Spirit-filled Relationships - Part 3

In this study, we will look at the Spirit-filled slave and his master. Having considered in our last study - The Man of the House and His Children – 6:1-4, we will now look at:

The Master of the House and His Slaves – 6:5-9

The Original Admonition to Slaves and Masters

Before unpacking Paul’s instructions to slaves and their masters, we need reminding that slavery long predated Christianity, and many of the early Christians were slaves in the Roman Empire. Without exception, the pre-Christian world accepted slavery as normal and desirable. The great civilizations of Mesopotamia, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and all the civilizations in Central America and Africa were built upon slave labor.

People became slaves by being an insolvent debtor, or by being sold into slavery by their parents, or by being born to slave parents, or by being captured in war, or through kidnapping by slave raiders and pirates. Slave dealing was an accepted way of life, fully established in all societies. Most of these slaves were white people, or Europeans. In fact, the very word “slave” in English comes from the people of Eastern Europe, the “slavs”.

In the Western world, we tend to be oblivious to the fact that slavery still exists on a large scale throughout the world, especially here in the USA!

Modern slavery is a hidden crime that affects every country in the world. 1 in 4 victims are children; 54% are women and girls.

Over one million people have been placed into camps in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, targeted because of their ethnicity and religion, predominantly Muslims from Uyghur and other ethnic minorities. This is a human rights crisis. Uyghur families are torn apart, as parents are sent to the camps and children are taken away to state orphanages. One Uyghur worker reported children as young as six months ‘locked up like farm animals in a shed.’

Human trafficking is a $150 billion industry. (UNICEF) 

The Nature of Slavery

Slaves in the Roman world of Paul’s day didn’t merely do lowly work; they did nearly all the work, including oversight and management and most professions. Some slaves were more educated than their owners. They could own property, even slaves, and were allowed to save money to buy freedom. No slave class existed, for slaves were present in all but the highest of economic and social strata. Many gained freedom by age thirty.

Why We Are Opposed to Slavery

Why do Paul and other New Testament writers not call for the abolition of slavery?

One answer is namely that Christians were at first an insignificant group in the empire. Their religion itself was still unlawful, and they were politically powerless. For the early church to advocate revolt would have been the death of the Christian movement. But as they carried out their assignments in life with honor, humility, and honesty, serving the true Master, King Jesus, they put in motion a process that would eventually destroy slavery. They were able to exhibit abounding life, love, joy, and peace in the fullness of the Holy Spirit until more and more captives were liberated to life in Christ.

Now back to our text in Eph. 6:5-9:

A. To Spirit-filled Slaves – Do Your Work as Unto Christ – 6:5-8

1. Be a good witness to the work of the gospel by working respectfully – 6:5a – “Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling …. Servants should be respectful. Fear and trembling do not mean acting in a cowering sucking up to manner, nor in utter terror. This verse probably carries the same idea as Eph. 5:21, out of "fear of Christ." They were to work seriously and reverently because they were working unto Christ.

Notice in each of the four verses – 6:5-8 - Jesus the Messiah/Christ is mentioned:

• Verse 5 - "as to Christ"
• Verse 6 - "as slaves of Christ"
• Verse 7 - "as to the Lord"
• Verse 8 - "receive this back from the Lord."
  
  2. Be a good witness to the work of the gospel by working wholeheartedly – 6:5b-6 - Paul urged the bondservants not to be hypocrites, just working when the boss was present: "Don't work only while being watched, in order to please men." While a common temptation for the master was threatening slaves, a common temptation for the servant was being lazy or lying instead of working faithfully. Both were to remember that Christ sees all things
  
  3. Be a good witness to the work of the gospel by working willingly – 6:7, “rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.… There wasn’t to be an outward display of compliance while inwardly seething with resentment, but the work was to be done cheerfully and willingly, even if it was very hard, and the master was overbearing, abusive, and unreasonable. Our work can still be done as to the Lord and not to men. It is this type of supernatural behavior, made possible by the Christian being constantly filled with the Spirit, that speaks the loudest to the surrounding world.
  
  4. Be a good witness to the work of the gospel by working expectantly – 6:8, “knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.” In that day, slaves were treated like pieces of property, no matter how well educated they might be. An educated, cultured slave who became a Christian might receive even harsher treatment from his master because of his faith, but harsh treatment was not to keep him from doing his best (1Peter 2:18-25). We are to serve Christ, not men. The Lord of all the earth will do right by all. We will receive our rewards from Christ, not from men
  
  

  B. To Spirit-filled Masters - Treat Your Slaves as You Would Christ - 6:9

  “Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.”

What Paul has said about slaves, for the moment, i.e., continue in their condition, faithfully serving their masters for the sake of giving credibility to the gospel and honor to God (Eph. 6:6–8), is ordinary counsel from the gospel message. As with wives and children, this instruction on submission would create few ripples of objection in the ancient world.

On the other hand, the radical nature of Paul’s gospel priorities becomes extraordinary when he directly addresses masters. The apostle commands masters to exercise their authority in such a way as to ensure the Christlike treatment of their slaves (Eph. 6:8). This would have upended the worldview and daily practices of virtually all slave-owning households. Knowing this, the apostle charges masters to make no threats, and bolsters his instruction with the reminder that the slave and the owner have the same Master in heaven (Eph. 6:9).

Take note of four words Paul gives to Christian masters in just this one verse regarding their treatment of servants. These exhortations were countercultural and life changing.

1. Practice mutuality.This term “mutuality is defined as “behaviorin which two or more people or groups feel the same emotion, or do the same thing to or for each other.” Paul says, "Treat your slaves the same way." Masters were to treat their slaves as they wanted to be treated: with integrity, respect, humility, and gentleness. They were to treat them as if they were treating Christ (cf. Matt 25:40). If masters wanted respect and service, then they should give it also.
   
   
2. Avoid hostility.Paul says to oversee them "stop your threatening." This type of exhortation to masters would have been extremely rare. But Christian masters were to be different. They were not to bully or use aggression.
   
   
3. Live with Christ-centered accountability.Paul says, "You know that both their Master and yours is in heaven." Masters were to live with a fear of Christ. Proverbs speaks of this equal accountability of rich and poor: "The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord made them both" (Prov 22:2)
   
   
4. Remember God's impartiality.He says, "There is no favoritism with Him." Partiality was written into the Roman law. But Paul says on the last day it will not matter. The Lord Jesus is utterly impartial. Roman law was discriminatory, but heavenly justice is not.

How Does This Passage Apply to My Life?

Perhaps you have been thinking, "I'm not a slave and don't have slaves. I’m retired and don’t have any bosses, so we could have just skipped this section of Ephesians.  The truth is that this passage can be life changing if you apply it to your life. How so? By keeping in mind that all of life is lived before the Lord, for the glory of the Lord and nothing is outside the sacred. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cors. 10:31). 

Work is not merely work or a way to make a living. It is a way to serve Christ. Think about employees and employers. Can we make this application? I think so. Even if your life is hard and your job stinks, remember, your boss is Jesus.