must be Lord in every area of our lives. There is no place we can declare a "King's X" from the reign of Jesus in our lives as our Lord!

Understanding this helps us understand why leaders in the Lord's spiritual family have to first prove themselves in spiritually leading their families (1 Timothy 3:4-5;  1 Timothy 3:12;  Titus 1:6-7). The lordship of Christ must show up in the daily relationship of God's leaders, or they should not be placed in the position of leadership. As Paul puts it so clearly, "If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?" (1 Timothy 3:5).

This principle may also be why Luke included the following comment about Jesus — emphasis added:

Then he [Jesus] went down to Nazareth with them [Joseph and Mary] and was OBEDIENT to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And as Jesus grew up, he increased in wisdom and in favor WITH GOD and PEOPLE (Luke 2:51-52).

Jesus obeyed His parents. Jesus earned the respect others. Jesus honored God with His life. Jesus didn't have a place where He declared "King's X" in His obedient submission to God.

Years ago, I went to visit my wife's grandparents in Tennessee. One night as we sat at the table enjoying a great meal, I saw a little saying on a plate hanging on the wall. It read:

Christ is the Head of this house;
the Unseen Guest at every meal;
the Silent Listener to every conversation!

In other words, Jesus is Lord of all of the relationships in this house. And that is what Paul is saying: Christ is either Lord of all in our lives, or He is not Lord at all!

Let's get real about this!
Let's get real about the places we've declared "King's X" to His Lordship and surrender them. Let's invite Him in to be Lord of every relationship, meal, and conversation. When this happens, there will be no doubt that Christ is Lord in our house!

Where have you declared "King's X" with Jesus?

Have you been honest with yourself about that?

What do you need to do to yield to the Lordship of Christ in your life?

I'd love to get your comments, insights, and honest input on my blog:

http://www.heartlight.org/thephilfiles/2008/11/30/608