Who Gets the Throne of Your Heart?

We live in a climate of constant division. Every news story, every algorithm, every conversation seems designed with one purpose: to divide us. Our culture keeps asking the same question over and over: Which side are you on?

But what if that's the wrong question entirely?

The real question isn't about choosing sides in cultural debates or political battles. The deeper issue is about identity, loyalty, and authority. It's about who gets the loudest voice in our lives. Who are we listening to more than anyone else? Who is influencing our thoughts, our actions, and how we respond to the world around us?

The Kingdom Not of This World

When Jesus stood before Pilate, the Roman governor asked Him directly about His kingship. Jesus responded with words that cut through every earthly power structure: "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36).

Jesus wasn't playing politics. He wasn't trying to fit into existing systems or align with current values. He was establishing something entirely different: a kingdom that operates by completely different rules.

This is radical because kings don't typically share their throne. Either Jesus rules, or something else does. There's no middle ground.

The Danger of a Domesticated Jesus

One of the greatest challenges facing Christians today is the temptation to domesticate Jesus: to recruit Him to fit our ideas and agendas rather than submitting to His. We love to reference Jesus when He supports our feelings and what we think about things, but we ignore Him when He challenges us on other matters.

We've spent our energy trading truth for tolerance, perhaps without even realizing it. We've started to filter truth through how it makes us feel rather than what has been said in Scripture. And this has devastating consequences.

The more we study the actual words of Jesus in Scripture, the more unfamiliar they sound to modern Christianity. Consider the Sermon on the Mount: Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Turn the other cheek. Go the extra mile.

If we're honest, we're not doing very well with those instructions. In fact, we often do the direct opposite of what Jesus teaches, then wonder why everything is in such disarray.

Three Critical Reminders

1. We Cannot Expect Jesus to Conform to Our Culture

Why? Because Jesus came to transform it. We live in a day where theology has been watered down to make everyone feel good and comfortable. We love verses about Jesus loving everyone, and He does. He is love. But He's also holy. He's a holy God.

There's nothing comfortable about Christianity when we're honest, because there's nothing comfortable about Jesus. The more we see darkness growing and the chaos in our world, the more we should be excited that this world is not our home. We are citizens of another country, and Jesus is our King.

When we place our faith and trust in Jesus, we receive a new identity. We are a people for His own possession (1 Peter 2:9). We've been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). Identity isn't something we curate or decide on the fly—it's something we receive.

Paul declares in Galatians 2:20, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." When we give our allegiance and surrender to His lordship, we no longer get to call the shots. We don't get to decide what's right and wrong. We surrender to follow Jesus, and He tells us what's right and wrong.

2. Jesus Is Not a Mascot for Any Political Party

Jesus is not an elephant. Jesus is not a donkey. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
One of the most subtle dangers for believers today is not just ignoring Jesus, but recruiting Jesus to fit our opinions and agendas. When we do this, Jesus stops being Lord and becomes a prop.

We need to ask ourselves a difficult question: Are your convictions challenging Christ, or are they supporting yourself?

Not all of our convictions have been shaped by Christ. Some, if we're honest, are preferences that haven't been challenged before. Many of our personal convictions have been shaped by how we were raised, what we've always heard, or what makes us comfortable.

Biblical convictions are important. If there's ever a time for the Church to stand on biblical convictions, it's now. We must stand for what is right in God's eyes. But we must be careful not to elevate our personal preferences to the same weight and authority as what God has said.

Here's a test: Do your convictions challenge Christ, or do they support yourself? Are they rooted in Scripture, or are they rooted in your own comfort and cultural conditioning?

3. What Feels Right Isn't Always Right

The idea that "if it feels right, it must be right" is perhaps the most dangerous lie in modern culture because it shifts authority from God to human emotion.

Feelings are real, but they're terrible leaders. When feelings become our guide, truth becomes relative to us.

Jeremiah 17:9 warns us: "The heart is deceitful above all things." Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

That's why we cannot trust our feelings alone. We must learn what it means to walk by faith. And the Bible says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of the Lord.

Following Christ often feels wrong before it feels right. Obedience feels uncomfortable. Surrender feels scary. Conviction feels hard. But they all lead to life.

Paul instructs us in Romans 12:2: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

The Word of God is meant to shape our minds and our feelings. If we don't allow the Word of God to lead us and shape our convictions, our feelings will always take over, and our feelings will lead us astray every time.

The Question That Matters Most

So, here's the question we must ask ourselves, perhaps daily: Is Jesus governing your life, or are your feelings, opinions, and convictions governing Jesus?

When those things are out of alignment, it's time to reconsider some things. It's time for a realignment.

Think of it like a car. If you drive over potholes repeatedly and never get an alignment, your car goes out of alignment. You think you're going straight, but you're actually veering left or right. Eventually, that causes serious problems.

The same thing happens in our lives. We think we're okay in our own opinions and minds. We've allowed ourselves to be led by our feelings. But because we're not being led by the Word of the Lord, we think we're going the right direction when in reality, we're going off course.

Many of us have some things out of alignment. We need to get realigned, making sure Jesus is Lord and King of our hearts.

The Throne of Your Heart

Jesus doesn't want a place in your life. He wants the throne.

If He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.

Who has the throne of your heart right now? Not who should have it or who used to have it, who has it right now?

This isn't about judging anyone. It's about being honest with ourselves and honest with the Lord. It's not about perfection; it's about surrender.

Are some things out of alignment, or is the Lord over every single area of your life?

Perhaps you've given other voices too much weight: media voices, cultural voices, political voices, even well-meaning voices of friends and family. Those voices have become louder than God's voice in your life.

When we surrender those things and make Jesus Lord of every detail, that's when we can truly be used powerfully by God.

We will never walk in what God has prepared for us if we're not willing to follow Him. If He's not Lord over every area of our lives, we'll miss the abundant life He promises.

The invitation stands open today: Will you let Jesus have the throne?

All for Him,

Pastor Dustin