http://fortune.com/2011/01/18/be-the-boss-not-a-friend/
This article from Fortune magazine a few years ago is all about the pitfalls of trying to be a boss and a friend. I can confirm much of what is said in this article having made that mistake numerous times in my 25+ year career in management. Perhaps these types of interpersonal issues are why we have so much trouble engaging our relationship with God.
Some can engage God as father. Too often this can be based on the world view of fatherhood that their own personal experience has laid on them instead of the biblical view of His role in our lives. This casts a fractured picture of God, one with many personalities. Depending on the experience they have had this engagement is very similar to the boss or co-dependent or manipulative or aloof or even cruel.
Some can engage God as the boss, following the letter of the law. They struggle with a judgmental policy bound God. They tend to order the relationships in their life on this scale. It is a cold place to live, one that is based on performance instead of relationship. It recognizes the sovereignty of the almighty without a biblical view of His love.
Some can engage God as savior. They are constantly looking for rescue. Often as soon as they perceive the rescue has happened they disengage…until they need rescue again.
Some can engage God as friend. In the absence of the fullness of who He is this engagement is shallow. Just as our friends disappoint us when they do not act as we expect, we can become disappointed with God when he doesn’t come through the way that we want.
We need to understand that while God uses human types within Scripture to describe the way that he interacts with his children, he cannot and will not be limited by those types. A recent list of the Hebrew names for God that I read had seventeen! Each one represents an aspect of the way that God interacts with man. Many sitcoms are based on the premise of people trying to interact at multiple levels and struggling or even failing. The father who is the boss. The friend who is the employee. The family member who is the partner in business. God does not have these struggles. He wants and solely has the capability to be it all, Father, Lord, Savior, Best Friend. We lose so much when we get trapped in our own definitions and apply them to our relationship with HIM!
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” Psalm 103:13
“If you then that are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11
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