| Introduction Our culture chafes against any approval of slavery, even perceived approval. We read a text like this one and see Paul regulating the relationship of master and slave and we think that Paul is implicitly approving slavery. That is enough to push people away from the Bible. "I don't want to have anything to do with a book that condones slavery." Remember! Paul is addressing the household. In the first century, slaves were part of the household. By addressing them as such, Paul is elevating their status and worth to the same as their masters. As we try to get our minds around what this passage is teaching, let me tell you about four ways in which the issue of slavery looked different to a first-century Christian then it would to us today. I. Four Ways the Issue Looked Different to a First-Century Christian. A. Slavery was an integral part of the social and economic world of the fist century. 1. There is some variation in opinion, but scholars generally agree that in a city like Colossae about one third of the population would have been slaves. 2. Slaves would have served in virtually every capacity from salt mine workers to doctors. 3. Slavery was so much a part of the world of that day that, as an institution, it would almost have escaped the notice of early Christians. B. Freedom or liberation was not in the first-century world the obvious good that it is for us in the modern world. 1. For Americans, slavery as a system is always informed by our knowledge of slavery in the antebellum south. 2. In the first century, there were people who became slaves by force through war (and other ways), but many more voluntarily sold themselves into slavery. 3. It was not racially based – all colors of slave (the name for the Slavs who are blond and blued eyed came from the word for slaves). 4. Since they were spread over so many occupations, there was no sense of solidarity. 5. Legal freedom was not always a positive move for a slave because once a freedman, it was very difficult to make a living a. Legal freedom would not have been the obvious good in the first century that we would consider it to be today. b. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, he says that he is going to ask to be like one of his father's hired servants because the free, hired servants were in a worse, humbler position than his father's slaves. C. The NT Christians were a tiny religious group living within an all-powerful, authoritarian empire – they didn't have the power to influence government policy. D. NT Christians realized that they were to live as Christians in whatever situation they were in. E. Having said all that, a continuation of the master-slave relationship, that is, a continuation of slavery as an institution is not compatible with Christianity. F. Therefore, there are several reasons why we can (and should) insist on the abolition of slavery. 1. Scripture is known to regulate undesirable relationships without condoning them as permanent ideals. a. God regulates divorce, polygamy, etc. without condoning them. b. Paul's recommendation for how slaves and masters relate to each other does not assume the goodness of the institution. "The Bible does not approve or command slavery any more than it approves or commands persecution of Christians. When the author of Hebrews commends his readers by saying, 'You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one' (Hebrews 10:34), that does not mean the Bible supports the plundering of Christians' property, or that it commands theft. It only means that if Christians have their property taken through persecution, they should still rejoice because of their heavenly treasure, which cannot be stolen. Similarly, when the Bible tells slaves to be submissive to their masters, it does not mean that the Bible supports or commands slavery, but only that it tells people who are slaves how they should respond." Wayne Grudem in Evangelical Feminism & Biblical Truth 2. The institution of slavery is not grounded in creation but is a distortion resulting from the fall. 3. On several occasions in the New Testament, the seeds for the dissolution of slavery are sown – this is especially seen in Paul's words to Philemon. Phil. 12-16 – I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary. For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose,that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 4. No permanent moral command is used with reference to the institution of slavery in Paul's writings – he is adapting to a temporary and ultimately repugnant social construct. 5. Paul explicitly envisions and endorses the possibility of a slave obtaining freedom. 1 Cor. 7:21 – Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. {TRANSITION: in this passage, Paul is applying to the family the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Lord of every relationship in life and of every function in life. This passage is helpful to us in that it shows us that Christ is also Lord of the workplace!} II. Problems with the Modern View of Work. A. Have you seen the bumper sticker that says, "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go"? 1. If the people that put in on their cars really mean it, then they are saying that their main reason for working is to retire their debts. 2. It is a good thing to do to retire you debts, but is that the only or the main reason that we ought to work? 3. Paul has a different motivation for our work. B. Or perhaps you have heard friends express that they can't wait for the weekend. 1. The weekend is looked upon as something to relieve them from the drudgery of work, which is viewed as a necessary evil. 2. We work so that we can do what we really want to do on the weekends. a. We can't wait for Friday to come so that we can get away from this thing that is only a means to help us do what we really want to do, which is escape into some world of recreation. C. These are not the biblical view of work. III. Paul's View of the Master/Slave Relationship. A. Paul asserts the Lordship of Christ in work relations. 1. He says to masters and slaves, "Christ is Lord over your work and Christ is Lord over your management of those who work for you." 2. This is a radical assertion to those who lived in a society where slaves had very, very, very few rights. B. Notice also that Paul treats slaves as persons. 1. In Greco-Roman law, slaves would have been cattle, possessions, things. 2. They would have had no rights before the courts, but Paul speaks to them as thinking, feeling, living, breathing Christian human beings. 3. He gives them instructions as persons. C. Notice that Paul sets forth a principle of reciprocity. 1. Masters must be concerned about those whom they employ, and those who labor must be concerned about the needs of the masters. 2. Just like he does in family relations, just like he does in church relations, he expects a principle of Christian reciprocity to reign in work relationships. 3. He expects Christians who are employers and employees to take care of one another and to serve well those with whom they work. {TRANSITION: Now we are ready to learn from this passage!} IV. The Christian Should Do All of His Work as If He Were Doing It for the Lord… because he is, 3:23. A. Paul teaches that Christ has freed us to work more effectively. 1. The slaves could have asked, "We are free in Christ, does that mean that we no longer have to obey these horrible rules from our masters?" 2. Paul answers, "No, Christian liberty has freed you to work more effectively. It has not lessened your motive for working. It's freed you to give yourself in your labors and to do it as unto the Lord." B. Christ frees us from man pleasing and from eye service, 3:22-23. 1. The tendency of a person who is underpaid and underappreciated, is to give a minimalist effort for his employer. a. As long as the employer is watching that person may try and look like they are working hard, but when the employer is gone, we reduce ourselves to that minimal effort necessary to get by and to please our master. b. Paul says, "Don't work that way. Work as if you are constantly aware that the eyes of the Lord are on you." 2. We don't have to be ineffective, lazy, and self-centered in our work. C. Christ frees us to fear him in our work, 22. 1. It is to the Lord that we will give an account. 2. By saying that, Paul is affirming that all work done for the Master in heaven has dignity. a. It doesn't matter whether you are a member of a learned profession or not. b. Every lawful vocation can be done for the glory of God. 3. Here we see a great principle that the Reformers and the Puritans caught on to. a. We so often make a dichotomy in our view of work today. 1) There are spiritual things like being a missionary, being a minister, being an elder, teaching a Sunday school class; those are spiritual works. 2) And then there are secular works, and in our eyes these are much lower and less important things: things like being doctors and lawyers and engineers and nurses and homemakers and teachers. b. Paul says, "Because Christ is Lord of your work, no matter what you do, he wants you to manifest his lordship as you do it." "… no race can prosper until it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem." Booker T. Washington c. We live in a day and age where certain professions are honored above others, and yet if you do what you do for the glory of God, it has eternal value in his sight. d. He cares how you labor and he cares about the way you treat those with whom, and for whom you labor. V. The Christian Should Do All His Work from the Heart, 3:22-23. A. Christ frees us to work whole-heartedly for those that employ us. 1. Paul is here speaking about that half-hearted work and service which characterizes so much of our community today. a. Have you ever gone to a service establishment and wondered if perhaps you were bothering the clerks by being there? b. Their hearts do not appear to be in it. c. Paul is saying, "Don't work that way. Work from the soul. Give yourself in your work. Enjoy your work. Throw yourself into this work that the Lord has given to you." 2. He is waging war against half-hearted service, and is that not the tendency of those who are either slaves or again underappreciated or underpaid? 3. This, my young friends, is why it is so important as you choose your profession, to remember that all work is a result of the Lord's calling, not just the ministry, not just the missionary work, but if God calls you to be a window washer, to be the best window washer that you can be. 4. And if God calls you to be a manufacturer of something or a giver of services, or a professional, you should seek the Lord's wisdom and guidance so that you can do whatever you do wholeheartedly. B. Paul is looking for whole-souled service in the workplace, and how we need that in our own day and time. VI. The Christian Should Realize That His Work Will Be Rewarded. A. Paul is speaking to slaves initially here. 1. In the Roman world, slaves were obviously not rewarded with great remuneration for their labors. a. They had food and shelter and other basic forms of care, but they were not paid for their labors. b. And Paul is saying to these slaves, "you will be rewarded." 2. Furthermore, he adds this clause, "you will receive the reward of the inheritance." a. Now that must have been very special to the ears of those slaves, because under Greco-Roman law no slave could inherit. b. So this clause must have shocked everyone hearing the reading of this letter. c. Why are they going to be rewarded? 1) Because they serve the Master with a capital M. 2) They serve the Lord who is in heaven, and he will not fail to give them their inheritance, even if men do. B. Every single one of us, at some time or another, may be put in circumstances where we are robbed in labor of that which is due to us. 1. Perhaps it is because we have been defrauded in a business relationship. 2. Perhaps it is because we work for an employer who does not pay us appropriately. 3. Perhaps we are an employer who has employees who steal from us. C. Paul is saying here, no matter how difficult the situation is in which you work, no matter if you are being robbed of that which is rightfully yours in your labor, you will be rewarded. D. Paul also talks about the other side of the coin, 25. 1. He doesn't say whether he is speaking about masters or slaves there. 2. Paul wanted them to know that employees that defraud their employers of the rightful work that they owe them, the Lord will be watching. 3. And those employers who exploit those who serve them, God will be watching, and he will repay every wrongful activity. E. We see here that God cares about your work, and he wants it to be done under the liberty and the rule of Christ. VII. The Christian Master/Employer Must Treat His Workers with Justice and Fairness, 4:1. A. Paul says to these masters, in a community where they had absolutely no legal obligations or at least minimal obligations for their slaves, "I don't care what obligations the law has for you. Be just and fair with those who are your servants, for you have a Master who is in heaven. Everyone will give an account to him, especially you masters." B. "Though it may seem like the slave has no recourse in law or in social justice in his society," Paul says, "there is one who is watching how you conduct yourself." C. This statement implies that employers are obliged to pay their employees a just wage. 1. Noticed that Paul did not say that employers may pay their employees what the market will bear (what is just and fair). 2. The Bible's ethics of wages rest on this principle: "the laborer is worthy of his hire." Lk. 10:7 – And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. 1 Tim. 5:18 – For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer is worthy of his wages." 3. No doubt what a company pays an employer will, in many ways, be determined by its financial position, by market forces, by the availability of labor and the like. 4. But the Scriptures is well aware that market forces can place an employer in a position of advantage over a worker, making it possible for him to pay his workers less than they ought to be paid in accordance with principles of Christian equity, justice, and love. Dt. 24:14-15 – You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you. Jam. 5:4 – Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. D. In the second place, employers are obliged to consider the general interests of their employees as human beings, valued by God and created in his image. 1. It is not the case that if the wage is adequate, the company has done its duty to its employers. Is. 58:3 – Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen? Whyhave we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?' In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. a. In condemning employers in his day, the prophet says, 'you exploit your workers' or 'drive them on'; that is, you require them to work when they ought not to have to. b. In this case, a fast day; in other cases a Sabbath; or by simply requiring too many hours a day of labor. Job 31:38-40 – If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; if I have eaten its fruit without money, or caused its owners to lose their lives; then let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.
Being a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ affects every area of our lives including our employment. Christ has made us free to serve as employees and employers.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2017/06/serving-master-col-322-41.html
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