Skip to main content

Slaves and Other Employees


          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 as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. (Ephesians 6:5-8)


           Let’s put aside the “legal” definition of slavery as being purchased and owned by someone. I have jobs in which I’ve been treated as property. There are groups who believe that the government should provide virtually everything to their citizens, and thereby make all decisions for them. Insurance companies decide what medical treatments they will purchase for you, depending on your value to them in continuing income for them. Of course, there are those who still practice the abducting, buying and selling of traditional slaves, but slavery has more than one form. So, let’s put aside the specific, traditional definition for a moment.
          There are people to whom we must answer: the police, the military, various levels of government, employers, teachers, and others in authority. Paul tells us that we are to obey them and treat them with respect, fear, and sincerity of heart. In other words, obey them from our minds, our emotions, and our will.
          The first thing we need to note is that we are to do this in the same way that we would obey Christ, and the trick here is that we learn to obey Christ. But notice, it doesn’t say that they deserve to be treated with that respect, fear, or sincerity of will. It doesn’t say we’re to treat them like they treat us, or that we’re to respect, fear, and obey with sincerity of will when we agree with them.
          Today’s passage returns us to the commentary of a couple days ago, that we are to obey until or unless doing so violates God’s greater laws and principles, and then we are to accept the punishment for not obeying. The reason for this is simple. We are not responsible for what others do to us, but we are responsible for how we respond, and our response is to be like Jesus’ response to those who tortured and crucified them, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more