Transferring Masters

For every great job out there, it seems as though there are an equal amount of ones that cause us to scratch our heads and ask, “why would anyone want to do that?”According to USA Today, some of the “worst” jobs out there include being a taxi driver, newspaper reporter, retail salesman, pest control worker and a roofer. Now, we can surely think of some other jobs that aren’t exactly desirable for our skills and interests, however we can also think of some jobs that we would absolutely love to have! Whether it be a doctor, teacher, farmer or even just your own boss. We know that work is a gift from God and is something that we should certainly be thankful for, however we see that some jobs simply aren’t very desirable. Because of this, we have to ask ourselves, why are we doing what we are doing? There are a couple of answers to this question, on one hand you work because you get paid and you need money in order to survive and provide for your family. The desire to make money is certainly one that our world has a deep passion for, however there should be a greater passion than simply making money for a Christian.

Our text today shows us a different answer to this question. We see that Christ is the ultimate boss over our job. We might think that our job stinks (maybe it literally smells wherever you work!), but from our text this morning we see that Jesus Christ is in fact our “master.” Paul is going to show us how we should work in light of the fact that our work exalts Christ. This has been a theme of Christians ever since the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago, how you can and should use your vocation to glorify Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, many Christians see next to no connection between their relationship with Christ and their occupation - you might see a connection for a pastor, minister or a chaplain, but for a teacher, photographer or a farmer you might not see the connection. The fact of the matter is that everything we do as Christians should be done for the glory of God. In the words of Abraham Kuyper, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’”

Before we read this text of Scripture, though, I want to point out as we have done often in Ephesians, that this is a text that many people read and immediately draw 21st century application from without understanding the 1st century application that Paul was making. Certainly there are some applications for us to see from these 5 verses, however we must also do our best to understand the idea of “transferring” masters in the 1st century world. With that in mind, let’s see what Paul has to say in

Ephesians 6:5–9 NASB95

5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; 6 not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. 7 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. 9 And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

Understanding 1st century slavery

It is easy for us to read our American understanding of slavery into this passage of Scripture and think that slavery in the 1st century world was predicated upon one’s race and was a lifelong sentence. Did this happen in the Roman empire? Sure, it did, however in general the concept of slavery was significantly different than our understanding of it today.

Stott notes that it has been estimated that in the peak of the Roman Empire, there would have been upwards of 60 million slaves! That means that in a city the size of Ephesus, 1/3 of the population could have been slaves. Not only was this a very large population, but the concept of slavery was an accepted part of life and a major part of the economic system throughout the Roman Empire at this time. Whereas we think of slavery being a lifelong sentence that fostered economic gaps between skin colors, slavery at this time period was different as Snodgrass notes. Slaves did nearly all of the work during this time period. Some of them were highly educated, in some instances they were more educated than their masters. Slaves could own property and they could even save up their own money in order to buy their own freedom. In fact, many slaves gained freedom by the age of 30. Certainly, there were some slaves who endured hardships and persecution similar to that of the plantations in Brazil and the United States in the last 300 years, however there was a great amount that were able to escape from slavery and vault up the social ladder, and in some cases, to the very top! In some instances, slaves were even made heirs of their masters estates and inherited millions upon millions of dollars worth of property and possessions! To be a slave in this culture was not entirely a bad thing.

In , Paul paints the picture of this relationship as he talks about slaves and masters. We see that there are positives and negatives associated with slavery. A positive would be that you could have a much better life for yourself by selling yourself to a benevolent master, however you could also find yourself serving a wicked master. If that was the situation that you were in, you have the hope of buying your freedom and serving a benevolent master! The idea is that those who are slaves to others are freed in Christ and those who are masters are slaves of God. This should unify the body of Christ, both master and slave alike!

What we must understand, again, is that slaves could obtain their own freedom. They could obtain skills to earn a wage and their intellect could help them raise through the cultural ranks once they obtained their freedom. Men and women could both gain this freedom! Now, you might ask, if slaves became freed then how were there so many slaves in the Roman empire? This is a great question!

People became slaves in this era through a variety of ways: birth, parents selling them into slavery or abandoning them, being taken captive during war, being unable to pay off a debt, or voluntary trying to make one’s life better (it was often better to live as a slave of a very wealthy family than try to make it by on your own). Again, race was not a large contributing factor to slavery in this era while slavery in our minds was almost completely racially based. Sure, some slaves had a harsh and cruel life, however their conditions were largely dependent upon their owner - which is why Paul addresses the masters in this text.

You might ask, why does Paul not simply say that slavery is wrong and that it should be outlawed? After all, that is certainly the cry of the church today - we know that slavery in the United States was wrong and we proclaim that slavery in any nation today is wrong as well! Why did Paul not do this? Perhaps it was because Christianity was so powerless (from a political standpoint) during this time. Another possible answer was because hundreds of thousands of slaves were freed in the 1st century and this was a relatively easy process. Others will note that Paul is simply giving household instructions in instead of trying to write a document that will change the social structure of the Roman Empire.

With these things stated, I do want to spend some time this morning talking about why the type of slavery that we think of is completely unBiblical:

commands Christians to love their neighbor, not own our neighbor. This goes against the Great Commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.

states that we should treat others the way that we would want to be treated.

Slavery is never showed as being a positive thing in Scripture (we think of the example of Israel being slaves in Egypt). The term “masters” is similar.

We know that Christ came to set people free from bondage, not enslave them to other humans.

The New Testament might not come right on out and say slavery is evil, but it does destroy the argument for it. Paul undermines slavery by showing that we are to imitate God - God is the father of the fatherless and He is a God of compassion who stands against oppressors and cares for the powerless. Philemon is one of the greatest examples of undermining the concept of slavery. Philemon is one of the least talked about books in the Bible, yet it contains within it some great Biblical truths that we can add valuable understanding from. Onesimus ran away from his master, Philemon, then he met Paul and became a Christian. Paul then writes Philemon to take Onesimus back “not as a slave, but as a dearly loved brother.” The bond they shared in Christ super-seeded their previous relationship as slave/master.

How does this passage deal with undermining slavery?

Verse 5 comes out and says that slaves should be obedient as slaves of Christ. To Paul, it’s all about the spread of the Gospel. While Paul might not have come out and blatantly called out slavery for being evil, the spread of the Gospel immediately began to undermine the institution of slavery; it lit a fuse which eventually exploded and destroyed slavery. Paul was telling Christian slaves and Christian masters that they were supposed to have a different relationship with one another (because of Christ) than what was typical for a slave/master relationship in this era. They are supposed to treat one another how they would treat Christ. Snodgrass notes, “That masters are to treat their slaves “the same way” is cryptic but still shocking. For them to follow this instruction, they would have to treat their slaves with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart as to Christ. That alone should have abolished slavery for Christians! The ethics move beyond the “Golden Rule” to treating others as we would treat our Lord.”

We hear the Golden Rule often - treat others the way you want to be treated, but if we add the phrase, treat others the way you would treat Christ, that whole equation changes, does it not? Not only are you supposed to be “nice” and “peaceful” towards others and treat then well, but you are supposed to treat them like you’d treat Christ. Whenever we think about that, our entire outlook on relationships changes dramatically because it’s no longer about us, but it’s about Christ!

Paul reminds both slaves and masters that they are under the Lordship of Christ as we see at the conclusion of the text in verse 9 “there is no partiality with Him.” Both the CEO of the company and the janitor share the same Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ. If both of these individuals recognized that they were both living life under Christ, would that change the work conditions and hours for the low man on the totem pole? Would it change the generosity and treatment of employees by the CEO? It certainly would! Slaves and Masters are to recognize the fact that they are both under Christ and that Christ does not show favoritism based upon one’s human occupation. Whether you make $100,000 or $10,000 / year, Christ does not show partiality! Therefore, you have a responsibility to treat everyone with respect as you would show Christ.

Paul also calls the masters to treat their slaves the same way, without threatening them - this was not a law or idea found in the civil code of Paul’s day, he was instrumental in the demise of slavery. No Biblical figure would have endorsed slavery (especially as we know it), regardless of what some people in our world might claim. In fact, as slavery began to die out in the 1700 and 1800s thanks to men like William Wilberforce, the reason that they fought so hard against the practice of slavery was because of the influence of Christianity! These men and women recognized that they were brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now that we’ve taken some time to understand the idea of slavery at this time, let’s look specifically at Paul’s message.

Paul’s message to slaves and masters

Paul splits these verses up to give instruction to slaves (first) and then masters (last). Christ is mentioned throughout these verses and the command is clear from Paul - live all of life for Jesus Christ. You might see your master as your boss, however Jesus Christ is your ultimate master. Paul’s message is for slaves to understand this and “transfer” masters from their current one to Jesus Christ. How can they do this?

Glorify Christ and work respectfully (5). We see the “fear” idea come up again in this passage as it has the last couple of Sunday’s, the idea again is probably the “fear of Christ” or the respect of Christ. Slaves are to glorify Christ by working respectfully and obeying their masters - even though this would have been a difficult command to obey consistently, they glorify Christ when they obey.

Glorify Christ by working wholeheartedly (6). We see the term heart show up in verses 5 and 6, and this is significant for us to see. Paul did not want these people to simply do lip-service to their masters but instead to work and obey them genuinely because they know that doing so glorifies Christ. As Tony Merida puts it, a common temptation for the master was to threaten slaves and a common temptation for the slaves was being lazy or lying instead of working faithfully. Paul’s command here destroys that line of thinking.

Glorify Christ by working willingly (7). Verse 7 shows that these slaves are to serve willingly. If the slave looked at his task to his earthly master as burdensome or difficult, then it would show outwardly as well. However, if he looked at it as a service rendered to the Lord, then it would transform his attitude and enable him to do it willingly!

Glorify Christ by working expectantly (8). Verse 8 concludes the instruction to the slaves by showing them that they will receive back from the Lord. Their ultimate reward is coming! We know how this works as well, we know that we will give an account of our lives to the Lord one day and that no action goes unnoticed to God. Because of that, slaves would have worked with a different outlook on life because of this newfound perspective!

Paul then gives instruction to the masters: Treat them how you would Christ (9).

Paul states that masters are to treat their slaves the same way in verse 9. They should treat their slaves with respect, humility and decency even though they had the “right” to treat them however they wanted in the eyes of their society. If masters wanted respect, they should treat their slaves with respect also. Next, Paul mentions that they should not threaten their slaves. This, again, would have been extremely rare for a slave master in this day and age, however Christian masters were to be different and not bully their slaves who were their equal in Christ! Paul then states that both your master and their master is in heaven. This is the accountability section of sorts. Masters should live with a fear of Christ because their master is in heaven and the ultimate master of their slave is also in heaven. speaks of this as it states that the rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord made them both. The Lord is the judge of all the earth and masters must be aware of that, according to Paul. Finally, at the end of verse 9, we see that God is impartial. Roman law said that masters were superior and could treat their slaves as dogs if they so choose to do so, however Paul states that on judgment day this will not be how God judges. God is an impartial judge. You can’t take your doctor coat, your suit and tie or your cowboy hat to heaven just as you can’t take your pickup truck or your favorite book. Possessions matter in our world, but God is an impartial judge and He will judge us by our hearts, not our possessions.

Application from this text

So, back to the beginning of this message, many people read this text and think, “I’m not a slave nor do I own slaves, so this text does not apply to me. Can we move on to talk about the armor of God in verse 10?” This text certainly has implications and applications for us, 2000 years later! Many people say that this text is a direct correlation from slaves and masters in the 1st century world to talking about employees and employers in the 21st century world. I don’t think it’s a direct comparison, but we certainly can apply some of these principles into our lives today. You might say that your job stinks or that your boss is a jerk, but you are not physically being threatened or treated like property as these slaves were in Paul’s day and age. We must recognize that there are differences, but we can certainly apply these truths into our lives today.

We must see that we work through Christ, like Christ and for Christ.

Through Christ: Who is the intended audience for this message? Was it non-Christians? Was it leaders of the Roman government? Was it priests of the cult of Artemis? No! It was the church of Christ! As we have seen throughout this letter, Christ has raised these people from death to life, He has saved them and He has given them the hope of future glorification! Because of this, because these listeners are Christians, they have the Holy Spirit. They do not live their life on their own - they have the power of the Holy Spirit with them every step of the way. Guess what? As a born again, child of God, you do today as well! You don’t go into your work place on your own. You don’t go into your school room on your own, you have the Holy Spirit with you! Do your work through Christ, because He is with you.

In , Joseph was in slavery and working for Potiphar and Scripture says that Joseph was not working alone because the “Lord was with Joseph!” Remember that the Lord is with you. As we are going to look at in a couple of weeks in , the Lord walks with us through the fire - He doesn’t promise to remove the fire. We have seen throughout Ephesians that we are to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit (). Do you rely on His power? Do you pray before you go to work or before you enter into your classroom? Do you pray for God to give you an opportunity to share your faith with a co-worker or classmate? If not, why? You certainly should! Know that He is with you and that you should work through Christ and rely on His Spirit.

2nd, work like Christ. You might think, we don’t know how Christ worked. Vocationally speaking, sure, we are confident that he worked with his father as a carpenter but the Gospels talk far more about His spiritual work rather than His vocational one. Christ exemplified servant leadership. He left His home in heaven to come and save the lost. tells us:

Mark 10:45 NASB95

45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The sinless Son of God came to a tiny town in the Middle East and exemplified hard work. Think about Christ as He worked in His trade: Would Jesus have acted disrespectful to a potential customer? No. Would Jesus have slacked off or been lazy on the job? No. Would Jesus have belittled a fellow worker? No. As a follower of Christ, why would we even think of doing these things as well? We must realize that we should work like Christ and be Christlike to those around us.

3rd, we should work for Christ. Stott puts it well: “It is possible for the housewife to cook a meal as if Jesus Christ were going to eat it, or to spring-clean the house as if Jesus Christ were to be the honoured guest. It is possible for teachers to educate children, for doctors to treat patients and nurses to care for them, for solicitors to help clients, shop assistants to serve customers, accountants to audit books and secretaries to type letters as if in each case they were serving Jesus Christ.” You should do your work for Christ now and realize that your reward will come later. We know that our works do not save us, but we do know that God saved us to do good works as we see in ! It should be our goal in life to live a life that was worthy of our calling () that ends with God saying, “Well done, my good and faithful one!” If that doesn’t get your blood pumping this morning then you need to check your pulse!

There are also some application points here for employers or bosses. Lead through Christ, lead like Christ and lead for Christ. Leadership is challenging. You have numerous responsibilities and you desperately need the help of the Holy Spirit along the way! You know that Christ is your master in the same way that He is the master of your employees as well, so you act as a servant leader to those under your supervision. You also lead faithfully, honestly and lovingly. That doesn’t mean that every decision you make is easy, but it does mean that your ultimate authority is Christ and your actions should be pleasing to Him. Lead your company or practice for Him, not primarily for man.

It is possible for the housewife to cook a meal as if Jesus Christ were going to eat it, or to spring-clean the house as if Jesus Christ were to be the honoured guest. It is possible for teachers to educate children, for doctors to treat patients and nurses to care for them, for solicitors to help clients, shop assistants to serve customers, accountants to audit books and secretaries to type letters as if in each case they were serving Jesus Christ.

Stott, J. R. W. (1979). God’s new society: the message of Ephesians (p. 252). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Conclusion

This is a passage of Scripture that should change the way in which we relate to others and prioritize things in our lives. Our culture tells us that some people are more valuable than others - this text destroys that idea because we all have the same Lord and Savior! Now, there are certainly different roles and responsibilities, but we must understand that God does not show favoritism to the CEO compared to the Janitor. We should not give preferential treatment to people simply because of their skin color or their socio-economic status. We must realize that we are all sinners and dead without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ - that should unite us.

After reading this text, ask yourself what matters most? Is it reaching a certain threshold at my job? Becoming my own employer instead of being someone’s employee? What matters most is not whether you are an employee or employer but how you respond to Jesus Christ. Is He your master? Because He is Lord of both slave and master! Is He your Lord? If you belong to Jesus Christ then you have everything you need - as the hymn puts it, “You can have the world, just give me Jesus!” He is everything we need. What do you prioritize most in your life? Children, your grades? Your popularity in school? Your athletic achievements? Your video game accolades? Adults, your salary? The car you drive or the clothes you wear? Ultimately what should matter more than anything else to the Christian is having a personal relationship with the living God, as Paul puts it in

Philippians 1:21 NASB95

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

If you do not have Christ then you are in a world of trouble. You cannot know genuine peace without Him in your life! I pray that today might be your day of salvation. If you do know Christ and if He is your master, submit to and obey Him in your life. Follow His guidance and let your work be an example of who you serve. Let your relationship with Christ guide and direct your relationships with your co-workers and your supervisors. Work for Christ and let His Spirit transform your mentality regarding work from one that looks down upon your job or position to one that uses your job as an opportunity to point others to Jesus Christ.