Picture from British Library on Unspash
Today we are looking at a rather controversial subject and it is difficult to do justice to this in the space of a Dayshare blog. We are continuing our study in Paul's first letter to the younger man, Timothy and we are looking at the relationship between masters and slaves. I can imagine that those who are sceptical about the Bible will be sharpening their knives metaphorically if they are reading this blog which seems to be a justification for disregarding the message of the Bible. There are those who claim that the Bible is condoning slavery and that is very contentious in today's world. I want to focus on the principal message of this passage and this is a bit of a distraction. Melvyn Bragg has conducted an interesting historical analysis of the impact of the King James Version on the western world [Melvyn Bragg: The Book of Books; The Radical Impact of the King James Bible 1611-2011]. He points out that both abolitionists and slave owners looked to the Bible (the King James Version, in particular) for justification for their cause. The Bible could be read as both pro and anti slavery. In both the Old and New Testaments, slavery is taken for granted. This seems offensive to our modern and postmodern minds. Slavery was simply and unquestionably part of the daily lives of many of our ancestors.
In that context, I want to spend a short time looking at what Paul has to say to slaves in this letter to Timothy.
[1] Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. [2] Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. [1 Timothy 6:1-2 ESV]
It would appear that some slaves who have become Christians are beginning to question how this new-found faith affects their status as slaves. From our perspective, we might have expected Paul to argue that they should take up arms against this evil practice of slavery. After all, has Paul not argued that the distinctions of slave and free have been eroded in the new relationship into which the Christian has been brought. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul presents the case very firmly for complete equality in the Christian church.
[26] for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. [27] For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
[Galatians 3:26-28 ESV]
As a former volunteer at the Keswick Convention, these verses are very familiar to me. I am not good at remembering Bible references but I have no hesitation in rhyming off Galatians 3:28 with the quotation which has become the banner of the Convention - ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. This is radical. This is ahead of its time. In the context of the first verses of chapter 6 of First Timothy, it makes it clear that 'there is neither slave nor free.' Surely Paul should be seeking to begin an insurrection among so-called slaves so that they can enjoy their newfound liberty. But that is precisely what Paul is NOT doing. Instead, he is saying to the slaves that they should be obedient to their slave masters. This sounds unfair and unreasonable. But if we think of the Lord Jesus, the founder of the Christian Church, there is a clear example which Paul expects the converted slaves to follow. Jesus was unjustly condemned to death in an unfair trial by a Roman governor who knew that he was innocent. He had the power and the authority to overthrow the Romans and to free himself from their injustice and oppression. But that is not the Jesus way. And Jesus would set the supreme example of self-sacrifice by allowing himself to be crucified when there were 12 legions of angels (a legion could have as many as 6,000 soldiers) waiting for a call to set the Son of God free.
In the course of time, God would use evangelicals and other campaigners to bring about the end of slavery in the 19th century context, although there are almost certainly more people living as slaves in the 21st century. Our world is still full of injustice. The history of abolition was not straightforward nor without bloodshed. It was not God's time to end slavery in the first century. It would have resulted in a massive intervention from the Romans who depended on slavery for their economic survival.
Paul speaks specifically about the situation where a slave and his master are both Christians and he gives advice which might seem strange in our postmodern world. He says that they should not be disrespectful towards them. By implication, it would appear that some slaves were beginning to cause trouble for their masters when they discovered that they shared the same faith . The King James Version says that the slaves have not to despise their masters. The Greek word KATAPHRONEO literally means 'to think down upon or against anyone; from two Greek words kata = 'down" and phren = 'the mind." This is helpful if we are going to understand what is happening in the city of Ephesus. A Christian should not despise anyone for any reason. The slaves were behaving in a manner which was contrary to Christian principles. Jesus told his disciples that they should not despise children (Matthew 18:10). This was in the first century when children were not given the recognition or the attention which they get in today's western world.
I want to look at another example of where this word is used.
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. [1 Corinthians 11:20-22 ESV]
The church at Corinth were abusing the Lord's supper by turning it into a self-centred time of indulgence and Paul is pointing out that, by doing so, they were despising the other members of the church, especially those who were poor. And so, to return to our verses for today, those who were bondservants or slaves in the church of Ephesus were treating their masters with disdain and a total lack of respect. This is an abuse of God's grace. And Paul graciously points out to Timothy the consequences of their actions (or perhaps the potential consequences of their actions) - such behaviour resulted in 'the name of God and the teaching being reviled.' I have heard it said many times that, in general, people do not read the Bible but they 'read' the followers of Jesus Christ. Non-Christians watch carefully how we behave and they make generalisations based on their experience of Christians. The conduct of these slaves was bringing the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into disrepute. People were listening to what these slaves were saying and they were thinking or maybe saying, "If that is how a Christian behaves, I don't want anything to do with that."
What about us? I am sure that none of us are slaves - certainly not in the way that many of the members of the church at Ephesus were bound to an earthly master. But all of us have people who are in authority over us - whether it may be our boss at work, our husband in the home even, our pastor or elder in the church etc. Do we despise someone who has the God-given responsibility to look after us and even to govern us? How do we treat the police officer who stops us if we have been speeding in our cars? How do we treat the steward at the big event who is shepherding us into our seats?
I am sure that all of you will have noticed that this is a bit one-sided. What about the conduct of the slave masters? They can behave very badly and Paul is saying that slaves have to obey their masters. Is he giving slave masters immunity and is he condoning abuse of power? In Paul's letter to the Colossians, Paul has a message for the slave masters as well as the slaves.
Masters, treat your bondservants[a] justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. [Colossians 4:1 ESV]
In his earlier letter to the same church in which Timothy was serving the Lord, Paul spells out the mutual position of both slaves and masters.
5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 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. [Ephesians 6:5-9 ESV]
This is a powerful and challenging passage. It goes deeper into our motives and not just our outward conduct. It reminds us that we are slaves of Christ and that is the key relationship which should determine all of our conduct. So Paul condemns what he calls 'eye-service' or doing things to impress our boss but at the same time despising them in our hearts. He reminds them of future reward for loyalty. Their real master is in heaven and he is totally impartial. He is just and righteous in contrast to our earthly masters who may have many faults and may act unfairly towards us. All Christians can deliver a powerful message to observers by their willingness to submit to authority even though it may be abused. I am not saying that Christians should not be interested in seeking justice and dealing with injustice. But this is speaking about our attitude - this is the way the master went. Should not the servant tread it still? Jesus was humble and submissive to those who abused him. He did condemn wrong conduct but at the same time his attitude was one of submission and humility and this was such a powerful message. This is the Christian conduct of someone like Martin Luther King rather than the bitterness and hatred of Malcolm X.
Photo from British Social History on Unsplash.
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