MASTERS AND SLAVES / EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES
(I Tim. 6:1-2)
Overview of I Tim. 4:1-6:2
4:1-2 How False Teaching Enters the Church
4:3-5 Common Grace
4:6 Word of God in Life of the Believer
4:7a Godliness – Divine / Human Role
4:7b Train Yourself to be Godly
4:7c Spiritual Disciplines (The Word of God)
4:7d Spiritual Disciplines (Devotions, Worship)
4.7e Spiritual Disciplines (Church Attendance, Journaling, Practicing Presence of God)
4:8-9 Why Godliness Has Great Value
4:10 Putting Our Hope in the Living God
4:12 Setting an Example for Believers
4:13 What a Christian Worship Service Looked Like in the First Century
4:14 Neglecting the Spiritual Gift God has Given Us
4:15-16 Getting Home Before Dark
5:1-2 So, How Should We Describe the Church?
5:3-16 God’s Tilt Towards the Disenfranchised
5:3-16 Sorting Out those Worthy of Relief – A Biblical Approach to Social Welfare
5:3-16 The Biblical Rationale for Providing for Relatives
5:5-16 The Tale of Two Widows – A Biblical Approach to Pleasure
5:9-10 The Good Works of a New Testament Woman
5:11-14 The Younger Widows – Breaking Celibacy Vows
5:11-14 The Younger Widows – Gossiping False Teaching
5:15 Satan’s Effort to Keep Jesus from Fulfilling His Mission
5:17-18 Honoring the Work of Elders
5:19-20 How NT Church Discipline Illustrates Cultural Formation
5:21 Partiality – A Christian Problem?
5:22-24 Selecting Church Leadership
5:23 The Christian’s Use and Abuse of Alcoholic Beverages
6:1 Honoring God’s Name
6:1-2 A What In Christianity Undermined Slavery?
6:1-2 B The Evangelical Awakening and Abolition of Slavery
6:1-2 C Masters and Slaves / Employers and Employees
1All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. 2Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.
INTRODUCTION:
1. Four Lessons from I Tim. 6:1-2
a. Honoring/Slandering the Name of God
b. What in Christianity Undermined Slavery
c. The Evangelical Awakening & the Abolition of Slavery
d. Masters-Slaves / Employers-Employees Relationships
2. Masters/Slaves – Employers/Employees
Important to keep in mind that Paul wrote to slave owners because there were slave owners in the church; and he wrote to slaves because there were slaves in the church, maybe as many as 40% of church members were slaves.
There are about 30 verses dealing with slavery in the NT. More than there are for dealing with widows.
Donald Guthrie, a commentator, writes that these rules for the way masters treat slaves and the way slaves were to treat masters were “Interim Christian Rules” …. And I would agree as far as slavery goes but in relations between employers and employees they still stand.
While interaction between masters and slaves are of no real concern to us the guidelines laid down in the NT for slaves and masters do spell out healthy relations between employers and employees.
a. How Employers Should Treat Employees
b. How Employees Should Treat Employers
c. Foundational Work Principles of a Good Employee
I. HOW EMPLOYERS SHOULD TREAT EMPLOYEES
QUESTION: What does a good employer look like? List the three top qualities or characteristics of a good employer.
If a Christian is a “new creation in Christ” it would certainly affect the way he treated his slaves and of course how an employer treats his employees.
A. Do what is right and fair.
Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven (Col. 4:1).
“It should be remarked that such a charge as this is not found in all the profane writings of antiquity. Even in the pages of the moralists a slave was regarded as a chattel with which the master had a right to deal according to his will. The Christian rule, at once introduced into the church, was for the master to treat his servants as he wished to be treated by his Master in heaven, and to expect the same kind of treatment that he meted out” (The People’s Commentary).
We saw that in Christ the slave moved from being a “living tool” (Aristotle) to a “loving brother” (Paul in Philemon).
As a “brother” or as a “human” what is “right and fair” is always a major concern … and an ongoing debate.
ILLUSTRATION: News of airline pilot that was promised pension. Pension will not be given or dry up so now he, at 62, is working as a carpenter fixing up houses etc. He had to sell his vacation home. Is the airline being unfair and unjust in doing away with the pension?
Employers will always wrestle with their own greed and workers with theirs. Christian employers need to be very careful in this matter and, I think, err on the side of doing more instead of less in being “right and fair.”
B. Don’t Threaten
5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. 9And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him (Ephesians 6:5-9).
QUESTION: What threats do employers throw at employees?
QUESTION: What does a “threat” do to an employee? How does it affect the employee?
C. Use the “Golden Rule” as key management principle.
5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. 9And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him (Ephesians 6:5-9).
… in the same way — Show the same regard to God’s will, and to your servants’ well-being, in your relation to them, as they ought to have in their relation to you. Love regulates the duties both of servants and masters …. (JFB).
“Masters, it the same with you. No abuse please and no threats” (Eph. 6:9, The Message).
“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get” (Mt. 7:12, The Message).
ILLUSTRATION: After studying this I asked myself, “Do I use the Golden Rule with my few employees?” I have made a few changes in just the writing of notes … making sure I say “please” etc.
It is of interest to note that some slaves may have been elders in the Ephesian church and as such would have been worthy of being shown “double honor” (I Tim. 5:17).
II. HOW EMPLOYEES SHOULD TREAT EMPLOYERS
QUESTION: What does a perfect employee look like? List the five most important qualities / characteristics of a good employee in order of importance.
Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all” (Mark. 10:44).
A. Paul in Ephesians 6:5-8:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters
(1) with respect and fear, and (2) with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. (3) Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly,
(1) as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
* Note: Every human is worthy of respect and honor, even pagan slave owners.
B. Paul in Colossians 3:22-24:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; (1) and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but (2) with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, (3) work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Col. 3:22-24).
C. Paul in I Tim. 6:1-2
All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to then.
ILLUSTRATION: What they failed to see was that freedom in Christ does not release the Christian from obligations to those in rightful authority. This is a lesson I began to learn shortly after becoming a Christian, while serving in the military in England. There were several of us who had just set out on the Christian adventure. In our enthusiasm to serve Christ we some how concluded that we didn’t need to concern ourselves with mundane rules about shined boots and clean, pressed uniforms. Our superiors quickly made the connection between our new faith and our sloppy appearance. And in that small corner of the world, Christianity was in danger of being linked with insubordination. (Towner, Pg. 131)
D. Paul in Titus 2:9-10:
Teach slaves:
to be subject to their masters in everything,
to try to please them,
not to talk back to them,
and not to steal from them,
but
to show that they can be fully trusted,
so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
E. Peter in I Peter 2:18-21:
18Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters
(1) with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? (2) But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
III. FOUNDATIONAL WORK PRINCIPLES OF A GOOD EMPLOYEE
QUESTION: Based on the texts we just saw, relating to slaves, what should motivate a Christian to be a good employee?
A. We are all employees of Christ (Eph. 6:6).
B. The bottom line, our work is a work of service to the Lord (Col. 3:24).
ILLUSTRATION: It was said of Brother Lawrence, French Monk in the Middle Ages: He was pleased when he could take up a straw from the ground for the love of God, seeking Him only, and nothing else, not even His gifts.
Do I really believe I am working for the Lord?
C. Our ultimate, most important reward will come from the Lord (Col. 3:24).
God rewards my work as a slave? Yes!!!
My major problem is separating my world into the secular and the sacred/spiritual …and forgetting that God separates nothing and that all that I do is sacred and I will be rewarded for all.
When we work are we aware that we are working for the Lord?
D. We don’t want God’s name or the Gospel to be slandered (I Tim. 6:1).
E. We are concerned that our earthly employers benefit from our work (I Tim. 6:2).
F. We want to make the teaching of God attractive (Titus 2:10).
SO WHAT?
1. We need to put the “Golden Rule” on our refrigerator! We need to keep it in front of us and practice it in all our relationships!
2. All that we say or do, including our work, even when doing the lowliest of tasks, is primarily and ultimately for the Lord.
3. God is going to reward us for all our work and thus all that we do is sacred.
3. Being the right kind of employee keeps Gospel from being slandered and in fact makes it very attractive.