Employee vs. Heir
If Scripture tells us that as Believers in Christ we are grafted into the family of God and are co-heirs with Christ, then why do we still relate to God as we would to an Employer instead of to a Good, Heavenly Father?
I realize not everyone has a wonderful family experience. Some have painful, complicated relationships with their earthly fathers. Moreover, many people love their jobs and feel as if their co-workers are like “family.” Generally speaking, though, we tend to place family and jobs into two separate categories.
Job/Career:
For the most part, we must meet certain qualifications to obtain a job (even if those qualifications are merely that we are over 18 and breathing.) To keep that job, we must perform and continue to perform up to the standards of our employer. Employees are evaluated—typically once a year formally and daily informally. If we quit or are fired, then we are no longer an employee. Our direct relationship to that company is severed. Our status is changed. We might be hired back at a later time, but that is never a guarantee. Often, we are in competition with our fellow co-workers for a position, advancement, or raise. Such that, an underlying current of scarcity or wariness of fellow employees and supervisors may exist. At a minimum, our security within the company depends upon our performance, the company’s performance, and maintaining certain standards or competencies. Even students are graded and expected to perform. Their “job” and status as students is dependent upon where they live and, at times, whether they can afford the school they are attending.
Family:
In contrast, we are typically born or adopted into a family. Our status in the family is based upon blood/DNA or another person’s love and commitment such as in adoption. Love and loyalty exists among the family even when it is marred or blurred by times of personal selfishness. I have heard it said in times of loss and conflict, “but we’re family,” as a way to communicate that the bond of family exists beyond other lesser bonds. People attempt to “quit” family by divorce, disowning, or abandonment; but we can never untangle ourselves completely from our family and the emotions associated with them.
Ideally, being part of a family means that you are loved despite your shortcomings or how well you perform on any given day. You share in the wealth and benefits of your family as well as the hurt and consequences merely by being a part of that family. Often, we do not choose our family and yet we are bound to them in inexplicable ways. We must figure out how to get along with each other.
Relating to an Employer vs. Relating to a Father
Given our status and security within our jobs versus our families, how do you relate to your boss versus how you relate to your parent?
Do you feel less open and secure with your supervisor? When our performance is being constantly evaluated, it is difficult to trust our boss or let our guard down completely. The possibility of being let go is always lurking.
Do you experience a greater security in your relationship with your parents? This does not mean we are always in agreement with everyone in our family, but we do tend to think about families in terms of people who always have our backs. These are people with which we can be our authentic selves and who will ultimately love us even when we are not acting very lovely. We often want to please our parents because we love them, not because it is necessary in order to stay within the family.
God’s Family:
If we accurately understand our relationship with God as one of child to a perfect, loving, good father; then we ought to relate to Him as we would a good, loving earthly parent. We can replace an achievement-based lifestyle of constantly trying to perform at our highest level in order to be accepted with entering into a fellowship with our Heavenly Father based upon His love and Christ’s sacrifice. This act of fellowship then radiates out to how we live our lives with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Even when we disagree, we are still family. Even when we are hurt, we are still family. Even when we mess up or “perform” below our potential, we are still family.
Not only are we “family,” but our Heavenly Father calls us heirs. We inherit God’s spiritual abundance and take on His protection and Name. When a person inherits from her earthly parents, she typically receives money or possessions upon her parents’ death that she did not create or earn, may not deserve, and may possibly squander. An inheritance is ultimately given to the one who inherits simply because she was related to the person who died and at the bequest or generosity of the one who died.
Likewise, our Heavenly Father calls us heirs, not enemies or even servants or employees. Heirs. Heirs that inherit eternal life, enjoying communion with Him. Heirs that inherit hope. Heirs that inherit based upon God’s grace and Christ’s sacrifice, death on a cross, and resurrection. Heirs that are secure and loved because of God’s grace and mercy, not because of how well they performed before or after they became an heir. We are heirs with brothers and sisters, people with whom we sometimes must learn how to get along. Heirs that actively seek to please their Heavenly Father simply because they love Him and trust that their Good Father knows what is best.
When we understand our relationship status as an heir, then we are able to live out God’s calling and extend His love in ways otherwise unimaginable. We can live our lives in ways that take self-focus out of the equation because our focus is on our Heavenly Father. We rest secure in the knowledge that He loves us and will not abandon us. We pray and speak to Him as one who will provide, protect, listen, and share His spiritual blessings with us. We need not waste our time trying to perform, achieve, and build our own empires because His Kingdom is open to us. We can simply get on with the business of loving Him, following His Word, and bringing His Kingdom wherever we go.
So, I ask, do you relate to God as an employee or as an heir? If not as an heir, then is that because you have not become one through adoption into His family by placing your faith in His Son? Or is it because you have not embraced your status as an heir? I encourage you to explore God’s Word and let His Truth permit you to live a life of one who has inherited God’s Kingdom and all the spiritual blessings and riches it entails, foremost access to the Father Himself.
