Who’s the boss?

A YOUNG friend – let’s call her Ellen – shared with me her deep frustrations about her job.

In the office where she worked, there were two independent companies, and Ellen was partly employed by one and partly by the other. She was involved in two separate teams, unconnected to each other, carrying out diff erent projects and with diff erent managers. Constantly, Ellen found herself faced by impossible demands from both bosses. Neither knew or cared about the work and the needs of the other team, or the time pressures Ellen was expected to juggle. They were only interested in their own work, all of which they saw as urgent and immediate and to be given the highest priority. It was an impossible situation. There were daily clashes over deadlines and unreasonable expectations. Eventually, fearing the constant conflict would damage her health, Ellen walked away. It was the best decision she ever made, and the feeling of release was immediate.

Paul knew that feeling of conflict which arises from the demands of two masters. In Romans 6:15-19 he wrestles with the idea that we cannot at the same time be slaves to sin and slaves to righteousness, and elsewhere he speaks of the internal turmoil he experiences, as he tries to follow Jesus but so often finds his actions are the opposite of what he wants. “I don’t do what I would like to do but instead I do what I hate,” he says. (Romans 7:15) He knows what his priorities should be, but doesn’t always succeed in putting them into practice.

Jesus also knew that dividing our loyalty and our eff orts between two bosses was a recipe for disaster. “No one can be a slave of two masters. He will hate one and love the other, be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24) It’s quite a stark warning that if our top priority is making money, making progress and accumulating wealth, then that becomes our master, displacing God from His rightful place in our lives. The story of the rich young ruler is of someone caught in precisely that trap. (Luke 18:18-23). He wants to follow Jesus, but is too much in thrall to his possessions to take the crucial step of trusting Jesus instead of his money.

“Who’s the boss?” is a good question for many of us to ask ourselves. How we choose to divide up our time, our eff ort and our energies is a good indication of our answer to that question.

Joshua in his old age saw the question very clearly, and put it to his people in black and white terms. [Joshua 24:14-15] “Choose this day whom you will serve,” he said, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

All of us face conflicting demands on our time, our energies and our resources. However, it is worth keeping in view the question of who is ultimately in charge? Whose priorities will we follow when conflicting expectations arise? From a lifetime of experience as a leader in days of upheaval and conflict, Joshua knew the answer. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 

The Rev Richard Baxter is minister at Fort William: Duncansburgh MacIntosh linked with Kilmonivaig