Taking it
This week is on Ephesians 6:5-9:
This is an example of the sort of humble relationship we're supposed to have with the world. Slavery, in Paul's day, was more of a business relationship than a racially-charged lifetime caste system. People, often conquered by the Romans, would be sold into slavery. It would last a set number of years, and could be bought out for a price. During that time, in exchange for food and housing, the slave would perform whatever work his owner needed done.
Sometimes it was a pretty sweet deal for the slave. He might only have to tutor the master's kids, or bring him his meals, but other than that he was mostly free to do whatever. Sometimes it was a pretty awful deal for the slave, when the master would beat him or make him work long hours at backbreaking labor. Our knee-jerk reaction to this would be that Christ doesn't want the slave in bondage, and that he should leave when he becomes a Christian. But that's not really fair either.
The slave owner may or may not have been a Christian. What he did have was a legitimate contract with the slave. If the slave just got up and left, where would that leave him? Is the work going to do itself? Is he going to get a refund from Jesus? It's not like the slave owner bought a slave to be cruel. He didn't invent the practice, but he did need some consistent help around the house and he paid to make that happen. And had slavery not been profitable to the slavers, when the Roman occupation force set up in a new region they may have just killed everyone instead, like the Jews did with their neighbors. Or, if the slave was a Roman, he may have been killed for his debt instead of merely being sold for a season.
So you have this sort of unfavorable business arrangement, with a whiff of injustice. What do you do with a situation like that? Sometimes nothing. It's not our fight. You carry out your end of the contract, and you pray for the taskmaster's heart to be softened. Christ didn't die for labor rights, or for overtime pay, health benefits, tuition benefits, or any of the other things we try to use Christianity to justify. Is the slave arrangement unjust? Maybe. But does it prevent you from being a Christian? No. And that's what counts.
Paul also turns it around and addresses the slave owners. He challenges them to be fair. If they're "that guy," the harsh taskmaster who beats or overworks his slaves, he tells them to be fair and simply keep up their end of the contract: If you need a slave and you've already got one, don't feel like Christianity forces you to set the slave free. Be righteous, be fair, be generous and compassionate, but don't feel like you need to be guilted into a sacrifice you can't afford. Are you going to destroy your family's wellbeing in order to make life easier for a stranger?
Hardship has a refining effect. People sometimes relate it to the pain of lifting weights or of studying new material. It's uncomfortable and you don't want to do it, but it makes you a better person. Being on the receiving end of injustice, or being in a position where you feel it's unavoidable to be part of it, you can be brought closer to God.
Sometimes God's commandments are hard for us to live with. Sometimes difficult people are in our care. Sometimes we are in situations where there is no perfect answer. God's kingdom is bigger than all of that. The challenge isn't the business arrangement, the injustice of wage slavery, or the manipulations of globalism. The challenge is living a Christ-centered life despite all of that. Having things we can't control helps us to focus on the things we can.
We're primarily citizens in God's kingdom. Our service is to represent him in the lands we live in now. Ambassadors don't intervene in a different country's affairs, even if they seem wrong. It's not their burden to bring equality to women, or freedom of press, or to end child labor. These are noble things, and we should support them where we can, but given the choice, our allegiance is to the eternal, not the temporary.
So, if you're in a bad employment situation, or living under an oppressive regime, see if you can be perfected where you are. Ask if it's possible for Jesus to live under those conditions, even as you ask him to set you free. One of Paul's other letters, to Philemon, was trying to secure the release of a slave called Onesimus. He didn't make it a fight. He didn't order him, or shame him into releasing his slave. He appealed via love. Because for any lasting change to happen to cruelty and injustice, love has to be in it. And as Jesus demonstrated, sometimes love expresses itself the clearest through suffering.
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.
And 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.
This is an example of the sort of humble relationship we're supposed to have with the world. Slavery, in Paul's day, was more of a business relationship than a racially-charged lifetime caste system. People, often conquered by the Romans, would be sold into slavery. It would last a set number of years, and could be bought out for a price. During that time, in exchange for food and housing, the slave would perform whatever work his owner needed done.
Sometimes it was a pretty sweet deal for the slave. He might only have to tutor the master's kids, or bring him his meals, but other than that he was mostly free to do whatever. Sometimes it was a pretty awful deal for the slave, when the master would beat him or make him work long hours at backbreaking labor. Our knee-jerk reaction to this would be that Christ doesn't want the slave in bondage, and that he should leave when he becomes a Christian. But that's not really fair either.
The slave owner may or may not have been a Christian. What he did have was a legitimate contract with the slave. If the slave just got up and left, where would that leave him? Is the work going to do itself? Is he going to get a refund from Jesus? It's not like the slave owner bought a slave to be cruel. He didn't invent the practice, but he did need some consistent help around the house and he paid to make that happen. And had slavery not been profitable to the slavers, when the Roman occupation force set up in a new region they may have just killed everyone instead, like the Jews did with their neighbors. Or, if the slave was a Roman, he may have been killed for his debt instead of merely being sold for a season.
So you have this sort of unfavorable business arrangement, with a whiff of injustice. What do you do with a situation like that? Sometimes nothing. It's not our fight. You carry out your end of the contract, and you pray for the taskmaster's heart to be softened. Christ didn't die for labor rights, or for overtime pay, health benefits, tuition benefits, or any of the other things we try to use Christianity to justify. Is the slave arrangement unjust? Maybe. But does it prevent you from being a Christian? No. And that's what counts.
Paul also turns it around and addresses the slave owners. He challenges them to be fair. If they're "that guy," the harsh taskmaster who beats or overworks his slaves, he tells them to be fair and simply keep up their end of the contract: If you need a slave and you've already got one, don't feel like Christianity forces you to set the slave free. Be righteous, be fair, be generous and compassionate, but don't feel like you need to be guilted into a sacrifice you can't afford. Are you going to destroy your family's wellbeing in order to make life easier for a stranger?
Hardship has a refining effect. People sometimes relate it to the pain of lifting weights or of studying new material. It's uncomfortable and you don't want to do it, but it makes you a better person. Being on the receiving end of injustice, or being in a position where you feel it's unavoidable to be part of it, you can be brought closer to God.
Sometimes God's commandments are hard for us to live with. Sometimes difficult people are in our care. Sometimes we are in situations where there is no perfect answer. God's kingdom is bigger than all of that. The challenge isn't the business arrangement, the injustice of wage slavery, or the manipulations of globalism. The challenge is living a Christ-centered life despite all of that. Having things we can't control helps us to focus on the things we can.
We're primarily citizens in God's kingdom. Our service is to represent him in the lands we live in now. Ambassadors don't intervene in a different country's affairs, even if they seem wrong. It's not their burden to bring equality to women, or freedom of press, or to end child labor. These are noble things, and we should support them where we can, but given the choice, our allegiance is to the eternal, not the temporary.
So, if you're in a bad employment situation, or living under an oppressive regime, see if you can be perfected where you are. Ask if it's possible for Jesus to live under those conditions, even as you ask him to set you free. One of Paul's other letters, to Philemon, was trying to secure the release of a slave called Onesimus. He didn't make it a fight. He didn't order him, or shame him into releasing his slave. He appealed via love. Because for any lasting change to happen to cruelty and injustice, love has to be in it. And as Jesus demonstrated, sometimes love expresses itself the clearest through suffering.
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