The Bossman: Step 1 of 3 to Finding Fulfillment in the Workplace

“THE BOSS” …Authority or Adversary?

The first step for the Christian in finding fulfillment at work is getting things straight with the bossman (or boss-lady, that is).  I know this might sound obvious, but I am not talking about buttering up, flattering, brown-nosing or “yes-man”ing every decision.  In fact, what I am talking about has nothing to do with your boss–and everything to to with you!

The first step in the workplace is to recognize that our flesh naturally hates authority.  From the Garden of Eden, mankind has been second-guessing leadership, doubting instruction and taking our own initiative to lead ourselves into worlds of trouble.  We, in Christ, must overcome our natural tendency to resist authority:

“Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.” (1 Pet. 2:16-18)

“For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same.” (Rom. 13:3)

If it were our natural tendency to respect authority, we would not need to be instructed to respect it and follow its instruction.  So, a Christian worker must first realize he will naturally enter the work environment resenting authority instead of respecting it. 

The believing employee must realize that he is more likely to think his boss is hiding in a corner watching and waiting for him to mess up, than to think his boss is standing in his corner watching and hoping for him to succeed.  If you take the time to think about it: why would your boss want you to perform poorly?  Isn’t it in their best interests for you to do well?  When you start to analyze all the reasons your boss would want you to fail and then compare them to all the reasons your boss would want you to succeed, you realize how silly the whole notion is.

The main reason the average worker thinks his boss is out to get him has a lot more to do with his resentment of authority, ego, and belief that he should be running the company than reality.  Start praying through your ability to respect authority.  Then, you will see your boss as an ally not an adversary.