If you work, chances are you have a boss. It's an occupational hazard of having a job. In almost every job I've had a boss, although in college once I held a paid internship with a non-profit organization and spent most of the month wondering who my supervisor was. In the first few days, it was the best job ever. But it wasn't long before I started getting nervous, wondering what I should be doing, what they were paying me for and if they were going to pay me at all!

When my boss finally introduced himself (on Wednesday of week three) and handed me a paycheck, I discovered that bosses do have some value.

It's a little known fact that the concept of "boss" actually began in the ancient world. The word, "supervisor," for instance, comes from ancient Aramaic. It is made up of two parts. "Super," means "big" or "grande" (or even "venti" for those of you who see the world through the lens of overpriced coffee). "Visor" means "thing that you can pull down to keep the sun out of your eyes." So "supervisor" means, literally, "Big, vacillating thing that keeps you in the dark."

It explains a lot, doesn't it?

Picking on the Boss
Sometimes we struggle with our bosses because we can't get past the fact that they're "the boss." You may have the best boss in the world. But most of us are conditioned to not appreciate our bosses. They generally represent things that employees don't like: authority, structure, rules. Our bosses remind us of our parents who would say things like, "You can't go to Peter's house until you clean your room," or "Stop teasing your sister," or, "No, you may not stuff green beans up your nose."

Rather than throw a tantrum or pout when my boss gives me a time-out, I've developed compassion for him. My attitude change probably came about when I became a boss. It's amazing how sensitive we become to someone else's hardships when they happen to us. My experience taught me that bosses are in a tough spot because they have more responsibility, pressure and headaches than we mere mortals. They are more fearful that any mistake they make will affect a lot more people, money and market share.

So, bosses have two ways of coping with this. They can make their decisions louder and more aggressively, asserting their confidence to prevent any hesitation or sense that they may be fallible. Or (and here's the right answer if you need a little help) they can give the whole job to God and make the decisions and take the actions that He would want.

Helping the Boss
If your boss doesn't live according to the second option of coping, what should you as an employee do? As a Christian, my job is not to undercut the boss. It may be tempting. I may believe I am justified doing it. I may have petitions signed by every employee in the company that my boss should be eliminated in the first round. But that's not my role. My role is to pray for my boss and follow her direction.

Praying for the boss doesn't sound like much fun, but it is more effective than getting everyone to sign the petition. And often prayer works on the pray-er as much as it works on the pray-ee.

Being Under Authority
Then there's the issue of obeying the boss. In the New Testament, both Peter and Paul talk about placing ourselves under the authority of someone in charge. And this is where my childish rebellion is really tested.

It starts with God allowing people to be in charge. If we are serving under the authority of the boss, our job is not to judge whether or not the right person is in the role. Our job is to adhere to that hierarchy, serving those who hired us as if serving Christ directly. While God is our ultimate boss, we bring glory to Him when we serve our earthly bosses with excellence.

Peter makes one of the most "in your face" statements on respecting authority in 1 Peter 2, verses 13-14 (NASB): "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right." And in verses 18-19, " … be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor … "

Paul said something similar in Ephesians 6:5-8 (NIV):

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free."

These don't give us much leeway in ignoring, undercutting or bad-mouthing the boss—no matter how bad he or she is. You are free to leave if the boss asks you to do something illegal or against your faith. But while you're employed there, serve as if serving Christ.

"Sure," you're saying, "you've got a great boss, one who is wise and kind and undoubtedly will someday read this and reflect favorably on your job performance. But my boss is a knucklehead who buzzes his administrative assistant on the intercom to e-mail me, even though I sit right outside his door. How do I deal with that?"

The same way. Paul's counsel admonishes us to treat the boss with respect, fear and sincerity, just as you would obey Christ. Think of it this way. The test is not whether you can obey the knucklehead in the corner office, but how obedient you are to God.

And realize that God is at work in the situation regardless of how bad it feels at the time. Like all difficult things, sometimes God uses conflict with the boss to draw us closer to Him. Sometimes He uses us to witness to those in authority over us. And sometimes we need to serve an icky boss responsibly because others are looking at us to see how Christians act when the going gets tough.

I know it may be hard to pray for, obey and respect your boss. But just try it a little bit. You said you didn't like broccoli, either, but just taking a small bite didn't turn out so bad, now did it? And stop slouching, while you're at it.

Tom Petersen works to balance his job, faith and a sense of humor in his office at a Midwest company. You can track his progress at www.HisWorkInProgress.com.