Obey God, not men!

Acts 5:27-33

27 Bringing them back (the apostles), they stood them before the High Council. The Chief Priest said, 28"Didn't we give you strict orders not to teach in Jesus' name? And here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are trying your best to blame us for the death of this man." 29 Peter and the apostles answered, "It's necessary to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, the One you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31 God set him on high at his side, Prince and Savior, to give Israel the gift of a changed life and sins forgiven. 32 And we are witnesses to these things. The Holy Spirit, whom God gives to those who obey him, corroborates every detail." 33 When they heard that, they were furious and wanted to kill them on the spot.

Food for thought!

Today, we will centre our reflection the First Reading. The apostles find themselves standing before a High Council of eclesiastics. The Chief priests had strictly ordered them to abstain from teaching in the name of Jesus and they had publicly disregarded that injunction. Why?

They were men of principle

Their ruling principle was that in all circumstances obedience to God must come first. They never asked, "Is this course of action safe?" They asked, "Is this what God wants us to do?" 

What is your ruling principle? What drives you? There is a ruling principle for each one of us. We may not know it, but it is there. There is a guiding force, a controlling assumption, a directing conviction behind everything that happens. It may be unspoken, it may be unknown to many. Most likely it’s never been called by name. But it is there, influencing every aspect of our life.

We do well to know what drives us, because as the Bible says, «Where there is not vision, the people perish». (Proverbs 29,18). So, let us try to discover it. First, when you are taking any decision, of whom or what do you think, God or some people, or what? Some people's decisions are driven by tradition. These people's favourite phrase is «We've always done it this way.» For them, life is about simply perpetuating the past; change is almost seen as negative, and stagnation is seen as stability.

Are we driven by money? As you know, we need money for many things. But we can't do everything for money nor with money; we don't make money drive our decisions. The bottom line is not how much money did we make, but how much did we make with our money. The profit is not the money; it is what we do with the money.

The bid to discover what drives you begins with the question, Why do I exist? What is the purpose of my life? Or, in the case of a company or organization, Why does my company or organization exist? Until you answer that question, until you know why you exist, or why your company or organization does exist, you will continue to drift along. A clear purpose not only defines what we do, it defines what we do not do. We have to avoid being a man of all trade. Do you remember that expression, «Jack of all trades, master of none»? It is a figure of speech used in reference to a person that is competent with many skills but is not necessarily outstanding in any.

What Peter says in the First Reading of today is that we can't please everybody; we can't please always God and man, and that should there ever be a conflict, then the choice is very clear, «It's necessary to obey God rather than men». If our driving principle is not this or close to it, then it is high time we changed. But can we? Many times I see myself in a dilemma, I know what God wants of me, I know what the Bible says, and I know what people are saying or will say. And sometimes these people are influential (my friends, fellow Christians, my religious superiors ...). Yes, many times I am / we are like Peter and John standing before the High Council of influential people, yelling at me / us: "Didn't we give you strict orders not to..." What I am not and what we are not always is being as courageous as Peter was that day, and dare to state categorically: "It's necessary to obey God rather than men." 

Do you have a personal purpose statement? It is not only companies that should have Purpose Statement; everybody ought to have one. Without a purpose statement it is easy to be frustrated by all the distractions around us. Without a personal clear purpose you perish.

Clear purpose allows you to concentrate and not scatter your effort. St. Paul knew this. He said, «I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing, forgetting what is behind and looking forward to what lies ahead.» (Philippians 3,13).

Remember this: The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing!