Is Christ the Lord, or is He your Manager?

The LORD is my manager;
I’m equipped with what I need to be successful.
He makes sure I have enough to eat and drink,
And that I’m not too stressed out.
He gives me what I need to get by;
He communicates good advice
so I can keep him satisfied with my progress.

I came across this excellently-written "Semi-Psalm 23," and the ironic realities gripped me. I go through life doing nearly everything on my own. I'm pretty smart, I have decent means to get through life. I give lip-service to what Christ provides for me but little more.

But when the darkness closes in and I feel half-dead,
I’m frightened by all the pain that grips me,
Because you seem so far away from me,
And your distant management of my life leaves me alone and afraid.


I have not known any real hardship. I have tried hard to rest content with what I have, and I really have never been in a place where I didn't know how I was going to eat or whether or not I would be provided for. Yet, somehow I still let the pressures, the stress, the distraction of this life overtake my inner emotions and I let Christ become a fading distance. Sometimes out of guilt or shame, sometimes out of fear, I run into myself instead of to the riches of Christ.

You do let me help myself to the leftovers from your table,
Which I suppose is better than what my enemies get.
You acknowledge my presence at dinner,
And you let me pour a little wine into my cup.
I guess I have an adequate and decent life most of the time,
And I can always stay at the LORD’s house for a few days if I ever feel the need.

Obviously the writer of this poem was making a satire off Psalm 23, where God is our great Shepherd leading us where we need to go even in times of suffering. I think another passage in the Bible can unlock the truth of how Christ relates to us. Instead of the lackadaisical approach to Christ portrayed here, consider the precious words of Colossians:

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

…The riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Our local church is just beginning a study into this wonderful book about Christ and his Lordship over us. I am excited to study again the greatness of who Christ is and what He has accomplished in my life. I pray it is a time of renewal and revived focus on making great the name of Jesus and no longer trying to rely on our own strength.


    If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.