“So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed…” Acts 17:33-34a

Too Many Bosses

Part 1

I go to my job every day and answer mainly to one person, my boss. It occurred to me how difficult it would be to have many different bosses, each with his or her own agenda, ideas, goals, standards, and workload. I would never know if I was finished with my work, or if I was meeting standards, or helping someone reach their goals, or even if I would have what it takes to get through a day, for at any given time I could be loaded down with work from everyone at once. I would need to be loyal to everyone, even if I disagreed with their methods or standards.

When Paul preached on Mars’ Hill in Athens (Acts 17), he did not get the response he had gotten in other places. He did not see many salvations and there were no baptisms, no new church was established in that place, and no letter was written to encourage the believers (as far as we know). Instead, he “departed from among them” and only a few believed, even though the teaching was anointed.

Was the Spirit not with Paul? Did he not really hear from God about going to Athens and thus his work was not blessed? Why didn’t his preaching bring fruit as at other times?

The Greeks of Athens had MANY gods. They had many temples, statues and monuments, and even constructed an altar to “the unknown god” in case they’d accidentally left off a god who would thus be angered by being overlooked. I believe at least one reason Paul’s preaching did not bring results is that the people already had so many gods that one more made no impact on them. They were god-saturated. 

If you only have one God, as when you only have one boss, then you need only worship One and serve One. Jesus said in Matthew 4:10, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” With many gods comes distraction, divided loyalty, and diversion from purpose.

In a job with many bosses, you never know who you are supposed to serve the most. With only one boss, we know who to please, and we learn how to best do that. Since our God is the Lord, it’s a no-brainer: “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24).

This does not preclude serving man, of course. If we have jobs, we are to “obey in all things… (not) as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God” (Colossians 3:22). But even on the job, it is God we serve.

Tomorrow we will look at why our “boss” is easy to serve.

“Father, thank You for calling us in service to You alone. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”