Ephesians Devotionals
Bob Morris
Slaves/Employees (Ephesians 6:5-8 )
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 favour 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 of you for whatever good you do, whether you are slave or free.
A Canadian friend of mine worked as an engineer in Saudi Arabia as a means of sharing the gospel with Arabs who might otherwise not hear it. In his early days he complained to me that he had no time for ministry because of the long 60-hour weeks and isolated residential arrangements. The problem was that he thought of work as what you did from 9 to 5 and ministry as what you did from 5 to 9.
Paul cuts right across those assumptions with his instructions to slaves. Work done in the name of Christ is ministry. The way you do your job is important to the Kingdom. Ideally there is no tension between work and ministry because they are one and the same when done as slaves of Christ.
But what relevance have instructions to slaves to modern day employees? To put things into perspective, it is important to note that in 100 AD slaves in the Greek and Roman world were not all like slaves from Africa in the modern era. Not only menial tasks but virtually all work, skilled, unskilled and professional was done by slaves.
There were an estimated 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire, and clearly Paul would have been addressing many in the churches. It was such a widely accepted fact of normal economic life that it was virtually unchallenged in the ancient world. Paul’s concern then is not the abolition of slavery, but how to deal with the tension between living as a slave while being free spiritually in Christ. Paul’s instructions to slaves of the Roman Empire have parallel relevance to all the Christian workers today who have no choice but to work for someone else to earn a living.
What is remarkable in that context is that Paul addresses slaves at all, let alone before he addresses their masters. They were free in Christ, even though they were slaves in everyday life. Paul appeals to them to work in four ways that relate to Christ:
- with respect, fear, sincerity just as they would obey Christ
- doing the will of God from the heart as slaves of Christ
- wholeheartedly as if serving Christ
- knowing Christ rewards good deeds
Slaves and modern employees who work with those attitudes will be not only exceptional workers but also a great testimony to the difference Christ makes in a person’s life. There is no law in any country against witnessing by living out the gospel in work done as to Christ. Then when words of explanation or witness are possible, they have far greater relevance. The much-quoted saying of St. Frances is relevant here: Wherever you go, preach the gospel; whenever necessary, use words”.
Lord Jesus, you have redeemed our lives from slavery and we need not be slaves of anyone. Help us to live and work as if we were your slaves alone, with joyful obedience, conscientious service and Christian integrity.
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