The Way of Christ in Hard Social Relations
Slaves Directly Addressed – Image, Brother
Slaves formed the majority of the populace in the Roman Empire. Paganism and idolatry give birth to slavery. Many of the earliest believers were slaves and would have been part of many Roman homes. The application here is not to modern employer-employee relationships. Slaves were owned by another person. They had no right of self-determination. This is the fundamental feature of slavery, of whatever form. They were not indentured servants. They had no rights under the law in Roman society. They were not even viewed as persons, except by a very few, and usually for better slave-control purposes. Hence, for them to be addressed directly assumes something very significant. Slaves are made in God’s image. Slaves were part of the earliest, apostolic churches. Slaves were on equal footing in those churches, for “in Christ, there is neither bond nor free” (3:11). The Lord Jesus opens the prison doors of the mind and heart for those in the hardest social and economic situations. He has his sheep among them. He calls them to himself and gives them his word. This in itself elevates the Christian slave to the level of a king in Christ, a disciple of Christ, and a servant of his higher Master. Knowing Jesus Christ as Lord transforms us thoroughly, even in the midst of hard, even degrading circumstances.
Slaves and Masters United under One Master
Because Jesus Christ is Lord, no human authority is absolute. All human authorities – husbands, fathers, and masters – are under Christ, and must conform to his will in their treatment of those under them. They must put on his meekness and gentleness, his justice and fairness to all those over whom they exercise a ministerial authority. The Lordship of Jesus Christ thus transforms Christian masters. They must no longer see themselves as absolute lords that serve themselves. They are under Christ and will answer for their exercise of authority. Those under them are as much God’s image and valuable as they are. And in the case of believing slaves and master in the same household, the gospel would be beautifully played out. The whole person and work of Jesus Christ could shine. The Christian slave would see himself as a slave of Christ. The earthly master would see his mastership as under Christ the Lord, and thus rule his slaves with benevolence and justice. But even if the earthly master was vile and wicked, the Christian slave would nonetheless be empowered by the Holy Spirit to humble himself and serve, as his Master, the Son of God, humbled himself and became a servant. The new birth in Christ radically changes our attitudes about life, even when we live in a lowered station.
Slavery Exists and Is under Christ’s Lordship
Some have said that the Spirit’s addressing of slaves with his word and the placing of masters under the Master has the effect over time of abolishing slavery. This is likely true, but the point of the gospel in this context is not that earthly masters should release their slaves or that slaves should revolt against their masters. Social revolutionizing took over some churches in the first century – no more creation order, no more earthly order, kingdom-now, hyper-spiritualizing of life. This actually diminishes the significance of Jesus Christ. Slavery exists in the here and now, but Christ is Lord of it and changes those in it. There is divine order, authority, and obedience in marriage, parent-child relations, and church that will be very different in heaven, but this life is not heaven. Therefore, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a Marxist Jesus holding an AK-47 or reparations or egalitarianism. It is him ruling in each sphere of life, transforming us all by his word, and each seeking to serve him in their respective callings, spheres of authority, and stations of obedience.
Slaves Can Serve Jesus Christ as Slaves
It is possible to conceive of a situation in which in the church, the slave was an elder in the church, while his believing master was under his slave’s spiritual oversight and authority. But, this does not alter the slave’s earthly situation. As the Holy Spirit elaborated in 1 Corinthians 7, the slave need not escape his slavery to serve Christ. He may be a slave, but he is the Lord’s freeman (1 Cor. 7:22). The Lord addresses slaves! They belong to him. They, like we, are to see their lives through a gospel lens, not through the lens of chains, poverty, and oppression. If slaves can obtain their freedom, do so. If not, serve Christ as a slave. And if this was true of slaves, it is equally true of us, whose labor and economic situations are far better, largely due to the leavening influence of the gospel over many generations before us. In the home and workplace, we need no change of circumstances to serve Jesus Christ. Serve him where you are – the wife with a difficult, hard husband; the child under parents who are not tender; the worker whose boss is profane and impossible to please. Serve Jesus Christ there. This is Christ’s grace and life in us. He transforms us.
The Way Slaves Serve Christ the Lord
Obey Your Masters
The slave’s main duty is to obey his master, his lord. Obedience is the essence of Christian discipleship, and therefore no Christian slave should balk at obeying his master. “In all things” means that the slave should endeavor to make obedience a way of life, not only to the easier tasks but also to the hard ones. “According to the flesh” means that the slave is only under his master relatively, as far as earthly matters are concerned. This is an important limitation upon the master’s authority, whether or not he recognizes it. It is also an important dynamic for the slave himself – he has a heavenly calling, a heavenly Master, and a heavenly inheritance. However grueling, unpleasant, or even oppressive earthly life may be, it is not all our life. The slave may be commanded to commit menial or vile acts. He may be punished for refusing to disobey the Lord Jesus, however meekly he remonstrates. Yet, as far as he is permitted by his higher, heavenly allegiance to the Lord Jesus, he must obey his earthly master.
Serve Sincerely in the Fear of God
Obedience is beautiful. There is nothing more like our Lord Jesus Christ, our Master, than when we humble ourselves and obey those in authority over us. Thus, the slave’s obedience is to be with “singleness of heart.” The word means “simply,” or without ulterior motives. Obey even when his master’s eye is not upon him. Too much obedience, of slaves and of freemen, is perfunctory or because the eye of our parents or bosses are upon us. A Christian’s obedience, slave or free, is not to be a man-pleaser but to please his Lord by obeying those over him. If we are man-pleasers, we cannot be Christ’s servants (Gal. 1:10). Instead, we are to reverence God. This is the grand dynamic that transformed slavery into a holy vocation – at least for those who took these words seriously. This service I am giving, however hard, is my living sacrifice to my God who has redeemed me. To reverence the Lord is, first, to respect his sovereignty for placing us where he does, without grumbling or malice. Second, to reverence God is then to seek to honor him by obeying him. Since he has made and redeemed us, we reverence him by submitting to those he has placed in authority over us. A rebellious man, a stubborn man, a man who will not cheerfully place himself in the yoke of obedience to legitimate authority is a man who is not reverencing the Lord.
Serve Heartily As unto the Lord
But “reverence for God” is often lost upon us unless we make this more specifically tied to our Savior. We reverence our Father by believing in his Son and seeking to please him in all things. One of the most beautiful motivations for Christian service is found in the middle of the Spirit’s directions to slaves. Give your obedience heartily, as unto the Lord. This applies to us all, but it is particularly meaningful against the backdrop of the slave’s obedience, usually to an unbelieving and often to a wicked master. See the Lord Jesus standing before you. Obey your earthly master by looking to your heavenly Master. And then, you can obey “out of your soul,” with all that you are. Surely this command elevated the Christian slave to be the most noble man or woman in the entire Roman Empire. Here were tens of thousands of disciples filling the homes of nobles and streets of great cities and Roman legions all looking like the Lord Jesus – obeying joyfully, obeying willingly, obeying with one goal – to reverence God and please the Lord Jesus, the Master who loved and gave himself for us. If we want to “do something," as we are told, about the evil of our times, do this wherever you are: reverence the Father by pleasing his Son in your obedience to your husband, parents, and bosses. Make sure you are known as a man or woman who does his work, even the hard and menial, with a joyful heart.
Expect to be Rewarded by the Lord Christ
“As to the Lord” is far more than a platitude. It is a controlling, dominating reality in the heart of the Christian, and in the heart of the Christian slave. We serve the “Lord Christ.” Could there be a more compelling title for our Lord used in this place? Slaves – Christian men and women owned by others – you serve the Lord Christ. You serve Master Christ, Master Jesus. He will reward you. You may be trampled on earth, despised, commanded to do gross and evil things, beaten at the caprice of your owners, killed and thrown into the garbage by a violent master. But you have an inheritance coming. He will honor you. In an age like ours that craves to be noticed, here is an encouragement to unnoticed Christians. The Lord Jesus notices everything you do. He will notice and reward all the service and obedience you give to unthankful and unmerciful men. He will notice Christian prisoners for Christ’s sake, the obedience you are giving to him in chains and when you are beaten for your faith. All Christians must keep their eyes not on the ballot box but on the heavenly inheritance. Only then can earthly duties be done heartily. Keep your eyes on your meeting with your Master, the reward he promises to the faithful. You serve the true Master, the Christ, the Son of the living God. Never forget this. Always love him, look unto him, keep up communion with him. Never despair that men hate you or that earthly masters grind you in the dust. Heaven is watching. Your Master knows. He is preparing a place for you, and he will receive you into your heavenly inheritance. All your earthly obedience will be rewarded.
Do No Wrong
The oppressed are often tempted to frustration, bitterness, and then to little acts of rebellion. They chafe under the yoke. Serving Christ the Lord quenches all excuses for a slave to justify a defiant attitude toward his master. The same Lord that will reward faithfulness will also give retribution for wrongdoing. He will not show respect to the slave because he is a slave. Bad circumstances should not make us expect leniency when we stand before Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge. Men often justify their sins because others have sinned against them. Nations justify barbaric, total war because another nation committed crimes against them. If a husband slaps his wife or abuses her in other ways, she may defend herself and call the police, if necessary, but she may not become a husband-beater. Vengeance must be left in the Lord’s hand. This is a profound insight into New Testament ethics. Under the older covenant, when Israel often functioned as God’s hammer of judgment against wicked, pagan nations, men often thought in terms of retribution, hatred, and even vengeance. The Lord warned against this then, but now it is much clearer. The heavenly lawgiver, the Lord Jesus Christ, has come. He has told us to “turn the other cheek,” to do good to those who hate us, and to show mercy to our enemies, even to love them. If slaves are not justified in doing wrong because their masters are hard and unjust, we are certainly not authorized to repay our enemies with vengeance or to hate them. We must forgive, as we have been forgiven. We must go the second mile.
The situation of Onesimus loomed largely in Paul’s thinking. He was a runaway slave that belonged to Philemon and was with Paul when he wrote this letter (4:9). The Lord has saved Onesimus, and he was now one of Paul’s fellowservants. Onesimus had been an “unprofitable slave” to Philemon (Phlm. 11). Now, however, Onesimus was a faithful servant of Jesus Christ, and Paul sent him back to Philemon and urged him to receive Onesimus as a brother. Whatever Onesimus had stolen, Paul asked Philemon to “put it on my account” (v. 18) – remember you owe me your soul, Philemon (v. 19)! Paul recognized that Philemon remained Onesimus’ master. Even so, Philemon must receive Onesimus as a Christian slave, and be to him a Christian master. The gospel had altered the entire situation – not by overturning the master-slave relationship, but by sanctifying it, allowing wrongs suffered to be forgiven, and the relationship to resume upon a much higher foundation. But the wrong Onesimus had done to Philemon must be repaid. Justice must mark all our relationships within the body of Christ. We must do no one wrong. We must also make restitution for the wrong we do. We must also forgive the wrong others do to us, and be ready to receive them warmly back into our fellowship.
Most Christians today repudiate any form of slavery. Do we equally repudiate vengefulness in our relationships? Do we cling to what we think others owe us, unwilling to forgive? In our difficult relations and duties, are we motivated by the fear of the Lord? The desire to please Christ and do our work heartily unto him? Are we submitting to the unpleasant or disliked authorities in our lives? In directing slaves to obey their masters, the Holy Spirit confronts us with these truths. If the slave cannot plead his bondage as an excuse for laziness, a bad attitude, and wrongdoing, we cannot and must not. In the hardest social relationships and circumstances, one consideration should control our mind and soul – am I pleasing Jesus Christ? Am I living unto him? Am I his faithful slave? Yes, we are also disciples and friends, but he has purchased us with his blood. We may think no thoughts but those that please him. All our words must tend toward praising him. In our work, we should serve our Master with joy. We shall soon stand before him. He will reward faithfulness. I pray our hands will not be empty but filled with the fruits of righteousness that come by union with him.
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