The Conscientious Christian Employee Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.
And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.
Introduction:
Introduction:
As Paul left Timothy to put things in order in Ephesus and has covered many things, we now come to the relationship of the employee and the employer.
We are going to see in this text on how the Christian slave is suppose to behave in the responsibility to both their non-Christian and Christian masters.
And while the language here in the text is “δοῦλος” and “δεσπότης” the idea extends beyond that to include us today who are in an employer/employee relationship.
And what I want to do this evening, and I believe this is very important, that we set some preliminary material out for you so that you have a proper understanding.
So, we want to start with sort of a general insight.
Several years ago, I do not believe that this statistic has changed much except to perhaps get worse, U.S. News and World Report said that 70% of the people employed in our country do not like their jobs.
In other words, 7 out of 10 people that are in the work force today, do not like their jobs.
90% of the 70% who do not like their jobs do not feel like getting up in the morning to go to their job at all.
So what we have is a very large group of people who are very unhappy.
And unhappy people tend to be rather unproductive.
As a result of that, the average work in America, according to Time Magazine, wastes many, many hours a week to the tune of $100 billion of drain on the American economy for work every year that they do not do.
It costs our economy $100 billion dollars for indolence, for people who because they are unhappy or because they are lazy do not work but are eager to collect pay for what they do not do.
We live in a society that has little love quality, they have little love for performance and they have little love for excellence in the product that they make.
You understand that is true if you have ever gone through the drive thru at your local fast food restaurant and you will experience the lack of concern for quality and accuracy.
Now, as everything else that we have seen in this book, the instructions are corrective; many that, these were things that were a problem in the Church at Ephesus and Paul needed to address and correct.
And I want to give you some insight in the terminology to start.
The word “servant” is the word “δοῦλος” and should be translated “slave.”
And it designates a person who is in submission, subjugation, or subjection to someone else.
This Greek word, in all its forms, account for about 150 usages in the NT.
That many that it is a very familiar and useful term.
“δοῦλος” was literally part of the fabric of the NT culture.
In fact, the whole economic structure of the Middle East and Roman world was based upon master and slaves, or employers and employees; it is no different than today.
Now, to understand the best definition of a slave, I want you to notice two passage.
In Matthew 8, Jesus comes into contact with a centurion, that is a Roman soldier who commands 100 men, and he is concerned about his δοῦλος who is sick a home with the palsy.
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Now, this was no doubt a domesticated servant, muck like a butler, a personal escort who tool care of his personal duties.
And as we come to verse 9, we get a definition of what it was to be a δοῦλος.
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Now, that is the best definition of δοῦλος in all of Scripture.
A δοῦλος is a person to whom you say, “Do thus,” and he does it.
Now, let me show you another passage that will sort of expand your understanding of a δοῦλος, in Luke 17.
But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?
So, we understand that while a δοῦλος was primarily a domesticated servant in the house, like the man in Matthew 8, but you also see from time to time, the δοῦλος plowing in the field and taking care of the animals.
So, if you have a δοῦλος doing that, when he comes in from the field, do you say to him, “Go sit down and eat?”
In other words you say, “Well, boy, it has been so wonderful that you worked all day, that you very much, sit down and I will get your dinner.”
No way!
He is a servant, he is employed and paid to do a job.
You do not thank him and bend over backwards to serve him, you expect him to do his job.
Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
There is another definition of δοῦλος, it is someone who does their job.
Now, again, we need to note that the primary job of the δοῦλος was a household domestic employee.
He functioned in the family in the house; although, sometimes he worked in the field.
But that was not the normal way that that kind of work was carried out.
Field work and farm work was mostly carried out by hired day laborers such as the parable that we see in Matthew 20 where a man goes into the marketplace and he wanted to harvest his vineyard and he began the sequence of hiring day laborers to work so many hours in the field.
But the domestic δοῦλος lived in the home with the family and so there were not as many domestic servants as there were hired day laborers.
Now, on the other hand you have the word “masters” in verse 1 and 2.
That is the word “δεσπότης” where we get out word despot.
We talk about a despotic ruler, we mean someone who may be harsh and overbearing and cruel and abusive.
But in the NT time, the word did not necessarily carry that connotation.
A δεσπότης referred to one who had unrestricted, unrestrained sovereign rule.
It is a bit stronger than the word “κύριος” which is translated “master.”
κύριος is a bit softer than “δεσπότης.”
δεσπότης emphasizes the unrestrained and unrestricted character, the unlimited and absolute domination of authority that is bound up in the master.
So, what you have then is an employment situation where you have a “δοῦλος” who does it job, you tell him what to do and he does it.
And then you have the employer who is the “δεσπότης” who has unlimited control over those who are under him.
And that is basically the economic setup for the functioning of work in the economy of the Middle East and of the Roman Empire.
Now, what does this have to do with us today in 21st Century America?
I mean, we freed slaves a long time ago.
Now, I want you to know that if you go to the Bible and you read the word “slave” and think of the word in an American cultured context, you are going to get confused.
If you think of the word “master” in American cultural context, you are going to get confused.
So we need to strip away our cultural understanding of slavery which is bound up in some of the horrify racial discrimination of some.
And we need to set that kind of thing aside because that was not the characteristic of the slavery of the NT era.
Let me give you a little background.
By this time, slavery was woven into the fabric of Palestine and the Roman world.
It was an accepted economic system; in fact, it was even an honored system.
Paul, and the other Apostles were proud to be considered a δοῦλος for Jesus Christ.
Slavery has such unpopular connotations, because we cannot strip the ungodliness of it that existed in the past in some places.
I came across, this week, a quote from John MacArthur on the state of slavery.
He received this quote from a book “Slavery, Segregation, and the Scripture by Oliver Busswell III who is an outstanding evangelical anthropologist:
And in that section of the book we learn that when black folks were brought to America as slaves, initially they began to teach them to read and when they learned to read, the first things they read was the Bible.
And when they read the Bible they got saved.
And when they got saved they wanted to come to Church.
And not wanting them to come to Church posed a great conflict.
Now, they had black Christian brothers and sisters that they did not want in their Church and they had a tremendous conflict with the Word of God that teaches that in Christ there is neither Greek not Jew, male or female, bond or free.
So in order to deal with that they stopped teaching them how to read,
If they could not read, they could not read the Bible.
And if they could not read the Bible the could not read the gospel.
And if they could not read the gospel, they could not get saved and that would keep them out of the Church.
The net effect of that in many areas was that they had a smattering of biblical Christianity tied in with a whole lot of culture and so what was generated was the black church movement.
But we need to regain a Biblical perspective of the slave master relationship because it is woven in the Scripture and woven into the passage that is before us.
Slavery had deep roots in the OT, in Middle East.
Slavery, then, was primarily domestic employees of a family.
And, as I said, they worked sometimes out in the field but for the most part belonged in the house.
They were, for example, cooks and household managers.
You would have a δοῦλος who would manage your home; he was your bookkeeper, your inventory controller.
He was the one who decided how to use your resources.
He would be one who contracted to come into your service and in exchange for for his long-term submission to you, you have gave him housing, his clothing, his food and the proper amount of money for living expenses and personal things.
In fact, in the Middle East, you wanted someone to teach your teacher, we call them tutors today, in the Biblical Middle East, they called the slaves.
That is a far cry from the reality of slavery that took place in America.
The indentured slavery of colonized America was that the δοῦλος would do what the δεσπότης commanded that he do and in exchange was cared for by the family.
And then when the years of promised service ran out, 10-15 years, , they would be freed to then pursue their own career and their own objectives in the New World.
Slaves in Biblical times were acquired in may different ways.
One of which was when they were captives of conquest.
In fact, Israel knew well what it was to be servants to conquering nations.
They were servants to the Phoenicians, the Philistines, the Syrians, the Babylonians, and the Romans.
Rather then killing the enemy, you captured them and used them as labor.
That is what the Babylonians did with Daniel and his friends.
The second way that you became a δοῦλος was through purchase.
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Conscientious Christian Employee, Part 1
You could be a foreigner, for example, and you could be purchased. For example, let’s say a guy from another country comes into Israel and he’s looking for employment, a land owner can buy his services. And he can take him in. He then sells himself to that individual. By the way, there was a death penalty, according to Exodus 21:16 and Deuteronomy 24:7, for kidnapping and selling a free man. But a man who was already a doulos or a slave or who sought to be, could be bought and sold, according to Leviticus 25:44–46.
Furthermore, according to Exodus 21:7 and Nehemiah 5, a father could sell his daughter to work in a home.
It was not a bad thing or an evil thing to do, you literally contracted with someone to employ your daughter over a period of time and your daughter went and worked for that family.
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Conscientious Christian Employee, Part 1
A widow, according to 2 Kings 4:1, might sell her children into the employment of someone in order to pay off her husband’s debts which he being dead could no longer pay. And in Leviticus 25:39 and following and Deuteronomy 15:12–17, people sold themselves into employment. Literally went and contracted for their services with someone and became slaves in that sense.
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Conscientious Christian Employee, Part 1
Children were also sold under conditional contracts, according to Exodus 21. A very interesting case in Nehemiah 5, the first part of the chapter, apparently a father had used his children as collateral for a loan. And when he defaulted on the loan, he had to put his children into service in order to pay back what he had borrowed.
Self-sale was also not uncommon.
And people could employ people who were willing to be bought and there were people whom one owner would sell to another owner, there were people who desired to serve life-long with a master and there were people who desired to serve a short time.
And there was within the slavery system the ability to contract and negotiate whatever it was that you both agreed on.
By the way, according to Lev. 25, 50 years was the maximum for any serve.
That was for a non-jew, any of the Gentile people that came into service, 50 years was the limit.
For a Jew, it was 6 years.
And the reason is pretty obvious.
When a Gentile came into the service of a Jew, he was exposed to all the truth of God and so God wanted them to remain there as long as possible and so he made it a 50 year limit.
Another way that people went into slavery was through a debt.
If you incurred a debt your could not pay back, you might have to go to work for someone to work off the debt.
And you became a slave until the debt was paid off.
Some slaves were received as gifts.
In Genesis 29, Leah received her slave Zilpah, as a gift.
And the non-Hebrew slaves were passed on from generation to generation within a family so that you could actually inherit a slave or servant, according to Lev. 25:46.
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Conscientious Christian Employee, Part 1
There was the more prolonged contract for those who were the original inhabitants of Canaan rather than the short six years for the Jews. And then you could be born into that situation if your parents were under contract as slaves to someone.
Now, there was no abuse in this system, the abuse came because of the evil hearts of men.
And I will tell you have heard of evil hearted people abusing any and every system of employment.
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Conscientious Christian Employee, Part 1
In fact, they were so concerned about the legal rights of those who were the working force that the Old Testament is loaded with the rights and privileges of those who were slaves. Exodus 21, Leviticus 25, Deuteronomy 15 are good starting points to understand this.
For example, they could not as a Jew be more than 6 years in bondage to any one master.
Now, they could renew their contract as long as they wanted, or they could say that I want to serve him for life and they would lean him against a door post and punch a hole in their ear and hang an earring or something in there so they would be for life identified as a willing servant to the one whom they had taken for their master.
So if they were under contract to a master, that master had to take care of their housing, had to take care of their food, had to take care of their clothing, had to pay them on top of that, had to support their wife and all their children.
Now, if a man came to the end of six years and wanted to leave, he could take his wife and all of his kids.
That guy would lose a lot of workers.
unless he had come onto his service single and married someone who was already in service to that family, he could not just marry the person and then end of his time take then all out.
Obviously, if that were permitted, people who wanted out of their contract would find somebody to marry them, break the contract and that would not work at all.
So you could not take one with you unless you brought her in or unless her time was up also.
She was remain and you had to leave her alone if her time was not up.
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Conscientious Christian Employee, Part 1
Furthermore, they had tremendous religious rights within the covenant of Israel, even Gentiles once they identified as servants of a Jewish household had to go under certain vows and they were allowed to enjoy the sabbath rest just like the rest of the people and to enjoy the Passover as well.
They had civil rights.
If you poked their eye out or if you broke a tooth or any kind of bodily harm to slave, they were immediately freed; for any cruelty, any premeditated cruelty.
If you premeditated the murder of a slave, you were sentenced to death.
They had social rights.
They could marry have have as many children as they could have; and they could have a lot.
And when they left, they all went free.
And while they stayed the land owner had to support them all.
They had economic rights.
They could acquire property and slaves could also have slaves.
So you had an enterprising slave who subcontracted to his own slaves the duties that he himself did not want to do.
They were given protective rights.
Foreign slaves coming to Israel and seeking asylum, according to Dt. 23:15-15, were given asylum and protection.
The state of Israel even hired state slaves which would be like civil service employees, according to Joshua 16:10 and Judges 1:28 and hundreds of them manned the temple.
They were supported by the state of Israel.
They were really members of the family.
In fact, in Exodus 20:17 they are grouped with women and children.
They were as much a part of the family as the women and the children.
And as the father, the head of the family, cared for the women and the children, he would also care for the servants and the slaves.
They were to be treated with the same love and kindness.
Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
For example, the affection and love between a master and a slave is illustrated by Abraham and his slave, Eliezer.
If Abraham had had no son, his entire fortune was to go to Eliezer.
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Conscientious Christian Employee, Part 1
Why? Because the Old Testament provision was that a servant is to be treated like an older son. And there was a great love between Abraham and Eliezer, read Genesis 15 and chapter 24. And remember, too, the relationship between Elisha and his slave Gehazi in 2 Kings 4 through 8.
If the attitude were right and the hearts were right, it was a good system because it took people and provided a family for them and a living for them and a home for them.
And all societies are built on some form of employer/employee design.
And the system worked very well with pure hearts.
The slave would share in the riches and the resources of the family.
Only when this was abused by the evil of the heart did it all become bad.
And that can be true of any system.
And I will also say that in the South in the past there were some slaves brought over here who went into homes of very good and godly and Christ-exalting masters who had a very=good and fulfilling life under those masters.
Listen, it is not the system, it is the hearts and attitudes with men that is the problem.
Attitude dictates the whole thing.
When you look at slavery in the NT, the principles and rules were pretty much the same.
According to Jewish Historians, if you had a jewish slave, which was not uncommon that was not a demeaning task at all.
It was just like a contracted employee situation, nothing different than these high priced athletes who are in contracts for multiple years.
And that employee could be beloved and dignified and very skilled at what he did.
But if he was a Jewish slave, he was never to be asked to do the most disreputable take which was washing feet because that would be publicly branding him a slave and it was important to protect his dignity.
They would find a Gentile to do that.
That is what makes the washing of the disciples feet by Christ such a tremendous act of humility; it was more than a Jew would have ever been asked to do.
By law, on the other hand, the slave was equal to the oldest son in the family and he had a right to the same treatment that the master gave his oldest son.
He had the right to good clothes, good food, a good place at the table with the family and a good bed.
He could acquire possessions, he could buy things.
He could marry and the master had to take care of the whole family.
The six year rule still applied, and he could stay or leave for a better opportunity at the end of the six years.
That is a very reasonable rule.
In fact, Jewish slaves were do protected than old Jewish saying was “whoever buys a Jewish slave, buys himself a master.”
Now, let’s be real there were abusive slavery issues, just like abusive employment issues today.
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Conscientious Christian Employee, Part 1
Now with all that in mind you understand why, don’t you, in the Old Testament there’s no cry to end slavery. And in the New Testament there’s no cry to end slavery either because the system itself is only a system. And when good hearted people participate in it, it works fine … it works fine. There were abuses of that system. Let me tell you something, folks, we don’t have a slavery system in the United States, but we’ve got a lot of abuses in our system, too. There are a lot of unhappy employers, there are a lot of miserable workers. And I said at the very beginning, 70 percent of the people on the labor force of the United States hate their job for whatever reason. So the abuse factor is the issue … the evil heartedness is the issue.
And so you understand that when the prophets in the OT and Jesus and the Apostles in the NT went our they preached a message of changed heart, not a changed system.
Because it is the heart, that is the issue.
So, we do not preach, “Let’s overthrow the system,” we preach, “:et’s change the heart.”
We are not interested in political or economic or social revolution, we are interested in proclaiming the gospel and creating a spiritual revolution.
So, the Apostle Paul is helping us to understand the culture and the context and the obligations we have.
We are to have as believers a responsibility to be good employees; that is what he is saying.
And the fact that he uses “slave and master” does not mitigate against its applicability to us at all because that culture, servant and master, mean what in our culture employee and employer means.
It is no different, it is just a different social step.
And so this is immediately practical for us.
Paul says that I am not going to overthrow the status quo socially, I am just telling you to be good employees, whatever the system is.
And that is the message to us that we will look at in some detail next time.
So it does apply to us if we understand the background.