Is It From the Office Or the Officer?

I took an online test for narcissistic personality disorder at psychcentral.com This test doesn't seem to differentiate between a person and the offices that the person holds. One particular question asks if I deserve respect for myself, but it doesn't differentiate between me as a person and any particular office that I am holding, like husband, father, etc. I hold the offices of husband and father, handed down to me from God through marriage and through fathering a child (children, in my case)(Romans 13:1). Someone could get critical of my parenting and partnership skills, and bring up their concerns in front of my wife and/or children, whoever is on the other side of my relationship. This attacks not simply me, but my office. It could be well-received advice in a private context. But because the other end of the relationship is also present, it questions the office itself. The other person is called upon to question their own way of interacting with the office. Fortunately, I have my faith in God and trust in the Scriptures to differentiate between what is ordained by God and what could simply be a temptation for narcissistic thought.

I think that when the office isn't recognized as being from the Lord, the default is to designate the individual as the designer. With the individual as owner, and with the assumption that the individual is flawed, the office then loses its integrity.

There is still a lesson I think that we as Christians can learn from having an office questioned, even if it is misappropriated to the person instead of the office. The Lord himself does not want us doing things that leaves other Christians, particularly those weaker in faith, to suffer from our actions because they don't understand (Romans 14:13-18). That isn't a loving attitude that looks after our brother and sister. If there is ever a doubt about our actions in office, we can ask ourselves if we are being sensitive to the measures of faith of others.