“I’ve got a King Jesus, and He doesn’t need me to protect Him. He needs me to represent Him. Those are two very different things.”

Dr. Larry Osborne says we don’t need to be rottweilers for Jesus; we simply need to follow Him and be obedient in every situation.

“There’s always a little bit of a crisis du jour…”

When we see society turning away from biblical values and towards their own ideals, we can be tempted to despair. What if Christianity falls apart completely? What if all believers leave the church? In our quest for assurance we turn to political leaders to save and inform us instead of turning to God’s Word. Larry reminds us how the overall story ends.

“Jesus said He built His church. And it will keep going.”

Larry also cautions against the ‘opportunity du jour.’

“We can get really excited about these [theories] of ‘if only everybody will see this movie’ or ‘if only everybody will go to this crusade or read this book or join this movement…’ whatever it would be,  that will turn everything around. At the end of the day it has never changed. It’s always one heart at a time that God uses.”

How can we engage the world with love and truth?

“Our goal is to win them over, not wipe them out. And nobody has ever listened to somebody who didn’t like him and didn’t respect him.”

Larry shares a prayer he often prays before speaking with someone who doesn’t know Christ.

“Jesus, help me see what could be with a person rather than what is. See him through the eyes of the Cross and the resurrection and if God’s grace is poured out on them what they can become.”

When we engage with unbelievers in this way, we’ll be targets of harassment from both Christians and non-Christians. Non-Christians will think we’re out of touch or bigoted. Christians will think we’re compromising on our beliefs. Larry has a strong word for the latter group – remember who we serve.

“There have always been people that have tried to take God’s grace and turn it into their work. That’s what the ‘watchdogs and Rottweilers for Jesus’ of today do. They have a baby Jesus who needs them to protect Him. They don’t have a King Jesus.”

Jesus isn’t in the grave anymore; He’s ruling and reigning over every political debate, financial decision, and moral discussion. When we remember His sovereignty, we’re able to live as His ambassadors and seek to be faithful without concerning ourselves with the results.


Dr. Larry Osborne has served as a senior pastor and teaching pastor at North Coast Church—one of the ten most influential churches in the country—since 1980. He is the author of .

Key Scriptures: Proverbs 21:31; Hebrews 11; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Daniel

Featured Songs: Greater is He by Blanca; Good, Good Father by Chris Tomlin; Through All of It by Colton Dixon

Thriving in babylon