Stereotypes continue to play themselves out in your life and mine. Men joke and bluff about being the boss in their relationships while women rarely comment on the subject. Men strive to convince themselves of what is their reality; women absorb the day-to-day pressure of relationships and living and just get on with things.
Rarely in life are bosses fair, at least in our eyes. It is the exceptional boss that we know for what is the inner person. Not all bosses are evil; rather it is difficult to transcend the gulf between working for someone and being all that a friend wants and is required to be. In my journey, I often work at knowing the person behind the mask, striving to know what they can teach me on my journey. The dilemma that arises, in all cases at some point, occurs when I do not show the respect due my “boss”.
Siblings are interesting. Whoever is the older one believes without a doubt that s/he is the boss, and in charge. The birth order grants this role and everyone in the chain knows this, or at least that is what s/he wants to believe. Younger siblings take several tacks; they challenge the role and authority, they take on a stance of passive resistance, and they work to neutralize the role through a higher authority, usually parents.
With God, I play all roles. I take on the god-like role of the older sibling. I try neutralizing God's role in my life. I also work to get an inside track. Anyone who gets in my way, or takes a different course, is open for criticism and attack. I act as if I believe life is like all organizations or institutions, only a few can get to the top. God is absolutely, completely, totally opposite to this framework. God is different.
The fact is that “it's God we are answerable to – all the way from life to death and everything in between – not each other.” (Romans 14.8) Knowing this can change everything, if we chose God.
