I’m
no expert in economics but I don’t have to be to know there is growing tension
in our country between those who push brooms and those who enjoy the perks of
the corner office. There is tension and anger in the workplace.
Workers resent their employers and employers do not trust their
workers. Does the Bible say anything to us in this situation?
Of course, my answer is yes.
Both in Ephesians 6:5-9 and Colossians 3:22-4:1 address the issue. I am again bringing the Colossian passage
into the discussion because they are remarkable for their time and for
ours. But to unpack what they say we’re
going to have to bridge the gulf between the centuries-old text and the
contemporary age, a text which deals with a practice that belongs to another
age.
When you and I think of slavery we usually think of what we
learned in our American history classes. Former missionary to
Georgia, John Wesley, said that American slavery was one of the most brutal and
inhumane forms of slavery in the world. That was true in the 18th century
and was largely true for earlier centuries as well. It was certainly
more brutal and inhumane than Roman slavery. Still, Aristotle said
“A slave is a living tool, just as a tool is an inanimate slave.”
What was slavery in the Roman world like?
* It
was widespread. It’s estimated that close to 90% of the residents of the
Italian peninsula were slaves or the descendants of slaves. In the
larger empire it’s estimated there were some 60,000,000 slaves. The
treatment of slaves depended upon the disposition of the master; as
a consequence, some slaves were treated very well, almost as members of the
family, while others were treated poorly. Slaves who worked in homes or in the
cities were generally treated better than the slaves who worked in the mines or
in the fields. Records show that slaves could be whipped, have teeth
knocked out, eyes gouged out, and even be crucified for minor
offenses. Runaway slaves, if caught, could be branded, flogged, or
crucified. An unusually large number of slaves committed
suicide. By the middle of the first century some writers,
especially among the Stoics, were arguing for more humane treatment of
slaves. No one called for its abolition.
* It
was largely non-racial. Romans did not believe the members of any
particular race were destined to be slaves. Although some slaves
were the spoils of war most were born to slave parents and, so, became slaves
themselves. In Colossae, your slave could look just like you.
* It
had an ironic character. While many slaves carried out the less
appealing type of work some served as teachers, physicians, philosophers, and
other “professionals”. In the American system, it was illegal to
teach a slave to read or write; in Colossae, your slave might teach your
children how to read and write. Slaves were often allowed to earn
money by working for others. The usual arrangement involved
two-thirds of the slave’s salary going to the master. This was
profitable for the master and often made it possible for the slave to save
enough money to buy his freedom.
* Emancipation
was commonplace. One source suggests that few slaves were slaves for
life and quite a few were freed by the time they were thirty. Many
freed slaves went into business with their former masters. However, many
who were born slaves died slaves.
Though Roman slavery had some virtues not present in American
slavery, the very practice of slavery still treated men and women as mere
property, thus dehumanizing those for whom Christ died.
Some resisted being slaves. Some stole from their
masters. Some did as little work as possible. Some ran away.
The Colossian church knew such a runaway. His name was
Onesimus and he belonged to Philemon, a leader of the Colossian congregation.
For some reason Onesimus ran away from Colossae to Rome, where he
may have hoped to blend into the crowds there.
Why did Onesimus run away? He may have simply yearned
for freedom. He may have been in constant trouble for being a poor
worker. He may have robbed Philemon and fled to Rome.
As Onesimus explored the wonders of the capital city he
encountered the greatest wonder of all—the gospel.
Somehow, some way, Onesimus became acquainted with Paul, who was
under house arrest in Rome. It seems unlikely he was a
fellow-prisoner, since Paul’s situation was far different than that of an
ordinary prisoner, such as Onesimus would have been. According to
the Book of Acts, Paul was allowed to have a wide variety of visitors and
allowed to preach the gospel in relative freedom. Perhaps Onesimus
joined a group of curious visitors who had come to hear
Paul. Perhaps he had heard a Christian acquaintance speak of his
faith and became curious; that unnamed person may have brought him
to Paul. In any case, Onesimus heard the Christian message and was
converted.
Evidently, Onesimus proved himself to be an eager worker in the
cause of Christ and valuable asset to Paul. The aging apostle was
always on the look-out for those whom he could train and mentor in the task of
building the Kingdom of God.
But something hung over the fugitive’s head like a dark
cloud. By running away he had cheated Philemon—his owner and, now,
fellow-believer. We can only imagine the long conversations he had
with Paul, talking about the life of a slave, sharing his fear of capture and
punishment, seeking the advice of the man who had become like a father to
him.
In the end, no doubt with Onesimus’s consent, Paul sent him back
to Colossae, back to Philemon, back to an uncertain fate. But he
returned to Asia Minor with a letter addressed to his master, a letter which
has been described as the most personal letter Paul ever wrote.
After an introduction in which Paul reflects on his friendship
with Philemon, the apostle comes to his point in writing. He
explains that he has a favor to ask.
8 [Our friendship]
is why I am boldly asking a favor of you. I could
demand it in the name of Christ because it is the right thing for
you to do,
9 but because of our love, I prefer just to ask you. So take this
as a request
from your friend Paul, an old man, now in prison for the sake of
Christ
Jesus.
10
My plea is that you show kindness to Onesimus. I think of him as my
own son because he became a believer as a result of my ministry
here in
prison. 11 Onesimus hasn't been of much use to you in
the past, but
now he is very useful to both of us. 12 I am sending
him back to you,
and with him comes my own heart.
15 Perhaps you could
think of it this way: Onesimus ran away for a
little while so you could have him back forever. 16 He
is no longer just
a slave; he is a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will
mean
much more to you, both as a slave and as a brother in the Lord.
Paul held back because he would not compel Philemon to act
involuntarily. Whatever choice Philemon made it had to be his
own. Paul, no doubt, hoped that choice would be made in light of the
new reality: Because of their common relationship to Christ the
relationship of the master and the slave had forever changed.
Paul may have hoped that Philemon’s action would become an example
to other slave-owners in the congregation.
A direct attack on the institution of slavery would have been
fruitless. Yet, in Paul does succeed in planting the seeds which
would eventually help to end slavery.
As I read the memo to Philemon, I get the impression that it is a
case study in applying the principles Paul lays down in his epistle to the
Colossians.
The outworking of these principles would be seen in the life of
the church. F. F. Bruce’s comment is worth quoting:
"In the higher and abiding relationship which is
theirs in Christ, believing slaves and masters are brothers. The
slave-and-master relationship might persist in the home and business
life; within the church it was swallowed up in the new
relationship. Thus, a Christian slave might be recognized as an
elder in the church by reason of his spiritual stature, and receive due deference
from his Christian master.
“But the Christian slave would not presume on this new
relationship or make it an excuse for serving his master less
assiduously; on the contrary, he would serve him the more faithfully
because of his new relationship. And if a Christian slave had an
unbelieving master, he would serve him the more faithfully now because the
reputation of Christ and Christianity was bound up with the quality of his
service….
[At the same time] “if slaves like Onesimus have their duties,
so have masters like Philemon; they must treat their slaves fairly
and justly. The are masters on earth, but they themselves have a
Master in heaven; let them treat their servants with the same
consideration as they themselves hope to receive at the hands of their heavenly
Master."
Such a relationship would call for slaves and masters, in varying
degrees to display the virtues of meekness, patience, kindness, forbearance,
forgiveness, humility, and love.
But how do Paul’s instructions apply to our situation?
Slavery has never been fully eradicated from our
world. It is still practiced in some places. Yet, most of
us look to these words to try to understand how we are to deal with one another
in the work place.
How does what Paul says apply on the job?
As we look at what Paul says we discover that in light of our
identity in Christ…
THOSE WHO WORK FOR OTHERS OUGHT TO DO SO
1. With integrity.
The command to obey might be expected but Paul makes clear it is
not to be a merely superficial obedience. It is to be done
sincerely—with integrity.
Paul suggests that some of the slaves were guilty of working only
when the boss was around or that they flattered the boss to try to get out of
tougher assignments. Now they were to work hard even when no
supervisor was around.
In an age when the Internet can take us miles away from the
workplace by pushing a few buttons, it’s tempting to escape when no one is
looking. But the Christian worker is to stay focused on the job at
hand, to work with integrity.
2. With industry.
Certainly this is implied in what Paul has already said but it
merits emphasis. When Paul says “whatever you do, work at it with
all your heart” he is calling for excellence even in the simplest of tasks.
When I worked in a luggage store years ago, the manager told us to
never sell an item from stock without opening the box and examining
it. As he put it, we never wanted to send the customer away with an
item “made on a Monday morning.”
Every one of us has been frustrated by shoddy workmanship, by an
order gotten wrong, all because someone was too busy paying attention to the
clock to pay attention to the job. That accusation should never be
made against a Christian.
3. With insight.
Paul was not naïve, neither should we be. Sometimes
good workers are treated poorly at the workplace. One Roman
historian tells of a slave girl who was severely beaten because she made a
mistake while tending her mistress’s hair. The slaves in Colossae
could probably tell similar stories.
Paul’s words in verse 25 might seem to be just a warning to the
slaves, but a second reading clarifies that it is also an assurance that
justice will ultimately prevail. Neither slave nor master escapes
God’s watchful eye. If the entire society turns a blind eye to injustice,
God still sees.
Sometimes, Christian employees aren’t able to respond to
mistreatment by employers. They need the insight to know that the
injustice did not escape God’s notice.
4. With intentionality.
In Paul’s view the slave could face his toil with a new vision and
goal—to bring honor to God. In the same way the Christian employee
can work in such a way to bring honor to God.
Commenting on the parallel passage in Ephesians 6:5-9 the great
British preacher D Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes,
“Nothing the Christian
does is insignificant. When you get up tomorrow morning, and go to
your office, your are going there, remember, as the slave of Christ, as the
servant of God. It is not only people like myself who preach in
pulpits who are servants of God. If you are a Christian, you are a
servant of God, you are the slave…of Christ… Show it in you work,
show it in everything you do—in your home, in your pleasure, in your
recreation, at your lunch, at your tea, everywhere, always, let this come
out. So, you will realize that, whatever your calling, whatever you
lot of position in life, it is a glorious one.
“Never feel a sense of
drudgery again! Your job may be mechanical, repetitive,
soul-less. [But] say to yourself ‘I am going to be a drudge for Christ’s
sake. Perhaps someone looking at me and seeing me enjoying the
drudgery, and doing it with finesse, and with a glamour and a glory that the
world can never produce, may suddenly be convinced and convicted of sin, and
may become an inquirer after the way of salvation.’ You can
evangelize where you are, just as you are. You do it primarily by your
life, by the way in which you do your daily work.”
Paul also speaks
TO THOSE WHO HAVE OVERSIGHT OVER OTHERS.
Very simply, those who have oversight over others should treat
them with justice, always aware that their performance also stands under
review.
What did Paul mean when he called for masters to provide their
slaves “what is right and fair?” There were apparently some instances in
which slaves were expected to work without proper food or rest. Certainly
no Christian master was to treat his slaves in such a manner.
As a Christian, Paul would have known that real living demands
more than mere food and rest. He may have been prompting the masters
to treat their slaves with the dignity befitting a fellow human and fellow
believer; certainly they were not to treat them as living tools. He
may have been calling on masters to respect them by refusing to abuse them or
allow them to be abused—female slaves were especially vulnerable to
mistreatment. He may have even been suggesting that it was proper to
express appreciation and gratitude to a hard-working slave.
In the political, social, and legal climate of our day, there’s a
lot of outrage about unions. Some Christians seem to believe unions
are wrong; some Christians seem to believe it’s the church’s duty to
support the unions whatever they ask. The greed and
self-centeredness of corrupt employers made unions necessary, now greed and
self-centeredness have tainted the unions, corrupting the good they might
do. What would have happened if both employers who claimed to be Christian
and workers who claimed to be Christian had taken Paul’s call seriously?
I’ve been reading the fascinating story of the Guinness
family—makers of the world’s most famous beer. A review of the
family history is surprising. Yes, there are brewers but there are
also evangelists, missionaries, and theologians. Arthur Guinness,
who founded the brewery in the eighteenth century, was a devout evangelical
Christian. He was determined his company would do more than make a
profit; it would be beneficial to his workers. So he provided free
medical care for his employees, literacy classes, job training for youngsters,
and even counseling for those with trouble. Guinness became the best
place to work in Dublin.
Guinness kept Paul’s word in mind—nothing escapes the notice of
heaven.
One of Paul’s most frequently used metaphors for believers is
“slave” or “servant.” He used it often to describe himself and other
Christians. He reminds us that every believer has a “Master in
heaven.” Paul understands that some Christians, by virtue of the
roles they have in life, must exercise authority over others, but his vision of
our mutual servanthood precludes that exercise being carried out in an abusive
or haughty manner.
Reading Between the Verses
To some degree applying what Paul has to say to first-century
masters and slaves demands we read between the verses. We do so to
try to discover the implications of what Paul is saying. What are
some of those implications?
1. Living out a life transformed
by Jesus Christ will be displayed, not simply in our homes and our churches,
but at the workplace as well.
It will be displayed chiefly in our attitudes toward our fellow-workers, whether they are our superiors or our subordinates.
It certainly means we will give a fair day’s labor for a fair day’s wage. Lloyd-Jones even suggests that the Christian worker should not even steal time from his employer in order to evangelize his fellow workers. He would, of course, be sure to tell each worker that to seize every opportunity to be a witness.
It will be displayed chiefly in our attitudes toward our fellow-workers, whether they are our superiors or our subordinates.
It certainly means we will give a fair day’s labor for a fair day’s wage. Lloyd-Jones even suggests that the Christian worker should not even steal time from his employer in order to evangelize his fellow workers. He would, of course, be sure to tell each worker that to seize every opportunity to be a witness.
2. Living out a life transformed
by Jesus Christ demands we be constantly alert to consider whether any action
or policy brings honor and glory to God. There’s
no doubt things are different now than they were in the first
century. As a first century Christian, Paul would not have foreseen
a situation in which a believer would be the member of a powerful union or part
of a management team with the responsibility of negotiating with that
union.
Even though Paul doesn’t address the issue we can be sure he would say that every Christian, whether labor or management, is obliged to pursue justice and demonstrate respect for others.
Even though Paul doesn’t address the issue we can be sure he would say that every Christian, whether labor or management, is obliged to pursue justice and demonstrate respect for others.
3. Living out a life transformed
by Jesus Christ allows us to seize opportunities God may open to us .
Writing to the Corinthians, Paul told slaves that, should the opportunity arise, they should accept any opportunity to be legally set free from their masters. Since emancipation was often offered to faithful slaves, Paul wanted them to know that his instructions regarding being conscientious workers did not demand that they remain slaves.
I think Paul’s counsel certainly means that today’s Christian worker has the right to consider moving from one job to another if that move will be better for the worker or the worker’s family.
Writing to the Corinthians, Paul told slaves that, should the opportunity arise, they should accept any opportunity to be legally set free from their masters. Since emancipation was often offered to faithful slaves, Paul wanted them to know that his instructions regarding being conscientious workers did not demand that they remain slaves.
I think Paul’s counsel certainly means that today’s Christian worker has the right to consider moving from one job to another if that move will be better for the worker or the worker’s family.
CONCLUSION
Paul’s words to slaves and masters may sound strange to our 21st century
ears, but the principles he lays down certainly apply to our day.
We can appreciate how he spoke to a difficult situation with
wisdom and grace. Had he called for the end of slavery, he would
have failed. Had he called for Christian slaves to rebel against
their masters, he would have invited bloodshed. He didn’t do
this. Instead, he laid down principles of mutual respect that would
eventually erode away the very foundations of the institution.
In the early days of American slavery, many slaveholders did not
want the gospel preached to their slaves. They knew that its
implications stood squarely against the institution. Only when the
Bible’s clear teachings on equality were suppressed or distorted, was it
considered safe to preach to the slaves.
At the same time, when you read that the leaders of the
abolitionist movement were fired with “evangelical zeal” the term implies more
than mere enthusiasm for the cause. Many of these leaders were
pious, evangelical Christians. The evangelist Charles Finney,
operating from his base, at Oberlin College, condemned slavery.[1] So did the
founders of Wheaton College. Students from Lane Seminary in Cincinnati
actually slipped into slave states and “rescued” slaves. These men
and women based their opposition on what they read in the Bible.
Of course, the supporters of slavery also believed they could
support their claims from the Scripture.
To a degree, they were correct—passages like the ones to the Ephesians
and to the Colossians did not directly attack slavery. Yet, deeper thinkers looked at the principles
animating all the Christian’s relationships.
Those principles, reflected in Paul’s words to Philemon changed things.
Throughout history, whenever the plight of workers, slave or free,
has been improved, it has been the results of a rediscovery of principles laid
down in the Bible.
But as historic as abolition, the enactment of child-labor laws,
or the establishment of a more reasonable work day has been, the most
far-reaching impact in the workplace has been made by those men and women who
determined to live out their faith.
[1] Though Finney would not make a
pro-abolition stance a test of fellowship or cooperation, others would.
