Who’s the Boss?

We all have someone we listen to; someone we obey out of love and loyalty. It may be our spouse, our parents, or even the ‘boss’ at work. If we’re being honest there is one boss we obey, but it is not out of love. We obey the government out of fear.

Fear does not exist in love. God is love and we obey God because we love Him. If you obey Him because you are afraid of being punished by Him, then He is your boss, not your Father in Heaven. Obeying God is on my mind today after reading our passage from Acts.

In those days, when the Jews saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man that had been healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is manifest to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to any one in this name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for all men praised God for what had happened. For the man on whom the sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

Acts 4.13-22

When the Jews witnesses the crowds glorifying God because of the miracles from Peter and John, they commanded them to stop preaching about Jesus. Their response is on my mind today. “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you must judge.”

The Apostles (and many in the crowd) had seen with their own eyes the resurrected Christ. He appeared to hundreds in the city. There was no doubt that Jesus was alive. Even the Jewish leaders couldn’t deny what everyone was saying. They could only try to instill fear.

There is no fear in love. This is why the Apostles had the courage to continue to preach Christs even after being arrested and warned. The elites were acting like bosses. They loved God and served God. They preached God’s love, not fear.

Some people think fear is a great motivator. Fear acts briefly and without reason to save us from immediate danger. It is why, despite the threat of punishment, citizens break laws. If fear was a great motivator, there would be no need for prisons.

That means we must learn to obey God not because we fear Him, but because we love Him. We must love God more than we love the ‘boss’ that governs us on earth. The only way to love God with ‘that kind’ of love, is to know Him. We know God through Holy Communion.

We know God by spending time with Him in Church. We get to know about God by reading His ‘story’ in the Scriptures. We get to know about God by hearing how He has blessed others. Reading about God will only get our attention. Holy Communion is how we know Him.

We cannot love Him without Communion. He isn’t our boss. He is our loving Father.