Who Is The Boss Of Me?

As human beings, we share a common desire; that desire is to be in charge of our lives. Consider the lyrics shared by Lesley Gore:

You don't own me, I'm not just one of your many toys; You don't own me, don't say I can't go with other boys

And don't tell me what to do. And don't tell me what to say

And please, when I go out with you, don't put me on display, 'cause

You don't own me, don't try to change me in any way;

You don't own me, don't tie me down 'cause i'd never stay

Oh, I don't tell you what to say; I don't tell you what to do

So just let me be myself; That's all I ask of you

I'm young and I love to be young; I'm free and I love to be free.

Consider also the lyrics shared by Frank Sinatra:

And now the end is near, And so I face the final curtain

My friend I'll say it clear, I'll state my case of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full, I traveled each and every highway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets I've had a few, But then again too few to mention

I did what I had to do, And saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course, Each careful step along the byway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Yes there were times I'm sure you knew, When I bit off more than I could chew

But through it all when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out,

I faced it all, And I stood tall and did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried, I've had my fill, my share of losing

And now as tears subside, I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that, And may I say not in a shy way

Oh no, oh no, not me, I did it my way

For what is a man what has he got, If not himself then he has not

To say the things he truly feels, And not the words of one who kneels

The record shows I took the blows, And did it my way; yes it was my way

Finally, consider the lyrics shared by Bobby Brown:

Everybody's talking all this stuff about me; Why don't they just let me live

I don't need permission; Make my own decisions - That's my prerogative

Now if we compare the lyrics of those three songs to the following three passages of scripture:

1 Corinthians 3:16-17: 16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20: 18 Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18: 14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? 15 What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

…we can derive three observations:

• OBSERVATION 1 - Regardless of age, gender or ethnicity, people like to have control over their own lives

• OBSERVATION 2 - The texts from 1st and 2nd Corinthians suggests that the followers of Jesus Christ are expected to live their lives as the dwelling places of God

• OBSERVATION 3 - Observations 1 and 2 are misaligned, disjointed, incongruent, askew, dissimilar, mismatched, incompatible, discordant, contrasting, unequal and diametrically opposite. What we want does not mirror, echo or emulate what God wants for our lives.

So we ask today, ‘Who is the Boss of Me?’ Am I the captain of my own ship, doing my own thing, being my own person, keeping it real, ‘living large and in charge; a big-time baller and shot caller’, expressing myself and living according to my own rules? Am I the temple of the Holy Spirit, made of sinful flesh but seeking daily to serve my redeemer? Do I define the season of Lent as a 365 day period of allowing the Holy Spirit to form Christ in me? Am I somewhere in between worshiping myself and worshiping God? Who is the Boss of Me?