Title: How to Treat a Master

Text: 1 Timothy 6:1-2 Title: How To Treat a Master Truth: Christian doctrine is no excuse for poor treatment of your boss. Date/Location: Sunday Morning October 15, 2012 at FBC

Introduction Some opening thoughts to help you understand why these two little verses are important: 1. Some estimate that as many as half of population were slaves in the Roman Empire; more realistically the number may have been 30-40% in Italy. Many churchgoers in Timothy’s church at Ephesus would have been slaves. Some could have been slaveholders. Imagine both slaves and masters in a single church service! Paul’s earlier letter to Ephesus addressed both groups (6:5-9). It was evidently a sticky problem. 2. Though we do not have slavery in the United States, many of us are in an employer-employee relationship that has some analogy to 1 Timothy. Masters are like employers in our modern era, but we generally have more freedom to move from one ‘master’ to another than we would have if we were stuck in a real master-slave relationship. 3. Some believing slaves may have been attracted to a twisted egalitarianism that takes the level spiritual playing field and illegitimately transfers it to all areas of life, as if all distinctions and levels of authority have been erased. This is a misapplication of the gospel. 4. Some Americans believe there is a big class-based struggle between the middle and upper classes, or between labor and management, or between the 99% and the 1%, or between Main Street and Wall Street, that has some of the same features that the slavery problem had in the New Testament era. I. Christianity and Slavery A. The word ‘bondservant’ can be translated as ‘slave.’ The word itself covers a variety of circumstances, not all equivalent to the harsh, inhumane connotation that we have in our minds from 19th century American history. B. 1 Cor. 7:21-24. The teaching is pretty clear that if you are slave then your first concern is not to change that status. 1. If you can change your condition, by all means go ahead and do so. The reason is not just so you can be free, but so that you can be a better slave to Christ. The idea is that you cannot as effectively serve one master (Christ) if you have to serve another. No man can have two masters. The one master tends to dominate and reduces your effectiveness to serve the other. The Lord taught this principle—you cannot serve two masters. In the end, one wins out. 2. If, on the other hand, you are a free person, do not get into slavery if you can help it. Maybe the way that happens is that you get into debt. If that is the

All Scripture is from the NKJV unless otherwise noted. 1 case, then you have become servant to the lender. And then if you have to pay it off, you literally become servant to the person you sell yourself to in order to pay off the debt. C. Let us be clear that chattel or property slavery is not a Christian institution. Some similar arrangements, like indentured servanthood, can be implemented in a Christian way. 1. Because of the view of humanity that property slavery is predicated upon and the (intergenerational) permanency of it, we reject it as incompatible with Christianity. First of all, property slavery sees some human beings as less than human. This is an affront to the image of God in man. Second, if we at all take the principles of the Old Testament seriously, a person should be able to buy their freedom. Third, the children of chattel slaves were also automatically slaves, which ignores the notion that even if a parent is legitimately in a servanthood relationship, this does not transfer to a new person. Even if the parent committed sins to get into that situation, the child should not be punished for the sins of the parent. Besides all that, the frequent abuses of slaves makes it untenable for Christians. 2. Not all servanthood arrangements are bad. Someone who has sold himself to pay a debt and will serve for a limited time is in the moral realm a better way of handling debt than just washing his hands of it or some portion thereof (as in bankruptcy). Some people do not do well on their own and benefit from a servanthood relationship that makes sure their basics are covered. D. Christian conduct is required in whatever condition you are, ideal or not. If you are stuck in slavery, then you still need to behave like a Christian. If you are in a difficult marriage (which is not slavery!) or unequally yoked in marriage with an unbeliever, then you still need to behave like a Christian. Have a bad boss at work? Behave Christianly. Transition: With all of that as background, let us see now how Paul instructs believers in a slavery situation to behave.

II. Honor Your Master A. The Meaning of Honor. 1. This is the third 'honor' passage in instructing the church on how to treat various people. We said before that it means at least to treat respectfully; and in some cases also to support with financial help. It is demonstrated in obedient service and faithful devotion. 2. Note in Ephesians 6:9 that masters are instructed as to their role in treating slaves. But “management” is not always or the only problem. “Labor” can be out of line too. This is not easy for us in Michigan, a big labor state, to hear, but it is true. The “lower classes” do not have a moral advantage just

2 because of their socioeconomic status. Remember the Old Testament teaching: “do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit. (Exo 23:3 NIV).” Leviticus 19:15 adds that it is not right to show partiality to the poor, OR to give preference to the rich. Deuteronomy 1:17 says that the judge must listen to small and great alike. One point I take from this is that we cannot just drop into a class-based justification of unchristian behavior because “the man” deserves it. 3. The slave must recognize the master’s place and authority and his own place and responsibility. There is a “chain of command” and if you are an employee, you are underneath the authority of another person. You are doing what they ask you to do in order to make the business work. This is how it is in many other areas of life – school teachers and students, government leaders and citizens; church pastors and members; husbands and wives; and so forth. We don’t like to have other people ‘tell us what to do’ but sometimes life is just that way, and there is nothing wrong with that per se. B. Intended Result Not only would you want to avoid punishment on yourself for bad behavior (1 Peter 2:20), but there is a more important concern. 1. God’s reputation must not be tarnished. This is important. We cannot just say “It dudn’t matter.” It does matter! If you are a Christian, you are a representative of Jesus on the earth. You can be bad or a good at it. By honoring your master, you can cause God to be honored, or at least make sure He is not dishonored because of your behavior. 2. God’s doctrine/teaching must not be tarnished. Not only is God’s personal reputation on the line, but also gospel teaching is. 3. The blasphemy is on the part of a watching world, or closer to home, the unbelieving master. This master is in the household where you live, so your witness to the entire household would be damaged. 4. Like the Jews caused the Gentiles to slander God in the OT (Isaiah 52:5), so Christians can cause Gentiles to slander God in the present era by their misbehavior. 5. Note that the missionary motivation outweighs a social activism motivation. The most important result is evangelistic, not the abolition of slavery. Paul did not prohibit slavery (see Philemon). Even though its most egregious forms of slavery were not compatible with Christianity, there were more pressing concerns at the moment; and patience would be required for the gospel to penetrate the world and certain nations to a sufficient level to influence social issues. Eventually "hard forms" of slavery had to give way to Christian principles. The equality of people in the church eventually has to overspill into other areas of life as well since Christianity is not just a

3 Sunday-only kind of thing. Meanwhile, some interim instruction was called for—what to do in the meanwhile? III. Do Not Despise Believing Masters A. The instruction to honor in 6:1 is intended for all believing slaves regardless of the spiritual status of the master. However, the problem of blasphemy would be particularly acute if the master was an unbeliever. He would be in the closest place to see and know of the behavior and the professed testimony of the person. A believing master would definitely not blaspheme God for the bad behavior of his servant. So verse 1 seems to be primarily concerned with unbelieving masters (probably the more common situation) and verse 2 is concerned with believing masters. B. Do not despise 1. The word means “to look down on” someone. The slave, though “lower” on the social scale than the master, could develop a complex of moral superiority to the master: “At least I don’t own slaves…that so-called Christian master of mine is hardly demonstrating his Christianity, or else he would let me go free.” 2. There are a number of factors to consider before the slave could make a blanket moral judgment about the slave-owner and his motivations. C. You have all the more reason to serve: the beneficiaries are beloved brothers in Christ. 1. The fact that your master is a Christian should just be that much more motivation for you to serve well, rather than to despise the person. The person benefitted by your service is a Christian and, if you admit it, you should have a warm Christian affection for them. 2. It is a blessing to have a real practicing Christian boss. He overlooks your shortcomings and forgives; he hopefully provides well if he can; but he also expects faithful and loyal service and has high standards of integrity. So, the benefit is not only toward the master, but toward you as well. 3. In a surprising role-reversal, Paul views the slave as having the potential to become a benefactor toward his master. If he does work that is above and beyond the normal call of duty, or in a way that is above that expected, then he, not the master, is the benefactor! D. If you have trouble holding a job for any length of time, perhaps it is a good time to evaluate whether you do count your employer worthy of honor, among other things (such as your work ethic, perseverance, friendliness and helpfulness to coworkers, etc.) IV. Reiteration of Command to Teach and Exhort

4 A. Paul has said a lot about teaching in 1 Timothy. There was the strong response required of Timothy against false teachers in 1 Timothy 1:3 who were teaching wrong things about the Old Testament law (1 Timothy 1:7). Paul himself was a teacher of the Gentiles. Women are not allowed to teach men in the church, but a pastor must be able to teach. Paul tells Timothy in 4:6, 4:11, and again in 6:2 that he is to teach the church on a wide variety of subjects. “These things” that are to be taught is a broad reference to more than just the matters of servants and masters, but inclusive of the things that Paul has written in chapter 5 as well about elders, widows, and the treatment of all kinds of people in the church. B. Teaching and exhorting are quite similar, though we can distinguish them this way: teaching informs you and exhortation urges and persuades you to apply what you learn to everyday life. Quote from Calvin on Acts 14:21, 22: “...the use of the Word does not consist in mere instruction, by which the hearer is only taught but...also...in warning, exhorting, and convicting. Indeed Christ commands His ministers not only to teach but to exhort, and Paul also declares that Scripture is useful not only for teaching, but also for exhortation (2Timothy 3:16).” Accordingly pastors are not to think that they have fulfilled their ministry when they have properly imbued their people with the right knowledge, unless they also devote themselves to this task... For we are far from being ready and active, as we ought to be, in doing our duty. For that reason our sloth needs goads, and our coldness needs to be warmed up. Conclusion Slaves were to give full respect to unbelieving masters, and no less respect for believing masters. God's reputation is more important than your personal comfort or freedom The way we treat people is very important. Widows, pastors, and even masters are mentioned in this passage of the Bible. And we could safely add our children, spouses, coworkers, and other contacts as well without stepping outside the wider Biblical teaching on how we treat other people. MAP