Every Knee Will Bow

           For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-10)

I’ve listened to people who believe they have been reincarnated, and so often, it’s about the idea that they were some member of the nobility or royalty somewhere. I think I’ve only heard one person say she was a soldier. I’ve listened to people who believe that everything should be equaled out – that the rich should be required to give to the poor. Curiously, I don’t notice them volunteering 50 or 75 percent of their income to make the poor more equal to them. In their own minds, they are either the standard, or below the standard they think everyone should be at, so the worst that would happen to them is “status quo.”

Sometimes, this passage seems to bring out the same sort of elitism. “Yes, every knee will bow! Do you hear that, you rotten sinner? You’re gonna bow, and I’m gonna enjoy watching it.” That’s a lot more fun than thinking that we’re going to be bowing right next to that rotten sinner, too busy acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord to have the time to enjoy what your neighbor is doing.

My thought for today is actually quite brief. If every knee is going to bow and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, we should probably be practicing it now. I don’t refer to getting down on one or both knees physically so much as having an attitude of submission, surrender, and supplication – all those S words that make people hiss.

This morning, this passage brings to mind an incident from more than twenty years ago. The pastor of my church came bowling with a group of us. I was the designated computer geek (poor fools!) and entered everyone’s name in the system. I don’t remember who else was there, but I listed him as “Pastor” because that is the way the title worked in my mind. It wasn’t his role, it was his name. Similarly, I once had a boss whose name was Charliebarber. I might stretch it to Charlesbarber, but he wasn’t Charlie or Charles without the Barber added on as the last two syllables. I suspect that too often, I use Lord as Jesus’ name, not His title, and not His role.  What will happen when I face the reality, if I don’t start being more conscious of it now?