And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. (Matthew 23:9 ESV)
Fear Not… and Follow the Boss
One of the worst jobs I ever held down had too many bosses. One man and woman owned the business. Another man was in charge of us physical laborers. Another man set the overall schedule. A woman controlled our daily activities.
That is not unusual, I suppose. But each of these bosses believed they had ultimate authority. Often we went through our day spinning our wheels… listening to one boss until another one contradicted those orders. In the end, we learned to ask the owners what they wanted us to do. Unfortunately, there were still two of them!
Many people claim authority over us. And sometimes those authorities conflict, and make our lives difficult and a little scary.
But Jesus reminds us that we have one Father. He is not denying that we have earthly parents, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, and even grandparents. But over them is one Father.
He is not denying that God has delegated some authority to the State. But over them is one Father.
He is not denying that God has delegated some authority to the Church. But over them is one Father.
He is not denying that God has delegated some authority to fathers. But over them is one Father.
And this seems like good news to us. Who likes authority over us? Human history is the story of rebellion against authority.
But we usually try to put ourselves over all those other authorities. We want to listen to whomever we agree with. Jesus says something different.
God is the ultimate authority. Nothing else.
Fear not, then follow the boss.