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.”